By Caleb Herbert
The Minarets baseball team is now more than halfway through their season, and from the outside looking in it's unclear how well they’ve performed this year. There are numerous conflicting factors to consider when judging their season, each seeming to contradict and negate the other. Due to these various factors, it has become difficult to judge the Minarets Mustangs ball club at face value.
The average fan or interested party would likely first look at our team’s record to formulate an opinion. As of this writing, they would find the record of the 2024 Minarets Mustangs baseball team to be 6-15. That’s not good. It’s certainly not something the team is proud of. However, a deeper dive into more finite numbers reveals a very different story.
If one takes a gander at player statistics listed on MaxPreps, they’ll find an ace pitcher with the most strikeouts in the state of California. They’ll find a freshman middle infielder batting nearly .400, and multiple players batting near or above the .300 mark. These numbers effectively eradicate any belief that this team lacks talent.
So what is it then? How does such a talented team manage to post a record like 5-14? The truth is, it’s incredibly hard to say. The team certainly isn’t without problems. We had the opportunity to interview Mr. Tim Miller, the head varsity baseball coach here at Minarets. He told us that “the perseverance and grit that this team has shown amidst adversity has been impressive”, and that he’s proud of the team for that. He added that he believed the biggest problem the team faces is their communication on defense, which has resulted in several in-game mistakes that have caused difficult losses.
However, Coach Miller is optimistic for the future of the team. He believes our squad has learned and improved a lot this season, and that we’re going to win plenty more games this season. The team echoes this. This team is not a lost cause, or one that believes they’re one. This team has hope. And so should you.