GJHS Baseball Champs
May 2, 2011
Filed under Sports & Entertainment, Spring Sports, Top Stories
The GJHS baseball team demolished Central 12-6 on April 20 to claim a qualifying position for the state playoffs.
The Tigers are now ranked No.12 in the standings of the 5A class division with a record of 8-1. Overall, the team has had a good season this year with a 14-1 record; one against Coconino High School, and the other against Durango High School.
The Tigers have been working hard to win the Southwestern League title and get into the playoffs.
“We’re exactly where we need to be right now,” Coach Kyle Rush said. “We set our goals as high as qualifying for the playoffs first and trying to get to win the SWL.”
The effort put in by the players supports their team goals for the season. They are first in the SWL with a record of 6-1. Usually, the first and second place finishers in the standings qualify for the state playoffs.
“As a whole, we’ve been playing good, and I’ve been doing my best to try and contribute to that effort,” senior center fielder Andy Willett said.
Junior pitcher Chandon Rose agreed, saying, “We’ve been doing good, (and) we’ve been pretty successful. I think we could definitely close out games a bit better, finish the game off, smell blood and finish it. We’re trying to get a good seed in the playoffs.”
Rush said that they have been to the playoffs for 11 years in a row now.
“(The game against Central) was good, because that allowed us to clench it. That win was pretty big,” Rush said.
Rose and Willett agreed with Rush.
“I think our game is going really good and we’re doing well as a team. (We’re) hitting the ball well,” Rose said.
Eight out of 10 players have a batting average above .300, and five of those are above .400.
“It’s been going pretty good. From day one we’ve improved, and we’ve been playing strong. I think it’s been fun, and we’ve been having a good time,” Willett said.
The baseball team has only three games left in their season before playoffs.
“They’re all doing a great job, (and) they’re all being good leaders,” Rush said, speaking about the team. “(We need to do the) same thing as always (to win), we need to pitch better, and other than that we’ll be all right.”
