Monarch baseball starts to ramp up as they they prepare for conference play

Valley's baseball team looks to pick up the momentum nearing the end of their second month of preseason baseball as they prepare to start Western State Conference play.

By Alejandro Garcia, Sports Editor

Monarchs outfielder Christopher DeLaHoya, far right, steps up at bat during a home game against the Modesto Junior College Pirates on Feb. 18. (Richard Ball | For the Valley Star)

The Valley College men's baseball team is closing off their second month of the new season on the wrong foot. 

After a competitive start to the season, winning three of the first five games played, the Monarchs have dropped two of their last three games to Modesto Junior College and Irvine Valley College, picking up the only win against Glendale. This marks up their total to only five victories out of the 14 total matches played, staying at a 5-9 preseason record. 

The first loss of the three-game stretch came when the Monarchs hosted Modesto Junior College on Feb. 18, losing 10-7. The Monarchs got off to a fast start as they put up two runs in the first inning, leading off against the Pirates 2-1. Through their first four innings, it was all Monarchs, bringing in five total runs while the Pirates only got two home runs. By the fifth inning, the tides turned as the Pirates brought in five total runners, flipping the script to lead 7-5. After leveling up the score, the Monarchs later would go on to lose the game 10-7, getting outscored 3-0 in the final three innings.

The Monarchs then traveled to Glendale College on Feb. 20, where they managed to win a close contest, beating the Vaqueros 4-3. Valley sophomore pitcher Brandon Hoffman had a good showing. He delivered six strikeouts in seven innings, the most among both teams, and only allowed two runs and one homer. 

On the offensive side, the Monarchs were able to rally on the bases and score twice after trailing the Vaqueros 1-0 in the first two innings. However, after some wild pitches and hits from Valley freshmen infielders Jay B. Dalumpines with two RBIs and Hector Martinez with three total runs within the last four innings, Valley surged ahead 2-1. The Monarchs triumphed 4-3.

The most recent contest loss came on Feb. 24, when the Monarchs visited Irvine City College in a heartbreaking 8-1 defeat. The Monarchs were completely shut out after the second inning, only being able to get one run on the board, already trailing 1-2 to the Lasers. The next nine innings were all up for the Lasers, as they scored seven more times in dominant fashion.

So far this season, the Monarchs' batting average sits at .280 with a total of 95 runs, with five of those being homers through the first 14 games. The slugging average, which calculates batting power within the team, sits at .373. In comparison, Irvine sits comfortably at a 12-3 record with a .453 slugging average and a .316 batting average. 

Much of the season remains intact as the Monarchs hope to continue their training with a new freshman-heavy team and prepare for conference play beginning in March.

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“You know we still need to work on a few things,” said Valley freshman pitcher Nathaniel Katzman. “But I think as the season progresses, we’ll clean it up. We’re still in the beginning of our season.”

The Monarchs will once again face off against Irvine City College this time as host on Feb. 26. The first pitch is at 1:00 p.m.