Sports

Pioneer Baseball Looks To Add More Talent Through Open Tryout

By Kathleen Devine
Contributor

Photographer: Michael Chen

Coach Ralston hopes this year’s recruiting class will
enerate victories.

CSU East Bay’s men’s baseball team is looking to add to its already deep recruiting class by giving current students the chance to try out for the team this Friday.

Last season, the Pioneer men finished the season with an 18-30 record, and a 13-26 record in conference play as they struggled for most of the season.

Pitching was a struggle for the team as only Aj Gallardor (6-1) and Felipe Carvajal (1-0) finished the season with more wins than losses on his record. Gallardo Posted a 2.54 run average.

The tryouts are open to all full-time CSUEB students, all they have to do is complete the necessary paperwork and meet medical requirements.

This is only the second time in the team’s history they have held open tryouts for CSUEB students.

According to Debby De Angelis, CSUEB director of Athletics, this is not an unusual process for a team on campus to have as they usually are always looking for ways to better the programs.

CSUEB men’s baseball holds open tryouts for
second time in history.

“It’s usually a much more informal process and at one time or another all teams at CSUEB have done it,” she explained.

Since CSUEB moved up to the NCAA Division II ranks, the school has been allowed to hold tryouts for prospective students, usually after the students’ season in high school or for their junior college has finished.

The soccer team at CSUEB usually has tryouts at the beginning of their season, but usually those are all with students who have already been in touch with the coach.

Although tryouts do happen, not many additions are usually made.

“Usually our teams are primarily made up of students that our coaches recruit to come here,” DeAngelis said when discussing recruiting.

Head baseball coach Robert Ralston only has one main goal for the program in the fall from a competitive standpoint.

Running speed is an attribute the coaches will look for.

“Our goal for the fall is to build a competitive team out of the returning and recruited players we have brought into play for East Bay,” Ralston said.

Ralston said they are looking for specific physical tools that will help a player be successful on the team at the collegiate level.

Arm strength, running speed, bat speed, power, solid defensive skills and a player who has a swing that will allow them to hit for average, are some of the qualities Ralston is looking for at the tryouts.

Ralston mentioned while the students who come to the tryout did not have to possess all of the physical tools, having a couple of them will work in their favor as the coaches look on.

The CSUEB baseball staff isn’t looking for any particular position, they are just looking for players who they think can help the team win games.

This was Ralston staff’s first recruiting class and they believe they had a strong year of recruiting and have brought in players who will help improve from last season and help give the program an identity.

The team has already brought in 28 new players and they are still looking for more with this open tryout.

Tryouts could bring incoming freshmen and students who already attend CSUEB and give them the opportunity most never believed they had.

The new players they have for the team already are mostly freshman recruits with some transfer students from junior colleges and also some NCAA Division 1 bounce backs.

Ralston and his recruiting staff tried to focus on recruiting local talent around the Bay Area but the staff believes it is time to open it up to the school as well.

The fall season will show just how strong they can be for their spring season; it can also give them some feedback about the strengths and weaknesses of their newly formed team.

“We feel like our future is bright,” Ralston explained.

This entry was published in The Pioneer Online on Thursday, September 27th, 2012 at 5:32 pm.