The California State University, East Bay Pioneers’ 2014 baseball season is under way. The team looks to build from its 2013 season where it tied the school record for wins going 32-18. The team is in no way satisfied, for they still were on the outside looking in to the playoffs last year.

Head Coach Bob Ralston is entering his third season as head coach with an overall record of 50-48. When asked how he approached this upcoming season he is only worried about one thing.

“Every year is a new year of baseball,” said Ralston. We are trying not to focus on single game outcomes, but just working on getting that much better every opportunity we have.”

The Pioneers looked to focus on defense in the off-season, and want that to be known as their clear strength moving forward. This will add to their already strong starting pitching rotation. One of which being Bryan Webster, who has in four appearances only given up one earned run in 6.2 innings.

“As a team we really put a focus on defense in the offseason,” said Webster. “Running a lot of drills that we feel will make us very good defensively this year.”
The players individually took it upon themselves to get ready for the 2014 season as well.

“I took the first bit of the off-season to get some much needed rest from last year, but then focused on getting my body into great shape for this year,” Senior Pitching Captain Sean Becker stated. “I focused on weight training and conditioning mostly.”

Although, pitching and defense has been the focused strength of the Pioneers in the off-season they do plan to bring a strong offensive attack this season.

“We have a good mix of power and speed this year,” said Ralston, who has seen his team swipe 19 bags, good for second in the league.

The Pioneers are really trying to focus on all the details this season and think the difference between a win and a loss can be a small margin.

“Improving on doing the little things correct is of huge importance, for that will be a factor in numerous games,” said Ralston.

The team started at an impressive 4-1, but has since gone 2-5. The team looks to bounce back with three home games against Hawaii Pacific this weekend, after losing the last three by one run to Sonoma State Seawolves who are 6-4 this season.
When talking to Becker about the three close losses to Sonoma State he believes it’s all about looking forward.

“It was a rough weekend to say the least,” said Becker. “It’s all about making less mistakes than the other team. We just need to relax going into this weekend and keep playing.”

The team knows that the road will not get much easier heading into the CCAA conference this year. Ralston is ready to embrace the tough road ahead.

“We as a team are looking forward to the challenge,” said Ralston. “It is going to be difficult, we know, but we’re looking forward to showing what we can do against some good competition this year.”

No one will have to tell the Pioneers the importance of each and every game this year, after only missing the playoffs last season by two games, especially if they want to reach their ultimate goal of making the playoffs this season.

This is a lesson Becker has made clear to his team this year.

“Every game counts,” said Becker. “We know that clearly by just missing the playoffs last year by such a little margin last season.”