Although the spring sports season has hit Arizona, many local teams have yet to start their seasons; the Mingus Union High School baseball team is no exception.
“Our kids have already dealt with a lot of adversityto start the year, as we should be three games in,” Mingus baseball coach Erick Quesada said. “It is nice because our kids understand how to stay sharp and focused despite less than ideal circumstances.”
“We should be in a tournament right now in Phoenix but, due to the weather, we were unable to participate,” Quesada said.
The Marauders were penciled in to play at the Wayne Descombes Pre-Season Invitational Tournament but held an intra-squad scrimmage instead to maintain their edge while chilly temperaturesplagued the Valley of the Sun and unusually heavy snowfall beset the Verde Valley.
“We have had a couple speed bumps early on, I am not going to lie to you,” Quesada said. “A lot of it was bone-headed errors and mental mistakes but the practices since then have been outstanding.”
After a sluggish start to the preseason, the Marauders have honed in on their goal to make another playoff push.
“We really dialed in on what was needed to correct these mistakes, so I think we are doing really well lately,” Quesada said.
Offensively, the Marauders will rely on solid contact rather than swinging for the fences.
Though the Marauders lost Jordan Huey and Skyler Wynick to graduation, Mingus returns multiple players that have hit for .300-plus averages.
“Obviously, we will have a couple guys that can go yard but we are a contact-heavy, fundamentally sound team,” Quesada said. “They understand our mantra is ‘we over me,’ in the sense of doing the little things that separate the good teams from the great ones.”
Mingus batted .359 last season with five home runs and a .456 on-base percentage.
“My philosophy is: If you succeed as a team, the individual stat lines will follow suit,” Quesada said.
Though the Marauders’ regular season has not started yet, Mingus’ rotation is already beginning to take shape.
“We have six guys that can suit up and start for us, so we do not have to tire out one pitcher’s arm,” Quesada said. “It is nice that if one pitcher is lagging, we can swap him out with another and feel confident in his abilities.”
Justin Tanner leads the Marauders pitching staff after going 5-0 while allowing only 1.07 earned runs in his 2018 campaign.
“My expectations for Tanner are to lead the region statistically again and put on a big year,” Quesada said. “The Grand Canyon region sent six out of seven teams to the postseason but I think we’ll be tough if our pitching and defense hold up.”
Aside from Tanner, the Marauders return two experienced pitchers in Chris Mathe and Angel Betancourt.
With a wealth of options on the mound, how do the Marauders pick just one?
“We look through previous stats on Maxpreps [a high school sports statistics website] and we just piece everything together, such as an ideal match-up heading in,” Quesada said.
Quesada said he believes Mingus’ senior leadership has done wonders for the younger players’ growth.
“Our younger players are trying to acclimate with the different pace but some kids are starting to stand out,” Quesada said. “Our younger players have stepped up collectively as a whole and that is due to our senior leadership.”
Last season, the Marauders finished 16-8 and 9-4 in sectional play. Mingus advanced to the playoffs before falling 12-2 to Sunrise Mountain on April 28.
The Marauders open their season on Tuesday, Feb. 26, when they host Seton Catholic Preparatory High School. The first pitch is slated for 3:45 p.m.
