Delta College’s baseball team prepares to take on the postseason after coming up short of capturing the Big 8 Conference title.
The Mustangs (30-9 overall, 19-5 Big 8) finished second place in league play to Folsom Lake (32-6-1 overall, 20-4 Big 8) following the team’s last conference game against Santa Rosa on April 29.
Heading into the playoffs, Head Coach Reed Peters likes his team’s chances when it comes to scoring runs, but wants to work on conceding less runs when his players are out on the field.
“I think we’ve peaked offensively with our hitting, defensively we still need to do a better job at pitching,” Peters said.
Throughout the whole season there hasn’t been a game in which the Mustangs have blanked out their opponents on the scoreboard.
“You’ve got to play it pitch by pitch and focus every pitch, no matter what the score is or what the situation is. We just have to eliminate those errors and if we focus on pitching more strikes I think we’ll be alright,” Peters added.
Fielding errors have cost Delta several games.
In seven of the Mustangs’ nine losses, the team has had at least one error on the field, with the two exceptions being on March 24 against Sacramento City and April 12 against Cosumnes River.
The head coach emphasized that the team needs to shake off the mistakes and keep their heads high for the postseason.
“Confidence is the most important thing you need to have going into the playoffs. Hopefully if we can play loose and relaxed that could help get us going,” Peters said.
Pitcher Seth Tomczak said the team needs to keep its performance at a high level throughout all nine innings if the Mustangs want to advance in the NorCal playoffs.
“I don’t think either closing solid or opening games strong is important. The most important thing is to stay strong throughout the whole game,” Tomczak added.
Tomczak is among the players who has had his ups and downs during the season.
The Arizona State kickback has struck out 63 batters so far, but has also allowed six home runs pitching on the mound.
Regardless of any mistakes or good plays he or any of his teammates make, Tomczak stressed the Mustangs shouldn’t change their game plan.
“We’ve got a few things we still need to work on but I think we’re ready for postseason play,” Tomczak said. “We just have to stay true to ourselves and not do too much. I think that’ll be our key to winning.”
Delta enters the CCCAA NorCal playoffs as the No. 3 seed and will begin postseason play against the No. 14 seeded Sierra College at home this Friday at 1:30 p.m. to kick off a Best of Three series in which the Mustangs seek to advance to the next round.