The 2008 Season!
The 2008 Pierce College Raiders Baseball Team has a lot to look forward to this upcoming season. After a very strong 2007 and just missing a playoff berth, the players and coaching staff have set their goals high for the spring of 2008.
Head Coach Orion Jones entering his second season with the Raiders had this to say about his team in 2008. "We are a very tough baseball team. We have speed, defense, and pitching, three very important factors to win a lot of ball games. We lost a couple of powerful hitters in our line up (Dan Dillard .313 BA & 7 HR, and A.J. Tea .334 BA & 8 HR), but we have some very good freshmen and a strong group of returning sophomores to battle in their place."
Some of the returning sophomores that Coach Jones was referring to are: Kody Gibson who is a strong, fast, left handed centerfield, coming off of a .331 BA 2 HR Freshman season, which earned him 2nd team all league honors, Nick Hutson, a 6'4 200lbs hard throwing right handed pitcher and Brian Guyett 6'0 175lbs right handed pitcher will be the work horses of the pitching staff. Other very strong sophomore talents are Gage Wollerman, who started every game at 3rd base last year and held a very strong .912 fielding percentage, Travis Stultz who is one of the best all around talents on the team, Kiola Ruben a very explosive sophomore the Raiders are looking to have a big season, and team leader Daryl Schlepp help round out some of the stars of the team.
Although the team looks to the sophomores to lead them, it will be the freshmen class that will dictate how far they go. Some of the freshmen stand outs to keep an eye on are short stop Dexter Bryant, a bulldog defensive player with the total package and plus arm strength, Zach Hamilton who is a very fast, smart, multi-talented player and Josh Serrick who is a very talented athlete that can play anywhere at any time.
When asked about the rest of the 2008 team and what he thought about the outcome of the season Coach Jones had this to say. "We are very strong in the amount of talent on this team, Travis Warnock, Brian Boyle, Jer Atkinson, Matt Parson, and many other players have set very high goals for themselves this season. I'm not going to jinx us and call out a win number, or where we will be at the end of the season, but I will say that we will be very competitive and look to a strong showing in our league."
Jones the coaching staff and the players are all excited and optimistic about 2008. They will be a very exciting group to watch so come out and show your support, and GO RAIDERS!!!!
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