The Pacific University baseball season was a roller coaster ride this year, often going from hot to cold for long stretches of time. After starting the season off slow during their Los Angeles trip, the Boxers went on to win seven straight games including their first four conference games.
The Boxers hit a rough patch losing 10 straight conference games during the course of the season. However they were able to bounce back as they won their next five conference games, sweeping Lewis and Clark in the front end of the streak.
Pacific had four players recognized for all-conference honors this season. Senior Dylan Wright earned NWC first team outfield, while junior Casey Brown, and seniors Joey Galeno and Cole Kanazawa all earned NWC honorable mention. Head coach Brian Billings admitted they will miss this year’s group of seniors but believes his returning players are strong enough to fill the void stating.
The Boxers finished at 16-24 for the season and 9-15 in conference play. Although they did not finish toward the top of the conference, coach Billings would not call this year a failure.
“I couldn’t ask for much more from our student-athletes in terms of effort and attitude,” Billings said. “They gave us everything they had this season all the way up to the final out of the season. From that standpoint they measured up to our expectations. We’ll keep at it and hopefully continue to grow the program.”
When asked about how they plan to improve and grow for next season Billings looks toward his experienced youth as a solid core to build around.
“Our Junior Varsity team was made up of mostly freshman and they finished 15-9 this season,” Billings said. “We also started 3-4 freshman on varsity on a regular basis. We believe in our returning players and we’re excited about the incoming recruiting class that will undoubtedly provide competition at every position on the field.”
When it came to how they need to go about the improvement process, Billings believes it is just the simple things stating, “We need to stay positive, stick with the program, and continue to work hard.”
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