Rams baseball looks to break playoff drought for upcoming season

Aaron Turner
Contributing Writer

Coming  off a 2010 campaign that featured more disappointment than success,  City College head baseball coach John Vanoncini feels this season’s  squad may be one of the most promising in years.

Despite  the low number of 2011 sophomores, who are countable on one hand, it is  the freshmen on roster that most excite the Rams’ skipper.

“I  think this is one of the top three freshman classes I’ve had since I’ve  been here,” Vanoncini said. “The fact that we now get to play and  practice at Fairmont Field everyday was a big help in terms of  recruiting players of their caliber.”

Despite  the Rams’ lack of experience on paper, sophomore Alex Rodriguez said  the team will need to rely on fundamentals and an experienced style of  play if the players expect success.

“It’s  all about executing the little things,” he said. “We’re not a team  that’s going to hit a lot of home runs and hit for power. But if we all  keep our heads on the same way, I think we can be very successful.”

First-year  players will get a chance to show exactly what they are capable of  playing in the very competitive Golden Gate division of the Coast  Conference, in which the top four teams all had 10 or more wins in  conference play in 2010, including state championship runner-up College  of San Mateo.

City  College finished 9-27 overall last season, while going 6-19 in the  conference. This year’s schedule will not be any easier because the  first-year players will be challenged immediately in their college  careers.

“It’s  tough,” Vanoncini said, when asked about conference play. “These guys  are going to be thrown into the fire early on. When you have the state  champion and state runner-up playing here in Northern California, you  know you’re going to be challenged.”

Sophomore  and team captain Mark Johnson said the team has improved in both work  ethic and chemistry from 2010, and he is encouraged by the way the young  team is coming together.

“Everybody  is on the same page,” Johnson said. “We’ve all been very active, and  our work ethic is as high as it’s ever been. Everyone knows we just need  to keep working every day at practice. Nobody has to be told that.”

Johnson  also cited new assistant coaches Roland Nazar and Tony Maganini as both  having big impacts on practices early in the preseason.

Vanoncini said Nazar will focus on the team’s hitting, while Maganini will serve as his pitching coach.

Nazar  will be tasked with improving an offense that scored 167 total runs  last season, ranking fifth in the conference. Meanwhile, Maganini will  surely look to try and erase memories of the Rams’ 2010 team ERA of  6.91.

The  Rams will open their 2011 season when they travel to Oakland for a  three-game series at Laney College Feb. 3-5. Their conference opener is  scheduled for March 1, when they host Mission College, a team that  finished last in the Coast Conference last year.

“We  have a good non-conference schedule this year,” Vanoncini said. “We’ve  got a lot of tough games early on, and it will be a good test for us.”

Although  the Rams are currently in a nine-year postseason drought, Vanoncini  feels this team may be very close to turning the corner.

“It’s  always a challenge when you lose some pitchers to injury like we did  early this year,” he said. “But the talent is there. We’re just going to  take it one game at a time, and try to get better every day.”