by Ian Cook

After not having the season they longed for last year, the St. John Bosco Braves baseball team, led by Head Coach Don Barbara, have started off their 2022 season strong with an overall record of 5-1.

This year, the Braves have a grand total of 18 senior players. This team has already proven to be a strong contender as they were ranked 16th in Southern California by the Los Angeles Times. With this experience, they are hopeful to beat out the very challenging competition and win the prestigious Trinity League Championship.

“We’ve had a great start to this season so far, and since we have a lot of seniors, including myself, I just want to turn a lot of heads and make it big for our team,” said senior third baseman Julian Orozco. 

The Braves will face off against the Jserra Lions and the Orange Lutheran Lancers, two high-level programs that have drawn national attention in the last few years due to their continuous successful seasons. 

The Braves have had to battle through adversity over the course of the last two years due to COVID-19 and an unsuccessful season. Though going into this season, the Braves are excited to get back to a championship-contending team.

“We’ve had a rough two years, our season was cut short due to COVID, and last year we went 6-21. This year we’re finally back to normal and we have a lot of division one talent that we’re ready to display this year,” said senior catcher Dylan Taguiam. 

As of now, the Braves have defeated El Dorado 6-1, Mission Viejo 9-6, Woodbridge 8-1, Newport Harbor 13-1 and San Juan Hills 6-3. The Braves’ only defeat was to a very strong, Tesoro team, losing 4-3 in the championship game of the Newport Elks Tourney. 

The Braves have been able to use their depth to have a successful season thus far and hope to continue this game plan going into a very tough Trinity League stretch. 

“We’ve had a lot of guys this year step up big time and help us make great plays to close out these games. Dylan Lina, and Taguiam, as well as Jake Ellison, are just examples of a few guys that have really helped us close out games these last couple of weeks. We’re going to be counting on them and other guys as well to keep being as consistent as possible,” said senior pitcher Niko Riera. 

With this heavy senior group, comes many commitments, a few to mention are Caleb Brandon, committed to the University of Southern California, Dylan Taguiam, committed to Lipscomb University, Dylan Lina, committed to San Jose State University, Aeden Alexander, committed to Azusa Pacific University and Niko Riera, committed to the University of California Irvine.

Despite the depth in this year’s team, the expectations will even be higher than in previous years. The Braves hope to win the 2022 Trinity League Championship, as well as a CIF Southern Section and State Regional Title. 

The Braves will play an away game against Dana Hills Tuesday, March 8th, at 3 P.M.