Baseball team not perfect, but close

At the start of the season Southwestern College head baseball coach Jerry Bartow did not know what to expect out of his club.

With the core group of his pitching staff gone from last year's first place team, Bartow had to scrape together a rotation.

"Most pitchers are freshman," said starting pitcher Daniel Stenavich. "We took it as a challenge. Everyone thought we were going to give up 10 runs and the pitching staff was going to be the weakness."

The Jaguars have more than matched Bartow's expectations this season, starting league play at 9-1.

SWC went on a 9-0 tear through the Pacific Coast Conference to start the season. SWC finally lost to San Diego City College, 15-7.

Any question on how the Jaguars would take their first loss after winning nine in a row was answered the next day at practice during a situational hitting drill.

Infielder Ryan Farris was struggling offensively. Frustrated, he took a seat next to his coach on the bench.

"I'm not hitting the ball," said Farris.

While rubbing the freshman's head his coach told him jokingly, "You have to channel your positive energy. I tell you what, if you hit the ball into those palm trees (that are scattered on the other side of the outfield fence) then I will buy you dinner."

The 260-pound Farris looked over his shoulder, smiled and ran into the batter's box.

The next pitch soared out of the park and hit the trunk of a palm tree about 400 feet away.

"We were a little relaxed about the game," said Stenavich, who started for SWC.

"We assumed we could roll over people without trying."

The sophomore pitched 5 1/3 innings against City College, giving up seven hits and four earned runs.

Stenavich was getting ahead of batters in the count but failed to finish the job on many occasions, including giving up a home run to Knights catcher Alex Cann on a 0-2 count.

With the score 13-4 in the top of the eight, the Jaguars tried to rally back, scoring three runs in a row bringing up their top of the lineup but failed to cash in.

Despite his struggle against City College, Stenavich has been solid this season, including a start against archrival Grossmont earlier this season.

The sophomore pitcher was ready to start when his coaches told him he did not have the "stuff" to get the win over the Griffins.

Stenavich answered his coaches by pitching a complete game and giving up no earned runs in the 5-1 victory, running the Jaguars' conference record to 7-0.

"The coaches did a good job of pissing me off before the game," said Stenavich. "They said I couldn't do it against their lineup, they were nervous with such a short porch (at Grossmont's Noel Mickelson Field)."

"That was the best game we have had pitching-wise in a long time," said Bartow.

The right hander started the game strong and seemed to improve late in the game, finishing the nine innings stronger than when he started.

"Stenavich was outstanding," added assistant coach Wayne Bradley. "The best pitched game from a Southwestern guy I have seen in a while."

Jaguar's catcher Taylor Comford was a menace for Griffins starter Garrett Russell as he went 3-4 at the plate.

Russell struggled in the 5 1/3 innings that he pitched against the Jaguars, giving up nine hits and striking out only three, allowing four earned runs. Jared Jordan gave Grossmont headaches all day long.

"He is like a little rabbit out there," said Bartow. "He is all over the place."

After the starting center fielder Nathaniel (Tre) Davis was injured, Jordan stepped up to replace him. Jordan went 2-3 with two RBI's proving he can be reliable when called upon to come off the bench.

"We missed Tre and are better having him in the line up," said Bradley. "But our subs have been excellent."

Pitching has been key in all of the Jaguars victories in conference play, they have out-scored their opponents 45-20 and have allowed only nine total runs in their last four games.

"We have been taking our wounds," said Bartow. "We have had to put our pitchers out there to see what they could do, we have walked people, hit people, we have to have good pitching every time we go to the hill."

Jaguar players credit their pitching staff for their conference wins along with the propensity for taking the lead early in the ball game. The Jaguars have outscored their opponent by 60 percent in the first four innings of their conference games. Holding to form, SWC scored six times in the first inning in the 9-2 victory over second place Palomar College.

During the season opener SWC faced off against San Diego City College and again jumped to an early lead scoring five runs on three hits in the first inning.

SWC designated hitter Ryan Farris reached base four out of five times. The freshman was hit by a pitch, walked and slashed two doubles in the 13-3 win.

"City brought their ace, he throws hard," said Farris. "(Goldy Simmons) provided most of the power so I was just looking for contact."

The Jaguars' defense was solid, helping starter Lucas Stanford to a win.

Bartow said he knows that after a string of good seasons things are really looking up for the Jaguars this year. They are the team that everyone is gunning for.

"Everyone wants to beat Southwestern," said Bartow.