Trojans Crowned League Champs

The CVHS Trojans came crashing back to Earth after a 5-1 defeat to Newark in the NCS playoffs. But the team, under the direction of new manager, Mario Iglesias, soared to new heights as Hayward Area Athletic League champions this season. 

I had the opportunity recently to sit down with some of the stars of this year’s championship team—Jake Giuntoli, Josh Egan, Cody Bacho, and Matt Narahara—to discuss the challenges they had to overcome on their way to winning the league title.

EARLY STRUGGLES 

What struck me at first about the Trojans schedule this season was that they lost their first three games, and six of their first nine games. They scored only two runs in their first three games before erupting for 11 in their first win of the season at Valley Christian. 

And then, a switch was flipped, because the team finished April with a 9-2 record, and closed out the season with a six-game winning streak, followed by a four-game winning streak, and the league championship. 

“What happened between March and April that got your team on track?” 

Josh: “We had a new coach this year and he ran it like a dictatorship and kids didn’t want to listen. He was changing our swings and we didn’t want to. Everyone, you could say, bought in to the program and our hitting started coming around. Me and Matt led the hitting on our team at first and a few people started catching on.” 

Matt: “There was a lot of hesitation because it had been the same way for so long. That was a big jumpstart. It took a little getting used to. It wasn’t a laid back style anymore.” 

NEW COACH: NEW ATTITUDE

The Trojans welcomed a new manager to the team this season with Castro Valley baseball guru Mario Iglesias. Former pitcher at Stanford University and draft pick of the Chicago White Sox, Coach Iglesias has poured his heart and soul in teaching baseball fundamentals in Castro Valley as CEO of the Headfirst Baseball Academy West Coast. Most recently Coach Iglesias had been coaching the Stanford Cardinals, and so, Castro Valley gained a wealth of major college experience to provide vision and leadership. 

“What do you have to say about Coach Iglesias? What does he bring to your team?” 

Jake: “He knows his stuff. That’s for sure. He makes us try harder. He never lets us slack off. He just proved to us that hard work will pay off.” 

Cody: “He was coming from Stanford. We were excited to have a coach with this experience. We knew we were going to win. We got a new batting cage and fence. He made us all better players.” 

Matt: “I remember before the season when we were working out, he told us we were going to win the NCS. He had full confidence in us. Never giving up or doubting us was a big help. He knows how to run the program. He knows how to get us to do our best.” 

Josh: “When we were doing our fall workouts he got us all pretty excited about the season. Everyone wanted to start playing right then. He ran the team really well. He was good with technical stuff like defensive alignment and running plays and stuff.” 

Matt: “He was fully into Castro Valley program. He worked to make our full program better. All winter long we had to do fundraisers selling coupon booklets and we had a special banquet.”

 THE SPARK THAT IGNITED THE TITLE RUN

So, I wondered, what was it that finally got the team to come together after such a frustrating 3-6 start? Was there a team meeting? A lot of lessons were learned in what turned out to be a loss in that big game against perennial champion, Bishop O’Dowd.  The team’s first big rivalry game of the season was the first domino to fall that led to the league title.  

Jake: “After we lost to O’Dowd the first time we talked about the season. It’s make or break and we have to turn it on now to make the playoffs. The goal wasn’t really winning the league championship; it was the NCS playoffs.” 

Matt: “The O’Dowd game was a huge game because we played the way we would like to play every single game and we started buying into the system fully.”  

The Trojans were up against O’Dowd’s blue-chip, all-league pitcher Joe Ross (younger brother of Oakland A’s pitcher, Tyson Ross) in that tough 2-1 road loss. (More on Joe Ross later.) The big take-away from the O'Dowd game was that the Trojans played their smartest game of the season. And most importantly, the skills and strategies taught by Coach Iglesias manifested themselves in this pivotal game.

The Trojans rallied to tie O'Dowd 1-1 before a couple of late defensive miscues cost them a 1-run defeat. Nevertheless, in defeat, the team had gained all the confidence they needed to peel off wins in their next six games. 

THE STREAK

“Tell me about your six-game winning streak. It came after a tough loss to Bishop O’Dowd, 2-1, and wrapped up with a 26-2 win over Davis. What do you attribute that to?” 

Cody: “We were down the whole game 1-0 and Matt was throwing a really good game. We hadn’t done anything against Joe Ross the whole game. We had a lot of momentum going into the  seventh inning. We had two mental breakdowns.” 

Matt: “Our team knew after O’Dowd that we had the best team in the league. We were going to start winning. We brought confidence and intensity to those games.” 

Jake: “We knew we had talent and got sick of losing.” 

And by “sick of losing,” Jake meant that his team would go on to outscore their opponents to the tune of 61-10 in those six games.   

Josh: “Our hitting turned around. We didn’t hit too much through the whole year—no extra base hits. We started hitting a lot. Jake and Brendon Lee hit two home runs." 

Jake: “Desi hit one out, too.”  

The Trojans climbed right back into contention with their scoring outburst and piled up win after win. The team traveled during Spring Break to play a tournament in Modesto. They went 3-1 and had their winning streak snapped 4-0 to Carlmont on April 21.

 CLOSING IN ON THE LEAGUE CROWN

After losing to Carlmont, the Trojans strung together another four wins, which brought their season from a 3-6 start to a 10-2 in their next 12 games. The big win in that four-game streak included a home victory over the mighty Joe Ross and rival Bishop O’Dowd.  

As noted earlier, Ross is the younger brother of current A’s pitcher Tyson Ross. He had drawn the interest of several big-league clubs with his 95-mile per hour fastball. Dozens of scouts gathered around backstops across the Bay Area this season when Ross was on the bump. 

It was no different on a sunny Wednesday afternoon on May 4 when Ross was set to once again face CVHS in a game with major title implications. Despite the hype and the presence of big-league admirers, Ross' day got off to a rough start, to say the least. Ross hit Josh Egan and threw away a pick-off throw into right field, allowing Matt to score, and the Trojans took an early lead. 

From there, Ross plunked Colby Wright and tensions began to rise. The Trojans' payback came in the form of Jake Giuntoli, who stepped up to the plate and hit an RBI triple off Ross, scoring Egan and Wright. He followed that up with another RBI hit. Matt Narahara shut down the Dragons' vaunted offense, striking out nine and pitching a complete game, helping the Trojans nail down a crucial 5-2 win. They would not lose another game from the Carlmont loss all the way until the NCS playoffs.

 FACING JOE ROSS

“What’s it like to go up against a major league prospect like Joe Ross?”  

Cody: “When he’s on, he’s really tough to hit. He didn’t have any off-speed stuff working in that game. But when all his stuff’s working, he is on.” 

Matt: “The fastball’s going to be straight. You just have to hit it.” 

Jake: “Eventually we’re going to catch up to that.” 

Matt: “We know scouts are there, but they’re not really here for us. If we do good, we get on their list.” 

Jake: “I usually hit fast pitching really well. Mario put me down lower in the line-up that day so I could face more fast balls and off-speed and I just put it together.” 

SENIOR LEADERSHIP

This year’s team was filled with moments of solid pitching performances, clutch hitting and steady defense that culminated in a championship win. 

Cody: “Last year we did pretty well for the team we had. We lacked senior leadership, which we had this year. This year was better than last year.” 

HAAL CROWNS A NEW CHAMPION

No team since 1992 had won the HAAL championship other than Bishop O’Dowd. The members of this year’s Trojans team weren’t even born yet.

“When did you realize you would become HAAL Champions? How did you celebrate?” 

Matt: “We knew what we had to do to win the league: Beat O’Dowd, Arroyo. Every game we would check and see the standings. The day we beat Arroyo we knew we were co-league champions. We thought we were going to beat San Leandro.” 

Cody: “Arroyo beat O’Dowd, and O’Dowd lost to Mt. Eden. That helped us a lot.” 

Jake: “After we beat Arroyo we celebrated on the field. We went crazy on the bus.” 

Josh: “The bus ride home was pretty crazy. We were yelling and screaming and having a good time. Our coach used the intercom and called up the seniors and interviewed us.” 

NCS PLAYOFFS

The NCS playoffs were a bit of a downer for the Trojans. They may have underestimated their opponents from Newark prior to the game.  

Jake: “We thought, 'These guys are nothing.' But our coach scared some of the underclassmen and told us he had worked with the pitcher that faced us. That might have got in our head. We hit, but we couldn’t put anything together.” 

Josh: “We ended with five or seven errors. Those errors resulted in runs.” 

In fact, after a first-inning home run from Newark, the momentum and the ballgame fell in favor of Newark, which posted a 5-1 win. The NCS Division 1 playoffs will come to an end on Monday, June 6, as De La Salle faces Logan High School. (The game was originally scheduled for Saturday but postposed because of rain.)

SOARING TO NEW HEIGHTS

This year, the Trojans accomplished one goal and won the HAAL league championship.  

Coach Mario Iglesias, in his first year, cultivated a vision of change to the culture of the team, delivered a league championship and found ways to bring resources to the school programs, the team and the community.

Undoubtedly, Coach Iglesias will have the benefit of a group under his tutelage anxious to hit the diamond next year as the Trojans contend for more success, particularly in the NCS playoffs. Coach Iglesias has a vision for success and the Trojans are believers. 

POST-SEASON HONORS 

“Congratulations on the post-season honors.” 

Cody (infield) and Matt (outfield) received All-HAAL First Team Honors. 

“How do you feel about this recognition? Who else on your team is deserving of recognition?”

Matt: “I think that Jake and Josh should also be First Team All League.”

Jake (outfield), Josh (catcher), and Luke Lederman (pitcher) were voted All-HAAL Second Team.

Jake: “I hurt my shoulder at the beginning of the year, so Josh and I split time behind the plate. A better fit for me after that was outfield.” 

Josh: “We’re the best bats on the team. We both play catcher, but they needed the bats in the line-up.”

Finally, Jason Seever (infield) and Eric Wood (utility) were given All-HAAL Honorable Mention.

Cody: “Seever’s a great player—only a sophomore. He came up huge for us this year. He played a great centerfield and was a clutch hitter. He’s going to be really good when he’s older.” 

Matt: “He needs more experience. But he’s solid.”

Matt: “Eric filled a pretty good spot that we needed as a utility player—a back-up guy to fill up a spot. He can play every position. In the Arroyo game he pitched three shutout innings and the game helped us win the league.”

ADVICE FROM THE SENIOR CLASS

“So what are your thoughts about next year’s team?” 

Josh: “Colby Wright (senior) and Seever (junior) will be the leaders on the team.” 

The consensus around the table was that there will be a competitive group next year. Most of the talk centered around the effort and attitude required to play at a championship level. I felt that the guys are confident in next year's team doing well, but they were concerned that staying focused and serious during workouts and practice would be a key factor for success.

FUTURE PLANS

“What are your plans for baseball in the future?” 

Josh: “We all have been playing together since we were little. We love the game the most. We’ll play until we physically can’t. We’re all playing summer ball right now. We’re going to J.C.s and Matt’s going to USF.” 

“Where is summer ball?” 

Jake: “I play in the Oakland Baseball Club.” 

Cody: “I play in Bercovich. It’s out of Headfirst—a Connie Mack team for 18-year-olds, and Mario is involved along with Caleb Cooper, who is our assistant coach and runs Headfirst.”

TO THE KIDS IN TOWN

As an elementary school teacher here in CV for the past 10+ years, I wanted to know what advice these champions had for all the Little Leaguers in town with dreams of one day donning the Gold and Green. 

"Now that you are champions, what last bit of advice would you have for youngsters here in town that look up to you as role models, and have dreams of donning the green and gold as proud members of the Trojans baseball team?" 

Matt: “Definitely play. If you’re willing to put in some more work, then play.” 

Jake: “Make sure you’re committed.” 

Josh: “Make sure you work out on your own.”

CONGRATULATIONS, TROJANS! 

Castro Valley, you should be very proud of the young men representing the Hayward Area Athletic Championship baseball team.

I was impressed at their honesty and camaraderie. There was a real sense that a bond was formed early this school year, perhaps planted by Coach Iglesias, but ultimately nourished by the friendship and bond that these players and team leaders have with one another and their teammates. Congratulations on a job well done, and for becoming league champions this season. 

The Trojans definitely have some unfinished business in the NCS. You can bet it will not take another 19 years for CVHS to rise to the top of the league again.