Lots of Changes for Baseball

Pacific baseball closed out their last season with an overall record of 25-16, and a conference record of 13-11. It placed them a middling and disappointing fourth in the conference. But moving into this season, they are ready to prove themselves once again, and show that they are the number one team in the conference.

   Leading the group into their season is first year Head Coach Jacob Upwood, who arrived at Pacific after 11 seasons as an assistant coach at North Park in Chicago. He is the one of the many changes that the Boxers have experienced in preparation for the upcoming season. Some of the other notable changes are the seniors that the team lost. Influential player Cj Colyer will be missing from the group this year. Colyer was named Northwest Conference Player of the Year in the 2024 season and was a big impact player for the team. With the loss of many strong seniors the team is left young. 

   But one of the strong returning players is junior pitcher Governor Aufranc, who led Pacific with four wins last year. He returns to the top of the starting rotation, along with senior Vincent Lagatta. “We are very young, but we’re all pretty gritty and we want to win,” said Aufranc. “I really think the young talent will stand out this year and really make a difference for us in the long run.”

   Although the team is younger, the culture and chemistry built in the group is a strong point for Pacific. Junior Colby Podratz enters his third season with Pacific and explained the daily mindful practices that the team does to further deepen their culture. “We do deep breathing before practices to get into the mindset to work hard each day, and to really think about what you’re doing,” Podratz shared. “We also do this before games for visualization.” He goes on to say that they visualize their good career moments to help give them confidence going into the game. The team has used this breathing exercise for many years and it’s become embedded in the team’s routine. 

   Team culture is important to the Boxers, and is one of their hidden features that keeps the team a dominant opponent in the Northwest Conference. “I think our team chemistry is one of our biggest strengths,” Aufranc explained. “We all get along really well. We like to get out there, have fun, listen to music, have a good laugh, but when it comes down to business we go out there and win.”

   And that’s what they plan to do‒ win. “Our team goal is to make it back to the conference tournament at the very least,” Aufranc shared. “Last year we came up short, finishing fourth, and this year we are trying to win it.” 

This story was originally published in the Pacific Index, Pacific University's student newspaper. Used with permission.