Baseball team winning

Tomy Arguelles Staff Writer

The Richland Campus men’s baseball team is off to a fast start, winning five games out of the first seven this season. While it is true the season is just beginning, it is very important to accumulate as many wins as possible in order to qualify for the playoffs. The season consists of 56 games. First pitch was on Jan. 27. The season is scheduled to end on May 6.

The Thunderducks participate in the DAC Conference with Dallas College campuses Eastfield, Cedar Valley, Mountain View, Brookhaven and North Lake. There are two regional conferences and the top six teams qualify for the postseason, in which any team that loses two games will be eliminated.

After the postseason, the team that wins the title will participate in the national championship that will take place in Cookeville, Tennessee, with the participation of the best eight teams in the country. However, there is an at-large bid that only one team can get if they don´t win the district tournament, such as being the team with the best record among all of them that didn’t qualify for the tournament in JCA, for example.

“The pitching on the mound has been really good so far. The starters have done the job, and we have had really good bullpen arms as well,” manager Jimmy Brenneman said. Ryan Taylor, Jason Scrantom and Jacob Blaede have been the starters who dominated the hitters in the first five wins, while Aidan Valenzuela, Jacob Smoot, Vince Ray and Carson Caudill have shown outstanding performances from the bullpen.

“We have a lot of speed (T-Ducks has stolen 20 bases in the first seven games). Some guys showed a little bit of power, too. Eight home runs on the first seven games. We are timely hitting. Our batting average is not anything crazy, but we have guys just come through on the clutch getting hits when we need it,” Brenneman said.

About the aspects the team needs to improve, Brenneman said, “I would like to see our guys a little bit more aggressive in the count. We have been kind of passive at the plate. We need better approaches with two strikes on the hitter. I think if we can clean these two things up, we are going to be pretty tough to beat.”

National player of the week

Upcoming Events

All events are free and open to the public unless otherwise indicated.

Feb. 22 i Room T225

2 p.m. - 4 p.m.

Finanicial Aid Help Session

March 3 i Exhibition Final Day - no pasa nada by Jose Vasquez Ramirez

9 a.m. - 5 p.m.

Brazos Gallery

Dallas College Richland Campus’ very own Ed Trahan was named the National Junior College Athletic Association Division III Men’s Basketball player of the week.

Trahan stands at 6-foot-4 and is a sophomore forward from Cypress, Texas. Trahan has averaged 20 points, 10.3 rebounds and 2.3 assists per game while shooting 67% from the field as the T-Ducks won three conference games last week.

Trahan’s hard work and effort helped the team move up one spot to No. 8 in the NJCAA Division III rankings this week, coming off an 81-79 road win at Cedar Valley Campus. Trahan is averaging 15 points, 8.9 rebounds, 1.8 assists and 55.7% shooting from the field this season.

-Saint Garcia

March 6

11 a.m. - noon i Monarch Student Scholarship Workshop

Sabine Hall 117

March 10 i Women’s Empowerment Leadership Conference

9 a.m. - 2:30 p.m.

Sabine Hall 117 and 188 i

Noon - 1:30 p.m.

Disability Benefits Informational Workshop

SH214 i Monarch Action Service Day: Catholic Charities Mobile Service Unit

5 p.m. - 8 p.m.

Police Parking Lot