The562’s season previews for the 2022-23 school year are sponsored by Vertical Raise, the official team fundraising partner of The562.
The562’s coverage of Cabrillo Athletics is sponsored by the Cohn Family.
The Garrett Young era has begun as the Jaguars try to rebuild under the guidance of a new coach.
Cabrillo only has a few seniors on the 2023 roster so Young is concentrating on getting back to the basics.
“We’re young and really trying to teach them how to play a good brand of baseball,” Young said. “I just want to have a competitive first year and grow from there.”
Young knows a lot about local baseball after playing at Edison and coaching at Fountain Valley and Wilson. He’s been helping the Bruins on and off over the last three years.
“We’re working on everything from hitting, running bases, bunting and small ball,” Young said of his practices at Cabrillo. “It’s teaching the game that should be played at the high school level.”
Young will have to rely on one of his few experienced seniors Aaron Strawberry to step up as a leader by example. After playing in the outfield last season, Strawberry has been moved to shortstop where Young thinks he can become more attractive to college coaches.
“We’ve been doing a lot of glove work and foot work, to make him a little more versatile for the next level,” Young said. “He runs so well and has good instincts.”
Strawberry will hit in the leadoff spot to try and set the table with speed for the Jaguars, and Young said he’s putting a premium on small ball. Strawberry is the nephew of eight-time MLB All-Star outfielder Darryl Strawberry.
“We have to do it that way since we don’t have many guys with much experience in this league and at this level,” Young said. “We have to play off our strength which is his speed and his bat.”
Hitting in the cages five days a week, and sticking to the basics when they do so, has Strawberry (pictured above) excited about his team’s growth under Young.
“He’s an old-fashioned coach,” Strawberry said of Young. “He teaches us the hard way and not the easy way. He’s pushing us and showing us how to be a good athlete and a good person. He’s pulling that out of us.”
“My ultimate goal is to help these guys to enjoy playing by doing it the right way while working hard,” Young said. “I want to see them fight through each game, each inning and each pitch.”
All of that starts on the mound where sophomores John Orozco and Micah Afoa will take the bulk of the innings. Young has also been keeping it simple with his young arms while developing their mechanics to more consistently throw strikes. Strawberry said he’s been impressed with the run on Afoa’s two-seem fastball in practice.
They’ll be throwing to catcher Vicente Sinsun, who is taking over the job from his older brother who graduated. Young said Sinsun is a hard-working addition who is really good with the pitchers and will hit three or four in the lineup.
Orozco will play first base when he isn’t on the mound, and freshman Adam Rosalez will fill in there when Orozco is pitching.
Behind Strawberry, senior second baseman Moises Figueroa will hit second in the lineup.
There’s a little more expense in the lineup at third base where senior Amador Herrera will start. He played some last year and also had time in the outfield and on the mound.
Afoa, Erik Orozco and Frankie Rios will be in the outfield, and the sophomore Erik Orozco will hit in the middle of the order.
Young has put together a full schedule against competitive programs so his young team can see what it takes to win with good baseball. The Jaguars already played Wilson and Fountain Valley in preseason scrimmages.
“We’re going in to win every single game but it’s the progress of when we have a bad inning not closing it up, and instead learning from it and getting better and competing again after that,” Young said. “I’m trying to up the level of play and then compete at that level.”
Projected Starting Lineup:
C – Vicente Sinsun
P – John Orozco
1B – Adam Rosalez
2B – Moises Figueroa
3B – Amador Herrera
SS – Aaron Strawberry
OF – Erik Orozco
OF – Micah Afoa
OF – Frankie Rios
