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It could be easy to be frustrated and annoyed as a member of the Compton baseball team. The Tarbabes have been without a home facility the last few years since Compton High was torn down to make way for the extensive rebuild its currently receiving. That’s meant that the baseball team is practicing on the makeshift soccer/football field at the middle school campus currently hosting the high school. The team, however, hasn’t gotten down about it–mostly because of the leadership of their coach, Lorenzo Redick.
“I told the kids, we could make excuses and say we’re waiting on a new field, but we can’t do that,” he said. “We gotta try to get better. It’s baseball at the end of the day. It’s a privilege to play, it’s not something you have to do. I got guys who just want to play ball.”
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The result is a Compton team that could be the school’s best in years. When the CIF Southern Section preseason rankings came out, Compton was the only team to make the list, coming in at No. 10 in Division 8.
“That’s crazy, I don’t know where they got that from but I’ll take it,” said Redick with a laugh.
The team’s leader, Jacob Garcia, echoed his coaches’ comments and said his team is positive and upbeat.
“We do extra work outside of practice too, but the field is okay, it’s a challenge but it’s nothing that we can’t handle,” he said. “We’re getting it done. We’re getting after it every week.”
Garcia said the goal was to keep the team’s morale and energy up throughout the season this year.
“Typically in the beginning of the season we’re positive and then around the middle we start coming down, and this year we’re trying to keep that energy up throughout the season, no matter what the circumstances are,” he said.
Redick complimented Garcia and his other leaders, including his assistant coaching staff that’s helped to focus his players on what it takes to get better and improve to the next level. He also said he’s not defining whether this year is a success or not based off of his team’s record, but rather off of how they play.
“Of course everyone wants to win, but if I can see my guys developing that’s good enough for me,” he said. “Our league is tough–we want to win some preseason games and get the guys’ morale up to be ready for league.”
Compton Starting Lineup
P- Andrew Ruiz
C- Lucio Catalán
1B- Rafael Vicente
2B- Eric Mora
3B- Oscar Mata
SS- Jacob Garcia
LF- Johnathan Arteaga
CF- Anthony Jacobo
RF- Aaron Espinoza
