Panthers Win at Mescalero
By John Earp
The Jal High School Panthers Baseball Team (3-5) came out on top 14-11 Tuesday over the Mescalero Apache Chiefs (2-9), building momentum going into their next game versus district rivals the Texico Wolverines this coming Saturday.
Jal High School Head Baseball Coach, Mr. Johnny Estrada, has been leading the JHS baseball program for several years now, with the help of several assistant coaches, including some new ones this year. Coach Gary Simmons, a JHS grad from the class of ’79, is coaching hitting and the infield, while his son, Hayden, who played baseball in college, is coaching the outfield. Coach Lee Flores coaches pitching. Gary Simmons comes with many years of experience coaching high school baseball in Texas. Estrada says he is fortunate to have such depth in his coaching staff this season, and says they have knowledge of the game on the coaching side.
District play will begin this weekend against Texico. Estrada says he has no doubt the Texico Wolverines will be a tough team. The Panther Baseball Team includes 7 seniors this year, 3 juniors, no sophomores, and then “a whole lot of younger guys,” says Estrada. “From Freshman to 8th Grade, we have about another 15 kids.” Overall, this makes the team fairly young and inexperienced, even with the 7 seniors. With the good number of younger boys coming out for the team, the team’s future is definitely looking up. The Panthers traveled to Mescalero this past Tuesday, for their final pre-district game.
Estrada says, “Most of the time what we need improvement in is to just stop making the innings long. What I mean by that is we’ll get a quick two outs and then we just kind of kick the ball around and have a bunch of errors and then allow the team to go.” Estrada says the main thing his team really needs to work on a lot is consistency. He said, “We kind of lose motivation and confidence and then we start making some errors and then that’s when they kind of come up on us. Then we’ll have another, you know, we’ll have a good fourth inning and a good fifth inning, and then we’ll go back to the sixth inning, having another wheel fell off, and that’s where it kind of compounds. Perhaps some of it is lack of maturity, but I think a lot of it is just executing, doing what the coaches say, just making a simple play, like hitting the cut off or just holding the ball instead of trying to make a play that’s not there, trying to force things.
Estrada says one issue that has to be improved upon by his team is when a player makes a mistake, not to let it frustrate and deflate their mindset. Attitude determines almost everything in sports, as well as in life, says Estrada. He says one of the things he always seeks to do as a teacher and a coach is to help boys become men, because once they get out of high school, they are definitely going to need to “man up,” get back up when they fall, and keep pressing on to provide for their family, be responsible. He says, “What we’re trying to coach and teach the boys is that hey, that’s the way life is and not only are we coaching them in baseball, but we’re also trying to coach them and show them life skills. We have to understand that once baseball’s done, you still have to be a positive influence and an adult that gives effort, discipline and know how to pick yourself up and get going again, you know, what I mean? Once they get out high school, they’re going to have even more difficulties at times and yeah, for sure. you know, you know, some of these guys are going to be parents and they’re going to have to realize that, hey, now it’s not about me. It’s I’ve got to provide for my family and I’ve got to take care of my kids. Yeah, I got to man up. We want them to be men, Sometimes, they’re going to have to be in a sticky situation and they’re going to learn how to fight for themselves and protect what’s theirs and protect their families.”