GREENFIELD — Once again, the Greenfield Bruins varsity baseball team is sitting atop the Cypress Division for the first time since the 2019 season.
Coming into the 2022-23 season, the Bruins were the favorites to capture the Cypress title because of all the returning talent, including Pitcher of the Year Manuel Gutierrez and Malcolm Bautista. The only competition the Bruins had in the division came from the Gonzales Spartans, who beat them twice a year ago.
Although they were the favorites, the season didn’t get off to a great start. In their first five games, the Bruins went 1-4. In those four losses, the Bruins’ offense only produced two runs. The good news was that they would begin league play so they could get their offense on track.
Once they started league play, their bats dominated, scoring over five runs in each game except for one. Now that the Bruins had defeated everyone in the division, they had a series with Gonzales to determine the team controlling Cypress.
In game one, Gutierrez dominated on the mound as Greenfield cruised to a 1-0 win. In game two, the Bruins let their bats lead them as they won 6-1.
This past week, the Bruins got help from Seaside that knocked off Gonzales. Now to clinch, the Bruins had to take care of business against Pajaro Valley. Once again, the pitching and bats did their part, as they clinched the division with a 12-1 win.
With Greenfield winning the Cypress, they have guaranteed themselves a spot in the postseason. But the big question is: How will they do?
Out of the four divisions across the Pacific Coast Athletic League, Cypress would be considered the least competitive. So the Bruins have to show people they can compete by going outside of their division and win some games.
So far, Greenfield’s best win this season is against King City, which is in third place in the Mission Division. This season when they played Mission opponents, they were 6-3 against them, but three of those wins did come against King City.
The Bruins still have a couple more games to improve before they find out their opponent in the playoffs. If you’re a team that thinks the Bruins won’t be much of a first-round match-up, they better think again.
