MHS wins DeJesus baseball tourney

by Y-Dan Bui

The Milpitas Trojans Varsity Baseball team began the season by winning three games to take home the Michael DeJesus tournament, according to Coach Chuy Zamudio. The tournament, which took place February 22-26 this year, annually honors Former Player Michael DeJesus who was killed in 2005.

The Trojans were able to win due to the team’s ability to limit huge mistakes and play sound defense, Zamudio said. It was important for the team to start off strong right out of the gate.

“It was crucial for us to get off to a good start,” Zamudio said. “It makes everybody know that ‘hey we have something special that we can do this year.’”
Even though they won the Michael DeJesus tournament, Senior First Baseman Kevin Tu said the team can do better. They are on the way to reaching their potential though, according to Tu.

“We expected to be a little better than we are right now but we’re getting there,” Tu said. “We just haven’t put together a full game yet.”

The team’s hitting and pitching were good enough for them win the tournament, according to Senior Shortstop Alex Herrera. As a senior, Herrera said he hopes to be a leader in his last year.

“My goal is to lead the team on offense and on defense,” Herrera said. “And I am also going to try to be a good role model.”

The team has always had a positive attitude, Pitcher/Third Baseman Ronnie Reed said. Reed, a freshman on varsity, described a relatively new feel being on a team with leaders.

“I’ve never been on a team with older leaders that actually pick up people since I was a little kid,” Reed said. “It’s an honor being a freshman on varsity. At first I didn’t want to do it because I thought gonna be too challenging but I love a challenge.”

The team’s goal is to win their league and the first championship in twelve years, according to Zamudio. At the early point in the season, Zamudio said he liked his chances.

“[Our chances] look pretty good,” Zamudio said. “There is no one team that is going to run away with this.”