Jaguar’s 2020 baseball preview
The smell of freshly cut grass and unseasonably warm temperatures signal the start of the 2020 high school baseball campaign, a year that figures to be another good one for the Windsor Jaguars.
Under veteran coach Dave Avila, the Jags are coming off a tremendous 2019 season that produced an overall record of 16-8-1 and a North Bay League Redwood Division championship. Windsor went on to the North Coast Section playoffs, where it scored a first-round upset over heavily favored Tamalpais.
Although the Jaguars graduated five of their nine all-league players from that squad, they return a nucleus of outstanding veterans, mixed with plenty of budding talent that should return them to the top of the league standings.
“This year’s team is primed to have a good season, and the coaches and I are not looking at it as a ‘rebuilding’ year, more like a ‘reloading’ year,” Avila reported. “The amount of competition we have for the starting nine spots is unlike any other I’ve seen before at Windsor High School. It’s a tough problem for me and my coaching staff, but a nice one to have.”
The core of returning veterans starts with first team all-league junior Carson Ramocinski (.364, 8 2B, 23 R, 13 RBI in 2019). The third year standout has started every game at shortstop since his freshman year and tied for the team lead in hits last season with 28.
He’ll be joined by returning second team all-league junior Gary Hall, who may be the ace of the pitching staff this season when he’s not manning second base.
Other top returnees are: second team all-league senior right fielder Brett Boudrow, second team all-league sophomore third baseman Jo Jo Soltanizadeh, who batted .389 as a freshman with 17 RBI, senior catcher/1b Nick Pariani, senior 2B/OF and junior centerfielder and projected leadoff hitter Trent Matthews, a late season call-up last year,
Also competing for a starting job are seniors: utility man Trevor Mrad and 1B/OF Graeme Messerli. Juniors are: Josh Delatorre, Anthony Guzman, Caden Towery, Kyle Stewart, Gianni Domenichelli and Ryan Devenuto.
Rounding out the starting pitching rotation are juniors Hall, Matthew Kemper and Francis Freenor.
“Kemper and Freenor throw hard and have been working on their ability to pound the strike zone in the early part of this season,” Avila noted.
Bolstering the stable of Windsor arms are senior Kyle Rivers and juniors Josh Henderson and Connor Nielsen.
With success comes new challenges, and the Windsor brain-trust is not dodging any obstacles to pad their record this year.
“We’re playing the toughest non-league schedule we’ve played in my tenure here at WHS,” Avila said. “By winning an NCS game last season, it put us on the map. We hope we can build off last year’s success this season.”
The Jaguars will kick off the 2020 schedule on Saturday Feb. 22 in a 12 p.m. start at Tamalpais in Mill Valley. Windsor will open the NBL season against visiting Santa Rosa on March 13 (4 p.m.).
