Mike Caira (218-167) and his staff enter their 14th season in 2020.  Last year ended with two CIF games which saw the Mariner’s come up short against the #1 seed Arcadia. The coaching staff and players had much motivation this summer and offseason to get back to the CIF playoffs. The players know they can improve upon the three league titles since moving to the Empire League in 2007, as well as the continued playoff appearances as they march toward a CIF championship that they saw in 2012.  

 

The Mariners open up the regular season with a Downey Tournament game at Trabuco Hills Tuesday, February 18th.  Pacifica will return to the 32-team Loara Tournament again this year and open up against El Toro on Friday, February 21st at home.

 

Pacifica will continue to play in the Downey tournament for the third consecutive year and will play Downey, LB Millikan, Cantwell, and Edison—those games will be spread out throughout the season.

 

Pacifica will also play in the Lions Tournament March 20th-25th, opponents include Summit- the CIF semifinalist from the year before, at Glover Stadium. The rest of the field includes out of state teams in Reed, Nevada, Utah, and Spanish Springs. The final game is TBA.  Weekday games will be played at the Pacifica High School. 

 

The Pac will play non-league double-headers against Ocean View at Pacifica on Saturday, March 7^th, and Katella on Friday, March 13 at Boysen Park. The non-league schedule will conclude El Modena to finish out the 2020 schedule.

 

Empire League play begins Wednesday, April 1^st at Kennedy High School.

 

On the mound, Pacifica will rely on the heavy senior class of  2^nd team All-Empire league Brennan Horne the Arizona Christian University commit started 11 games, 63 IP with 5 wins, a 3.78 ERA and 2 complete games. Matthew Sagmit a Hope University commit started 5 games, 45 IP and went 4-0 with 2 complete game shutouts. Southpaw Jimmy Welsher, 2nd team All-Empire League in 2019, will round out the senior pitchers who had 7 appearances while logging 10 strikeouts last year. 

 

Also returning is junior Logan Groff, who had 6 appearances in 2019.  Junior Jacob Pospisil and sophomore Aidan Colin will both get opportunities to contribute after impressive summer and fall seasons.

 

Offensively, the Mariners will return 2019 All-Empire Leaguers Nate Petrutis (.337, 32 hits, 3 HRs), and Matt Ortiz ( 24 hits, 20 runs), Washington State commit, as well as 3-year starter Justin Santoyo (18 hits, 14 RBIs).

 

Junior Logan Groff (.304), seniors Joel Delgado (.300), Tomas Pacheco, Jimmy Welsher, Casey Martin, Zach Dickason, Anthony Sotelo, and Zach Jakel return for the Mariners.  The offensive lineup will be well represented with seniors that will help lead the Pac.

 

Juniors Mikey Caira, Blake Loranger, Tyler Tran, Kanon Cousins, Nick Zanaboni and Gavin Martin are going to compete for at-bats throughout the year.  

 

Defensively, Pacifica is returning its infield of Ortiz (shortstop, 4 year starter), Santoyo (third base, 3 year starter), and Petrutis (first base, 4 year starter). In the outfield, seniors Welsher (17 starts), Casey Martin (13 starts), along with Zach Dickason return much game experience. Juniors Ken Faul (19 starts) and Groff (9 starts) round out the returning outfielders.

 

Defensively, the new faces for the Pac in 2020 are outfielders Anthony Sotelo and Mikey Caira. Infielders, Zach Jakel, Gavin Martin, Joel Delgado, Kanon Cousins and Dylan Pillsbury will provide the Mariners some added depth on the infield. Seniors Tomas Pacheco and Isaiah Leal, and juniors Blake Longer, and Tyler Tran will man the dish.

 

Pacifica has averaged 15 wins since 2007 and has finished in first or second place in the Empire League seven times since 2009.