As of the 2014-2015 school year, the school will be welcoming a new yet familiar face to the coaching staff of the varsity baseball team. After a hiatus from coaching baseball, history teacher Gabriel Stewart will be replacing former coach Donnie Ecker as the head coach.

Following a rough season last year, the team is hoping to improve their consistency this year. Despite finishing sixth out of eight teams in the De Anza League last year, the team ended the season strong by winning their first round CCS game before being eliminated by eventual finalist Westmont High School. This year, Stewart hopes to take the team even further by focusing on the team’s strengths during the season and their weaknesses during the off-season.

“Our strengths were rooted in the ability of every player being able to contribute to our success and being able to call upon almost every player to contribute effectively,” Stewart said. “Our weaknesses stemmed in large part from a lack of having a few standouts who could be counted on every game to be successful and dominate. This can hopefully be addressed by players putting in a lot of work in the off-season to be able to step up and be amongst the best players in the league.”

However, Stewart does not believe that this tactic is set in stone. In fact, he anticipates needing to change his coaching style each year to accommodate for each year’s players, with only a single permanent rule: “give the team maximum effort, have a positive and growth-minded attitude and use your talent to do the greatest good for the team.”