Tomales High School baseball on the upswing in numbers and skills

The record wasn’t great, but it was a good year for Tomales High School baseball.

In 2016, the Braves dropped to the point where they sometimes had one and, on occasion, no one, on the bench. This spring there was a roster of 20 players, although nine were freshmen since Tomales has no junior varsity team.

Still, the turnout was heartening for coaches Tyler Reynolds and Tyler Walker, who watched their team compete well in several games against much larger schools and, more importantly, improve from start to finish.

The even better news is that Tomales lost only four seniors to graduation. The not-so-good news is that three of the four were among the team’s best hitters and pitchers.

Among the missing next spring will be Jake Fernandez who ranked among the best hitters, was probably the best pitcher and was, without doubt, the team leader.

Fernandez will compete next year at De Anza College where he will play catcher, a position he didn’t have an opportunity to play as much as either he or his coaches would have liked for the Braves because he had to play other positions.

He pitched a team-high 35 innings, striking out 44 batters, while walking just 22. At the plate, he batted .311. He also had an error-less season on defense.

Tomales will also miss Nomar Isais who batted .342 and ranked second in innings pitched behind Hernandez. He recorded a team-best .341 earned run average and played third base when he wasn’t pitching.

Senior Brian Hitchcock rounded out the top three on the pitching staff, working 16 2/3 innings. He batted a solid .270.

The good news is that there is a solid nucleus returning, including a trio of outstanding juniors.

Tony Romo and David Gomez shared the team lead with identical .432 batting averages, while Carson Skavdal hit .341.

Romo anchored the infield at shortstop, while Skavadal and sophomore Andy Azevedo were standouts in the outfield. “With the two of them out there we really didn’t need a third outfielder,” Reynolds said. “Azevedo was just crazy in center field.”

The coach tells of one catch Azevedo made where he came from right-center field all the way to make a grab in left. “I haven’t seen a better catch even in college,” he said.

Because there was no junior varsity team, Tomales had 10 freshmen on its roster who benefited from practicing every day with the older players as well as learning from their leadership.

One of the freshman was Tatiana Minto, who ended playing baseball after the school had to drop girls softball. “She made a lot of improvement,” Reynolds said. “By the end of the season she was hitting the ball into the outfield. I applaud her for coming out and giving it a try.”

Reynolds said he and Walker really serve as co-coaches in both baseball and basketball. In baseball Walker coaches the hitters, while Reynolds tutors the pitchers. “It works out well,” he said. “We work well together and the players respond.”