Baseball players will reap the benefits of months of optional off-season practice when they take the field this spring during the MCAL season.

After losing many key veterans from the team last year, Redwood will be relying on a new crop of faces, but the Giants are rising to the challenge with a greater work ethic than previous years.

Pitcher Johnny Barnet, a senior who is entering his second varsity season after transferring from The Bay School, was enthusiastic about the rising level of commitment.

“We’ve had basically everyone out here since the beginning of the year,” he said.

New JV coach Mike Dibley is optimistic about the team’s prospects in the coming year.

“I think one of the best things about our program is there’s going to be healthy competition for starting spots and for playing time,” Dibley said.  “It’s not like we have these six superstars that we’re going to ride their tales to the sunset.  There are no superstars.  They’re all hard working, dedicated guys putting their time into being the best they can be.”

Many of the team’s players are part of the Marin Giants, a club baseball team unaffiliated with Redwood.  Players have been attending optional after-school conditioning for the last four months and played their first scrimmage last week against the Bay Area Warriors.

“Baseball is coming back,” said Dibley who said the increase in year-round travel ball teams for young players has inspired more dedication to the sport.  He also noted that the San Francisco Giants’ World Series titles have contributed to the growth of baseball’s relevancy in the Bay Area.

“This is the most popular it’s been since the seventies,” he said.  “We’ve had 35 guys out here, four days a week since September.”

Last year, the varsity team finished with an overall record of 13-12 and was knocked out in the first round of the MCAL tournament. This season, the team will be comprised of seven returning seniors, as well as players from last year’s 11-9 JV team and standouts from the 16-4 freshman team.