The Bakersfield College baseball team will not be taking a trip to the postseason this year. With an overall record of 24-20 and a 15-9 record in the WSC, the Renegades failed to get into the playoffs.
Head baseball coach Tim Painton explained the power ranking system that is used to determine playoff teams.
Painton explained that there are three percentages that are factored into the ranking system. “Twenty-five percent of that RPI is your teams wins, 50% of it is your opponents’ wins, and 25% is your opponents’ opponents’ wins,” Painton said. “When that formula is all added up, you come up with a number. A lot of it is dictated by your opponents’ wins and your opponents’ opponents’ wins. Unfortunately, we didn’t fall into that magic number of getting in.”
Painton added that this formula was used for the first time this year. He also said that based on the old formula, his team would have probably gotten in.
“Obviously, we are disappointed. I feel like we are one of the top 18 teams in the south. Unfortunately, with the new seeding criteria, it is what it is; we didn’t do a good enough job to get in”, Painton said.
The Renegades finished the season strong by winning five of their last eight games including a 9-2 win over Citrus on May 3.
“We played very good defense; we were able to put runs together in multiple innings,” said Painton.
“We got an outstanding pitching performance from Kyle Witten. We played very well, but you’re not judged on one game; you’re judged on the entire season.”
Painton said that in a sense, he would say the season was disappointing, but he added, “I saw an awful lot of growth with this ball club. We had a predominantly freshman ball club that had never played at this level,” Painton said. “You have to look at other things other than just wins and losses. I felt like we grew as a ball club throughout the course of the season.”
Nine players from this year’s team were voted to the WSC All-Conference Team. They are: Sophomore first baseman Noe Flores, Freshman outfielder Tyler Garewal, sophomore pitcher Justin Miller, infielders Jeff Burleson and Juan Martinez, freshman outfielder Casey Brown, and freshman pitcher Kyle Witten. Freshmen Brandon Boren, an infielder, and Justin Gordon, a designated hitter, were both honorable mentions for the team.