STORY BY GABI GARCIA
STAFF WRITER
PHOTO COURTEY OF THE CYPRESS CHARGERS ATHLETICS
Cypress College’s baseball team has been putting in the work, with 22 games won this season so far they have produced 31 home runs and dominated their home field with eleven victories making them the second place team overall and at the conference level in the Orange Empire.
Anthony Hutting has been the head coach for the Cypress College baseball team for five seasons and prior to his tenure, the assistant coach for the 2016 and 2017 seasons. During his time as head coach, Hutting has led the Chargers to three Super Regional appearances at the California Community College Athletic Association playoffs, and during the 2022 season, lead the team to a fourth place standing in the Orange Empire Conference.
When asked about the team’s success this season Hutting remained humble, “I don’t think I’ve had to do much motivating with this group.” He gives credit to his team for remaining focussed on their goals as individuals and as a team, “The players themselves are motivated to achieve the goals that we have set out for team. We have great leadership on this team and they do a great job of keeping themselves motivated and driven.”
After falling short last year, this season’s team has redeemed themselves tremendously. Compared to the 2021-2022 season, where they were 24-22 overall, the team is already at 22 wins and only eight losses by mid-season. Hutting mentioned the changes that helped influence an improved season, “I think that our team was very young last year and didn’t have much experience.” With that he said, “We played a lot of freshman during the 2022 season which I think is paying dividends this year. Many of those freshman who played key roles in 2022 are back this year with much more experience and have been able to take on leadership roles with this group.”
As the conference play comes to an end he said this team has the potential for a strong playoff season, “…this team has the potential to compete with the best teams in the state when we are playing our best baseball. I am excited to hopefully finish the year strong and compete in the state playoffs.”
The team is on their way to a successful 2022-2023 post-season and will likely get farther than the 2021-2022 postseason, which makes them a strong contender for the CCAA championship title.
