Spartans triple win total from 2021, but more is still expected

Photo by Kavin Mistry

By Matt Weiner (@MattWeiner20) – BSB Beat Reporter

It was postcard weather with a strong breeze in the air.  The wind wasn’t strong enough to knock over a Ford Escalade, but it was enough to make the San Jose State baseball team’s gray pants and black practice jersey flap in the wind. 

The Spartans were two days removed from tripling their win total from the previous season following sweeping San Diego State for the second time this season. 

“We understand what 6-31 is,” said SJSU baseball head coach Brad Sanfilippo. “I get that we are the underdog and that we are surprising people, we were picked to finish last in our conference. But, we knew that we were better than that.”

At first glance 2021 appeared dreadful for the Spartans as they amassed only two conference wins and ended on a 17-game losing streak. 

There are some big caveats that explain the poor showing such as a pitching staff unable to stay healthy and dealing with COVID-19 restrictions. Through the turmoil there weren’t any front-page fiascos or combative relationships. 

“If 6-31 was a reflection of what this program is, everyone would’ve entered the transfer portal,” Sanfilippo said.

The Spartans did lose a couple players, but they maintained many key players, so far not a single one more important than Charles McAdoo. 

Woven deeply inside of McAdoo’s brilliance is a mix of power and speed that has amounted to a school-record 32-game on-base streak. 

“To be honest I think this is the very first record I’ve ever set,” McAdoo said in reply to my very wrong assumption. 

McAdoo’s remarkable nine home runs (third best in the Mountain West), .386 batting average (fourth best in the Mountain West) and 1.144 OPS (fourth best in the Mountain West) has made him the de facto “star” of the team. Star is in quotation marks because there’s a deep humbleness evidenced by his will to not watch his highlights while scrolling through social media.

“I swipe right up. I don’t like looking at it,” McAdoo said.  “It feels like I’m taking my focus off what’s necessary if I keep looking at it.”

The repeated sports trope about the star player being the vocal leader who rallies the troops isn’t found here as well. 

“I’m comfortable calling guys out, but luckily I haven’t needed to because everybody brings high energy everyday to practice,” McAdoo said. 

During 2021, the spotlight was shined on Ruben Ibarra who slashed .381/.503/1.353 with 14 jacks and 32 RBI, all of which led the team by a wide margin. This is not the same case as McAdoo is flanked by six other Spartans who are hitting at least .270. 

Although not included in that list as he’s hitting .263, Hunter Dorraugh is a force in the lineup with an OBP of .411 and an OPS of .1027. 

Similar to McAdoo, Dorraugh set a school record for homeruns in consecutive games with six, but the difference is that he was wearing white and green instead of blue and gold last season. 

Technically, Dorraugh did transfer, but the choice to leave schools was made for him by Sacramento State.

“At Sac [Sacramento State] I got cut so it wasn’t in my decision to leave,” Dorraugh said. “I try not to take anything for granted anymore and I think this is where I was supposed to be all along.”

Second baseman and pinch-runner maestro Jackson Forbes was the only friend Dorraugh had on the team. Coming in as a stranger to San Jose could be treacherous, but it posed as an advantage because he was surrounded by 23 other newcomers, many of which were transfers. 

Forming relationships is daunting no matter what the situation is. However, it’s always easier when watching sports. As George Constanza once said to his mom, “I think we really need to be in front of a television set. You take TV out of this relationship, it is just torture.”

“Torture” is an exaggeration, but there’s truth to how easy it is to connect through lounging around on a couch and screaming at a game of college football.

“We just cherish those moments and everyone loves being around each other,” Dorraugh said. 

This created the almighty buy-in that was referenced when I asked Sanfilippo about when he knew 2021 would not be repeated. 

“We did some classroom and team stuff off the field in the fall and everyone really bought in and participated,” Sanfilippo said. 

Granted, COVID-19 did throw a wrench in some of these activities during fall of 2020 when teammates weren’t able to watch college football together. There weren’t any initial connecting points that lead to cohesion. 

Stepping back, it’s also important to recognize the Spartans are a little more than half way through the season which means the complacency ghoul can creep in and create a monumental collapse. 

“Complacent with 18 wins? We are like three games over .500. That’s good, but it’s not where we want to be. I remind them quite often that we have not arrived,” Sanfilippo said.