Warriors hope for tourney success

Play in three-day event in Redding starting today

Senior T.J. Scott of Del Norte High throws a pitch during a home game last month. Today, the Warriors take part in a tournament in Redding. The Daily Triplicate/Bryant Anderson

The Warriors will compete in a three-day tournament in Redding after playing only six games at the midway point of the season.

Rainy weather has caused havoc for Del Norte spring sports this year, with the baseball team not starting play until the end of March and having nine contests canceled due to the weather.

Head coach Pablo Lorenzi was pleased the weather forecast in Redding is clear and sunny and that the squad will finally play in ideal weather conditions. If it does rain, makeup games would be played Saturday.

“It will be good to finally get some live competition since we’ve had so few chances to play this season,” he said.

In his years of coaching at the high school, Lorenzi said he has never seen the rain as consistently bad as it has been this year. There was one point where for several weeks the team was averaging only about  one day a week of outdoor practice due to the rain.

Del Norte (4-2) will open up the tournament against Chico High (10-6) at 1 p.m. and will follow with a contest against Burney (8-6) at 3:30 p.m.

The tournament will continue for Del Norte on Thursday and Friday. Who they will play will depend on how they fare today.

Lorenzi said it has been tough having so few games played at this point of the season.

“I can’t tell you how frustrating it’s been,” he said.

Lorenzi said that the squad has shown flashes of potential in its four wins, but had also shown a lot of inconsistencies in the two losses.

Now, it’s time for the team to buckle down and make a strong push despite not getting in as many games as pretty much every other team it will play, Lorenzi said.

Three of the canceled games this year have been league games. Del Norte last played April 19 against fellow Big 5 Conference opponent Arcata and was soundly defeated 12-2 on the road.

Lorenzi said the Arcata game was a wake-up call for the squad and that the team has been much more focused during recent practices.

“I hope they learned from the loss,” he said.

Lorenzi is hoping that the Warriors will gain valuable experience from the tournament as they continue Big 5 play the following week.

The Warriors, with a 2-1 league record, are still in the thick of the conference title race, with all the teams having at least one loss.

“I hope they go out, compete hard and get better every day,” Lorenzi said.