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San Manuel Miners
The 2018 edition of the San Manuel baseball team returns seven lettermen from last year’s squad that featured 11 of 16 players on the roster who were freshmen or sophomores.
Miners’ third-year head coach Freddy Burnham and assistant coach J.R. Bejarano expect that experience gained a year ago to benefit their team this season, which gets started this Friday.
“We are a young team,” Burnham told the San Manuel Miner. “We are fortunate to have a good group of players that received a lot of playing experience last year.”
Several Miners can play multiple positions, which is a luxury Burnham figures to use to his advantage throughout the season.
Among the returning players is 2A All-South Region second-team pitcher Caesar Guerrero, who had a 3.65 ERA as a freshman last year. The Miners’ lone senior is Alejandro Camacho, a team captain, who batted .343 with 10 doubles as a junior.
Sophomore Javy Tamayo is San Manuel’s leading returning hitter after batting .354 as a freshman. Burnham is counting on Tamayo, and juniors Christian Estrada and Saul Quajada “to help us be successful this season.”
“We’re looking forward on improving our record from last year and making it into the playoffs,” Burnham said about the Miners’ expectations this season.
The Miners host the Santa Cruz Dust Devils in the season opener for both teams this Friday, Feb. 23. First pitch is scheduled for 4 p.m.
Andrew Luberda began writing for Copper Area News Publishers (CANP) in February 2013 after working 15 years in Healthcare Financial Management. Andy covers sports for 11 high schools. His stories are published in Copper Basin News, San Manuel Miner and Superior Sun, in addition to the San Tan Valley Daily PRSS and CopperArea websites. Additionally, he has written human interest stories and business profiles. In May 2012, he earned an AAS in Sports Management at Central Arizona College before graduating with a BS in Communication from Arizona State University in 2014. He and his wife, Kelli, have three sons – AJ, Kyle, and Kade.
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