In 2021, our athletics suffered a lot of setbacks, but persevered through all the challenges they faced and even thrived in their newfound environments.

The coming of this spring has meant a lot to many within our local sports communities. It marks the second season in a row that many of these kids are going to be able to play the games that they have spent so much of their life perfecting, and it means as well that life will go on, even through the resurgent tides of a tsunami of covid cases.

Though now, for many of these spring sports, there are 2021 seasons that we can take a look back on and try and see if that can give us insight as to how our teams will perform in 2022.

Baseball: In 2021, the Giants had a season to be remembered. Over 28 games, COS obtained a 23-5 record which amounted to a staggering .821 winning percentage.

On the road, they were 13-1, and away from home they were 10-4. As a team, they batted .360, obtained a .439 On base percentage, and slugged for .541.

Although the team did fantastic as one, there were two players who, although they have the same last name, aren’t related by blood. Andrew Valdez and Donte Valdez (no longer on the team) were related however, through their ability to destroy baseballs.

With both having over 1.000 OPS, and combining together to have 16 home runs (which was over half of the teams home runs).

On the pitching side, pitcher Riley Creech led the team in Innings pitched, as well as in ERA and runs allowed/9.

Finally, for the awards given for to Giants players in the CVC, Payton Allen and Andrew Valdez were named Co-MVP’s, Anthony Torres was named a co pitcher of the year, Davis Beaver (catcher) was named Gold Glove MVP, and finally the coach of the year was Giants head coach Jody Allen.

The Giants also took their dominance to the CVC championship, where they captured their first title championship since the 2014 season.

Softball: Giants softball in 2021 had a similar run of success, winning 76.5% of their games for a record of 13-4.

For the team’s offense, they sustained a .359 batting average, .396 On-Base percentage, and a .515 slugging percentage which evens out to a teamwide 911 OPS (On-Base plus Slugging).

In terms of pitching, the leader for the Giants was Olivia Aguigam who led in basically every pitching stat. Through 82.1 innings pitched, she acquired miniscule 1.62 ERA and walked only 12 batters while striking out 82.

For awards, Pitcher Olivia Aguigam, Infielder Emily Ibarra, infielder Emily Juarez, and catcher Maddison Servado were all named to the All-CVC team. As well as these awards, Audra Pratt was given the honors of being the CVC Player of the Year. Even though none of these players are returning this season, it was a big time for all of COS softball.

Tennis: Although not as eye-catching as the Giants’ softball and baseball teams, the tennis team still gave a strong effort in the 2021 season, working towards a 4-5 record in their events.

The tennis team seemed to struggle when playing away from the home territory, going 1-4, but when they played on the home court they thrived, going 3-1.

Even though last season wasn’t the one they were looking for, this season is poised for success with an experienced and talented roster ready to take the conference by storm.

Swimming and Dive: The swim and dive team had a fantastic year in 2021, with both the mens and women’s part of the team winning their conference championships.

For the men, it was the first time since 2018, and for the women, the first time since 2013 according to COS Athletics Nick Giannandrea.

During their championship meet, the men’s team had won 8 races, while the women’s team won 9 races for a dominating performance overall during the meet.

This year, head coach Allyison Briano looks forward to the season and has high hopes for what her team will be able to accomplish.

Track and Field: COS Track and Field had an impressive showing in 2021, with 32 athletes setting a season record for themselves. There were several athletes who had season records in several events as well, and this is likely to continue into the 2022 outdoor season.

This season is surely to be improved on last season as well, due to a full season of Football being played. Many sprinters on our men’s Track team also play on our football team, and have been getting faster for nearly the last 6 months.

I had the chance to talk to Coach Bruce Lyons during a recent practice that the track team had, and he offered some more insight on the difference between a juco product versus other athletes,

“These football players out here, they know that they are gonna get faster. The difference between juco football players and high school football players is that these guys wanna be out here, and they can specialize, whereas in high school their parents make them come out here and some high school coach won’t make them play RB when they wanna be a DB” (Coach Bruce Lyons)

Although it may seem like he is just talking about how football players are helped by track, all athletes within the community college system are faced with similar circumstances.

The heart and soul, as well as belief that JUCO athletes have in themselves to succeed, is what makes watching our collegiate sports that much more beautiful to watch.

Track in 2021, as well as all other sports, will be a joy to watch and cover for The Campus as the semester moves along. Make sure to keep up with all news that we produce, and go 2021 Giants!