Culver City's Justin Roulston slides safely into second baseball during a recent game at Culver City. The Centaurs are 11-4 overall and 5-0 in the Bay league.
The Culver City High School varsity baseball team appears to be peaking at the right time. The Centaurs are 11-4 with an eight-game winning streak. During that streak they have outscored their opponents 66-8 and all cylinders are clicking.
Eight players are batting over .300 and two of those players, Justin Roulston and Alonso Reyes are batting over .500. Both of those players will be playing college baseball for Long Beach State next year. The team is moving in the right direction at the right time.
"I feel like everybody on this team has heart," said Roulston. "Everyone knows what they want to do on the field and if they are on the bench that are cheering for their teammates on the field. When we are on the field, we are representing the name on our chest. We really want to win a CIF title and make history."
At 6'3 200 pounds Roulston combines speed and power to be one of the best high school baseball players in Southern California. "I don't put a lot of pressure on myself," said Roulston. "We just go out there and play our game. I just try to help the team win every game possible."
Culver City started the most competitive part of their Bay league schedule this week and next week when they face Peninsula, Palos Verdes and Santa Monica. Last Wednesday, they beat Peninsula 6-1 on the road, and they play them again on Friday at home at 3:30 p.m. On Saturday they travel to La Puente for a non-league game against Bishop Amat and Wednesday, April 20 they face Palos Verdes at home at 3:30 p.m. Culver City and Palos Verdes are the top two teams in the Bay league.
"I am always proud of what our players do, win lose or draw but when you get into the Bay league conference games and you win it's especially better for me as a coach," said Culver City head baseball coach Rick Prieto. "We are having some really good practices and I think that's the key. Good pitching is also the key. The name of the game in high school is pitching."
Prieto is hoping his pitching staff will continue to perform at a high level. Reyes, Tommy Peacock, Brandon Zeidman and Evan Reiter are producing on the pitcher's mound for the Centaurs.
During the winning streak coach Prieto will stay with an old sports superstition. "I am not going to change my socks and my undershirt. Everything will stay the same."
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