Yarim Garcia is making no little plans for his second season as a varsity regular.
The Evergreen Park junior batted .350 last year and he’s off to a better start this year with a .414 average and 15 runs scored through 10 games,
But he’s hungry for more.
“Hit at least .450, (steal) around 20 bags, getting on base a lot,” Garcia said after the Mustangs edged visiting Solorio 3-2 on April 5.
He bats leadoff, one spot ahead of Lewis commit Rowan Smyth, giving Evergreen Park (9-1) a potent 1-2 punch at the top of the lineup.
“I just know early I’m going to get a lot of fastballs,” Garcia said. “So I’m gonna just look for that and then try to start middle away, get on base and try to steal as many bags as possible.”
Against Solorio, he went 2-for-2 with a single, double, sacrifice fly, two steals, a run and an RBI.
For good measure, Garcia also pitched the final two innings to save the win for senior Evan Snyder-Murphy, who retired the first 13 batters he faced.
“I’m more of a reliever, so if anyone gets into trouble, I come in,” Garcia said.
He likes the role, to which he brings an aggressive mindset.
“My mentality is just to go out there, throw strikes, dominate and just let my defense go to work as well,” Garcia said.
Moving from the field to the mound without much time to warm up isn’t an issue.
“I’ve been doing that since I was a little kid,” Garcia said. “It hasn’t been too much of a drastic change in high school.”
Snyder-Murphy, who struck out eight, walked two and allowed one run over five innings, figures to have an expanded role for the Mustangs’ pitching staff this season.
“It’s been great to get the opportunity on the mound to show what I can do for the team and everyone who’s out here to support me,” he said.
The Mustangs have had plenty of success lately with 59 wins since the start of the 2023 season. But there’s one goal that’s eluded the program since 2017: advancing to the sectional.
“Win a regional, hopefully win conference,” Garcia said of this year’s to-do list. “I think we could achieve all those goals.”
With Public League Jackie Robinson South play starting two days later, Solorio (1-6) used three pitchers. Juan Barrientos worked the final two innings, allowing no runs and striking out five. He also hit a sacrifice fly.
“It’s good to compete,” Sun Warriors coach Scott Whitcomb said, “You want to situationally do a few things better. … We’ve been inconsistent. There’s been a couple games we’ve had this year where it’s like, immediately we haven’t been there mentally or whatever. It builds and builds.
“But the last two that we’ve had, (a 6-5 loss to) De La Salle and this game, were good to build some confidence. And it’s such a young team. We have one senior starter.”