A Year of firsts for the Avila Eagles Baseball Team

Eight seniors who intend to graduate either this
May or in December are having a season filled with
many firsts time happenings. The eagles broke a
school strikeout record with 15 strikeouts earlier in
the season; they then had the best 15 game start in
the school’s history of the program, with 12 wins and
only 3 losses.
Another first, winning 22-2 over MidAmerica
Nazarene University of (KS), a Heart of America
Conference (HAAC), opponent in game two of a four
game series last weekend over Easter break, which
puts our Eagles in first place with an 11 an 5 record
in the (HAAC), and a 22-9 record overall on the year.
The NAIA releases the top 25 teams poll every week
and our Eagles have been ranked 22nd in the nation
for the past three weeks and counting. This is the
seventh time in ten years the Eagles baseball team has
been ranked in the top 25.
The Eagles baseball team is off to their best start
in school history, hitting .340 as a team with a .511
slugging percentage dominating other pitchers in the
conference. Senior Mario Ausiello (Santa Rosa, Calif.)
has driven in a team leading 39 runs with six home
runs, and an average of .373 so far this year. Leading
the eagles on the mound have been four key pitchers,
junior Rob Cline a left hander (Folsom, Calif.) is
leading the staff with five wins, while right hander’s
junior Nate Adamson (Panaca, NV) and sophomore
Nathan Bacon (Lee’s Summit, MO) each has four
wins as well. Right handed senior Taylor Monjo (San
Diego, Calif.), the Eagle closer, has pitched seven
saves with one win, and a 3.43 Earned Run Average.
Avila has gotten consistent pitching throughout the
roster and is looking to keep it going.
With a .972 fielding percentage the Eagles have
played tremendous defense this year which ranks
them fifth in the NAIA rankings, also another Eagle
firsts. With only twelve games left in the regular
season, the Eagles face Baker University, Graceland
University, and finishing up on April 24, the Eagles
will host Jewel University, our biggest rival in the
conference. The Jewel Eagles rivals will face off for
a double header on senior day for the eight seniors
graduating this year.
The Eagles are playing hard to bring home a
conference championship which hasn’t been done
since 2004. So grab your chair, school spirit, and
come out to the “Z” (Zarda baseball complex) and
support the Eagles baseball team for the end of the
regular season competition