Nicolas Lopez wasn’t immune to the injuries that plagued the Serra Padres this year.
A standout left-handed pitcher who is committed to play at Stanford University next season, Lopez didn’t get the chance to dominate on the mound in 2018 the way he would have liked. Sure, he still posted an impeccable 4-0 record, but a persisting hip injury caused his innings to be limited as the season wore on.
There was something about the next-man-up philosophy at Serra this season though, and not just on the baseball diamond.
“I think that was kind of the epitome of our senior class this year,” Lopez said. “… Just losing one guy, make sure it doesn’t hurt. Just the brotherhood, honestly. Just make sure the next guy picks it up.”
Padres football lost its star lineman Nio Mafi, a Division I commit to Cal, and a slew of other keystone players heading into the playoffs and still went on to win a state championship. Padres basketball at the start of the year lost center Jack Wilson, another Division I commit to Oregon State, and still qualified for the Central Coast Section Open Division playoffs.
On the baseball diamond, it was Lopez who personified the next-man-up mentality. While his pitching role diminished, he flourished with the bat, growing into such a power threat Serra manager Chris Houle had no choice about a month into the season but to try the right-handed hitter in the cleanup spot.
Lopez remained in the heart of the batting order for the rest of the year.
“We knew that he wanted to compete for a job offensively … and as the beginning of the season went on, we were dealing with some injuries,” Houle said. “And his continuous commitment and work ethic to hitting just stepped to the forefront.”
As a junior in 2017, Lopez took a modest 24 at-bats, totaling six hits, all singles. This year, he improved to a .357 batting average, with eight doubles and a home run en route to a .517 slugging percentage.
“My whole life I’ve been more of a singles hitter,” said Lopez, who lists at 6-4, 185 pounds. “I’ve always been skinnier than everyone.”
A focus on hitting this year, including camaraderie with fellow seniors J.J. Ota (.354 average), Brad Shimabuku (.326) and Noah Marcelo (.317) made a world of difference for Serra’s skinniest slugger.
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“I think it was a combination of my body developing and those three other guys … we were in the cage an hour-and-a-half every day after practice,” Lopez said. “That kind of changed my outlook. I realized you have to hit a lot.”
Serra was faced with its biggest challenge midway through April, though, when catcher Cameron Barstad was lost for the year to a hand injury.
Had Barstad played the entire year, the Daily Journal Baseball Player of the Year honor is a different conversation. The left-handed hitting catcher was leading the team with a .422 average, a .711 slugging percentage, and went on to be drafted in the sixth round by the Miami Marlins in the Major League Baseball draft.
“I think when he went down we all just felt a need,” Lopez said. “When he was playing we all just waited for him to do something and it all just worked out. … All the wins at the beginning of season were just solely because of his hitting.”
The game after Serra lost Barstad, Lopez delivered his best pitching performance of the year, a shutout victory in a 2-0 win over Riordan. Without their star catcher, the Padres went on to sweep the regular-season series from Valley Christian — at the time the No. 1 ranked team in the nation according to MaxPreps.com — and advanced to the semifinals of the CCS Open Division playoffs.
Serra finished the year hitting .309 as a team, with other outstanding contributions from Ryan Sutter — another pitching standout turned middle-of-the-order hitter — who batted .379 through 58 at-bats, and senior infielder Jack Damelio who was Serra’s best fulltime hitter at a .379 clip.
“Personally, yes I hit well, but I think we all hit well in our own way,” Lopez said. “I think we all took our own turn of leading the team and I think that’s why we had such a great team.”
It was Lopez’s drive and persistence that personified Serra baseball though, and in doing what he did, and how he did it, was even testament to the overall success of 2017-18 Serra athletics.
“Before the year started I came in thinking I would obviously pitch a lot and, yes, I’d hit,” Lopez said. “I thought I’d hit [in the No. 5, 6, or 7 spot] but I didn’t think I’d finish the year as a 3-hitter.”
That he did — as well as finishing as the Daily Journal Baseball Player of the Year.
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