The Maranatha baseball team won just three of its first nine games, a rough start start to the season. But with the regular season winding down, the Minutemen have turned things around.

Last week in the Central Coast Classic at Righetti High School in Santa Maria, Maranatha won all four of its games and extended its winning streak to 13 games.

This week, it can clinch the Olympic League outright title by winning at least one of its two games against Cerritos Valley Christian.

“We still have days when we struggle to hit,” Maranatha coach Matt Shupper said. “That kind of baffles me at times. But it’s there and it’s coming. I like our team right now. We just beat four very good teams in that tournament.”

The Minutemen entered the season as one of the most talented teams in the San Gabriel Valley, with multiple players committed to Division I colleges.

So what took so long for them to begin winning consistently? A variety of factors, explains Shupper.

Three of Maranatha’s six losses at the start were one-run defeats, and they were playing tough teams like Orange Lutheran, Etiwanda and Vista Murrieta. They lost their first two games in the Boras Classic, but came back to win their final two, against Paloma Valley and Cypress, and haven’t lost since.

Practice also played a role in the slow start. Maranatha does not have a home baseball field. It plays at Jackie Robinson Stadium in Brookside Park, and the field was unavailable in December because of the Rose Bowl. In January the Eaton fire prevented them from practicing there, too.

The Minutemen did not get access to Jackie Robinson Stadium until three days before their first game, a 7-3 loss to St. Augustine, and it just took a while to gel.

“We were doing ground balls and bullpens on our football field,” Shupper said. “We’re not like some of these other big schools with great facilities that play and practice 365 days a year. We know we have a talented team, it just took a while for us to get settled in.

“I thought we got way better playing in the Boras Classic, and everyone is on the same page right now, ready for the stretch run. We knew with the new (CIF Southern Section) playoff format and rankings that having a slow start wouldn’t kill us. So, we’ll see how the rest of the season goes, but I like our pitching.”

STRICKLAND SHOWING THE WAY

Maranatha senior Zach Strickland, a UCLA commit, continues to show why he is arguably the SGV’s best pitcher.

In the Minutemen’s opening game in the Central Coast Classic, the right-hander threw six innings of no-hit ball with 14 strikeouts in a 6-0 victory over Lompoc.

Strickland is 4-0 with a 0.37 ERA. He has allowed only two earned runs in 38 innings with 70 strikeouts.

Strickland has had quite a high school career. He has 308 strikeouts and is 25-3 over his four years on varsity with an 0.89 ERA.

“He’s just incredible,” Shupper said. “He’s got his fastball up to 98 (miles per hour). His strikeouts to walks ratio is just insane. He’s the best pitcher I’ve ever coached.”

That’s an incredibly strong statement considering Shupper coached Dawson Netz, who played college baseball at Arizona and recently signed with the Chicago Cubs. He also has coached Owen Hackman, who is in the Atlanta Braves organization, and Alex Cornwell, a St. Louis Cardinals minor leaguer.

“Dawson had the most bulldog-type mentality of them all,” Shupper said. “Cornwell had the best stuff and Owen had the best mechanics. Strickland is kind of a high combination of them all. Zach has the best fastball, best slider and he can repeat it. And when he pitches the whole team feels we’re going to get a win. He just has more of what they all had, and athletically, he’s an absolute freak.”

Strickland is batting .327 and during the offseason he taught himself to throw left-handed. Shupper claims he can now throw up to 80 mph left-handed.

“It’s not a joke, he taught himself,” Shupper said. “He takes a couple months of downtime to give his arm some rest and just decided to work on throwing left-handed.”

Shupper said on Maranatha’s senior day, Shupper might throw an inning left-handed.

“We’ll see, but we know he can do it,” the coach said.

PLAYOFF OUTLOOK

Maranatha is 15-6-1 overall and is climbing in the CIF-SS rankings. Once ranked in the 90s, the Minutemen climbed to No. 38 in last week’s rankings. There are 32 teams that will be placed in the Division 1 playoff bracket, so a strong finish to the regular could move the Minutemen into the top division.

As for pitching, they got it.

While Strickland is the ace, Matt Vazquez, a Westmont commit, is a good No. 2. Vasquez is 4-0 with a 1.88 ERA.

Also throwing well are junior Dylan Hoang and senior Carson Kelly. Maranatha has a team ERA of 2.24.

“We have four strong arms, we’re built for the playoffs in that sense,” Shupper said. “We struggle sometimes scoring runs. But, hey, every coach will tell you it starts with pitching and defense, so I like what we have in that sense.”

The Minutemen have capable hitters. Senior outfielder Josh Proctor is an Oregon State commit, and junior outfielder Eric Zdunek is committed to Texas Christian.

Shupper admits Maranatha’s playoff success could hinge on whether it is one of the last teams in the Division 1 bracket or a top team in Division 2.

“I wish I knew how that (computer) formula worked,” Shupper said. “We finish with Santa Margarita (ranked No. 23) in a (nonleague) game. I think that game can possibly send us up or down. I don’t think we would mind Division 2, there is more of an opportunity there.

“But who knows. I’m just a coach. We go out trying to win every game, so wherever we go, we go.”