Three years after opening their inaugural season, the Woodsboro Eagles have yet to taste the success that they have recently enjoyed in football.

In 2008, the Eagles came close to landing a playoff spot but fell short in their last few games. And 2007 and 2009 were not kind campaigns for Woodsboro, either, as injuries and other bad breaks kept them from the District 31-A race.

All of that is history now and the 2010 team is counting on bringing their attitude and work ethic that has made them successful on the gridiron to the baseball diamond.

“I realize I am the new baseball coach here but, I am no stranger to our kids,” said head coach Mark Salinas. “The majority of our baseball team played football this past year therefore our kids know me and I know them.”

Coach Salinas said it should be an easy transition for the Eagles.

“Our kids know what I expect from them,” he said. “We talked about our goals as a team and our kids made it perfectly clear to me that they want to bring success to our baseball program and have the full support of our community.”

Coach Salinas said practices have been good considering the team is missing players still involved in basketball.

The team has been working hard on fundamentals, conditioning, and the “little things” that make a program successful.

“We have been concentrating our efforts on those three core items,” Salinas said. “Things like being on time, picking up all of our equipment, and holding each other accountable are what will help us earn the success that we are after. If we bring the same attitude and discipline we had in football, we will succeed.”

The Eagles are still relatively young, not having a baseball program as long as their District 31-A foes have enjoyed but, they also return a solid core group of players.

Seniors Jonathan Jaramillo and Ray Lopez have been members of the team since their inaugural season. Juniors Ronnie Martinez, Matt Escamilla, Marcus Jaramillo, Bryan Stewart, Ryan Cisneros, Keith Young, Austin Moses and Joseph Barraza all return as well.

Sophomore Jacob Wren who suffered a serious knee injury in a game against Pettus is expected to return as well. Marc Sanchez, Tyler Quesada, Chris Wiginton and Logan Moses are newcomers this season and are all expected to contribute.

“Our kids have learned that success and respect are not given, they are earned,” added Coach Salinas. “We will make it our everyday goal to earn our success and respect as well as the support from our community. Our team wants to bring ‘Eagle Pride’ to our beautiful baseball field. We know that it will not be easy but, we accept the challenge.”

The challenge for the Eagles begins this afternoon in Woodsboro as the Eagles face off against the Banquete Bulldogs in a 4:30 p.m. scrimmage.