Baseball:

By Brian Reed-Baiotto, Sports Editor

As the 2020 baseball season neared, Arcadia senior Justin Rios was expected to be the No. 3 pitcher for the reigning Pacific League champions.

Fellow seniors Preston Howey (13-1, 0.75 ERA) and Chris Wilson (10-1, 0.99 ERA) were coming off a remarkable 2019 season.

And they were arguably the SGV’s best 1-2 punch on the mound, at least statistically.

With a couple weeks or so before opening day (February 15), Howey was dealing with tendonitis issues and wasn’t physically ready to pitch.

Wilson decided at the last minute not to play his senior season after committing to play football in the fall of 2020 for the University of Utah.

That meant Rios instantly went from No. 3 to Coach Nick Lemas’ ace.

Rios had transferred over from Bishop Amat during his junior season, because he felt Arcadia was a better fit.

And that decision paid huge dividends for both Rios and the Apaches’ program.

It also helped the assimilation process that he played travel ball with many of his teammates at Arcadia.

And in spite of the fact that the season lasted just seven games, Rios put up numbers that would rival any SGV area player, and he contributed with both his arm and bat.

Rios had an area best four wins (4-0), with a 0.62 ERA over his 22 2/3 innings of work.

He allowed just two earned runs, walked three and struck out 27 batters.

At the plate, Rios had team highs in average (.500) and RBIs (10).

He finished with seven hits, three doubles and a .555 on-base percentage.

So, how did a guy that never really got the opportunity to prove his worth on the mound end up turning in arguably the most impressive numbers in 2020?

There were a myriad of reasons.

He throws a lot of strikes and he improved his velocity so much that he hit 90 on the radar gun a few times. His fastball consistently stayed in the 87-89 (mph) range.

Rios trusted and counted on his catcher (Gavin Vogel) and the rest of the Arcadia defense, which allowed him to relax and just focus on throwing strikes. He made the point to mention how well Mikey Easter played at shortstop as well as Dustin Allen’s prowess in center field.

It also didn’t hurt that Rios is very confident and aware of what he was capable of achieving, in spite of the fact that he hadn’t seen this kind of success so far.

He relied very heavily on his fastball and slider and had the mentality that he’s going to retire every batter he faces.

Rios credits trainers Jonathan Posey and Justin Magz for their help in getting him stronger and Arcadia pitching coach Nick Sergi for his tireless work, including a focus on using his legs to improve his velocity.

“I was struggling in the fall and didn’t know exactly the extent of what my role would be, so I worked hard to get stronger and it helped greatly having Gavin Vogel behind the plate, because I knew I could throw anything and he’d be there to back me up,” Rios said. “Gavin was very instrumental in my success.”

Rios also said his dad, Robert Rios, was his trainer from day one, and was someone who both supported his son throughout his career, but he also told Justin what he needed to hear, which didn’t always mean saying things he wanted to hear.

In fact, Rios’ work ethic came from his dad, who instilled in him a mentality that if a game is at eight, be there at six and get to work.

He was all about the process and making sure Justin didn’t take any shortcuts.

Rios also took nothing for granted and wanted to earn any and all roles he was eventually given, which included some time in the infield when he wasn’t pitching.

He said Lemas and his staff promote such a positive and constructive atmosphere.

“A big part of why I wanted to come over to Arcadia was the way they ran practices,” he said. “They don’t just explain the fundamentals or correct us when we’re not doing things the right way, they stay with you until you’ve got it down. They also emphasize doing the right things. And Coach Lemas does a great job of getting the most out of his players.”

When it came to his hitting, Rios said batting coach Gabe Hyatt really helped take his game to the next level.

He also wanted to make sure that former Bishop Amat teammate Jake Vargas knew how much Rios appreciated his support and that he was indeed a motivating force in Justin becoming the player they both knew he could be.

Rios said, as have all athletes, especially seniors, that having his senior season ripped away was a kick in the stones, but he was also mature enough to accept that we’re in unprecedented times and that people’s health and lives matter far more than any sporting event.

Rios’ hero is his mom, Maggie Iniguez.

Iniguez put the needs of her three children (Robert, Jazmine & Justin) before her own and has sacrificed everything to give them the best opportunities possible to be both happy and successful.

“She goes above and beyond what most people expect of a mom,” he said. “She is so selfless, drives me anywhere I need to go, makes sure I’m up when I need to and gives us unconditional love. She is the most impactful person in my life and I couldn’t be more thankful for all that she does.”

Rios’s best game on the mound was a shutout over Burbank, while striking out 10 in one game, and going 5-for-5 with six RBIs in the other to pick up the season sweep over the Bulldogs.

With the arrival of transfer (pitcher) Diego Moran, who was all set to become eligible and the loaded Arcadia lineup, Rios said the Apaches, while playing their best ball, could have competed with anyone.

They held an early one-game lead over the rest of the Pacific League field with a 3-0 record.

Rios was on pace to win nearly 12 games as well as striking out well over 100 batters.

These days, while we’re all locked indoors and trying to stay sane, Rios said with a laugh when asked if he’s become a loyal Netflix viewer, that no, he spends most of his time playing Call of Duty until 3 or 4 in the morning.

Rios said he’s likely going to play JC ball and that he’s narrowed it down to Mt. SAC, PCC and East Los Angeles College.

He’s committed to being far more diligent in the classroom and intends to up his grades in college.

Lastly, when asked what he’d want to tell other baseball players that don’t open their prep careers as well as they’d like that “if you work hard enough and have the passion to be the best you can be and put in the work, it is more than possible to prove all your doubters wrong and dominate on the field. No one will believe in you until you believe in yourself.”

In the ‘quotable’ section, we asked his coach to hit on the following topics: Justin’s role as the season was about to begin, whether Rios met or surpassed his (Coach Lemas) expectations, why Justin was successful on the mound and what kind of teammate he was.

Quotable:

Arcadia coach Nick Lemas: “In the fall, we thought he’d play one of the corner infield positions and we knew he’d pitch for us. But we also knew we were returning all of our pitching from last season. So we figured he’d be our No. 3 or No. 4, probably do some spot starting and relieving. There was no doubt that we knew he could pitch, but we also knew we were loaded on the mound. His velocity hit 90 over the summer, so we knew he had that, but we knew he needed work on his offspeed, holding runners, and just experience because he hadn’t pitched in a live game during the ’19 season.

As the season got closer, things changed. Howey had some tendonitis that we wanted to rest, Wilson quit, and we really wanted to limit Dustin Allen’s innings. We really liked Allen out of the pen, which is how he was used last year. Rios continued to develop, and with how everything worked out, he became our No. 1 starter.

We also knew he would hit for us, but didn’t know his position. We generally prefer our pitchers to not have to play the left side, so we worked him a lot at first base. But with Howey’s arm, we needed Preston to play first base to limit his throws, which meant Rios was going to play more at third. In January, when we heard Diego Moran was coming, we felt more comfortable with trying new positions for Rios and seeing what more things he could do on the mound. We had lost Wilson, but knew Howey and Moran were both close to being eligible/healthy to pitch and play the infield, so we wanted to make sure we knew what we had with Rios. And he took advantage of every opportunity he got.”

Did he meet or surpass your expectations and why?

“This might be a surprise to hear, but I think he met our expectations. Our expectations of him were pretty high. We knew he had a lot of talent, he just hadn’t had the opportunity. He’s a confident kid, and even if he didn’t start hot, we felt like once he got the confidence on the field, he was going to be a stud.”

Why in your mind was he so successful on the mound?

“He’s got talent, number 1. Pitchers are going to beat hitters most of the time anyway. Pitchers with good stuff just need a couple tweaks, but mostly confidence. And you could really see the confidence starting to build. He was just going to keep getting better. A lot like Howey the year before.”

4) What kind of a kid/teammate is he?

“He’s pretty funny. Lots of confidence. You never really know what he’s going to say or do. Sometimes he’ll have you shaking your head. His teammates like him. He loves baseball and likes to have fun with the game.”

Arcadia catcher, Gavin Vogel: “I would say what helped him the most from the fall until now is our development in the weight room, and him being able to find his slider and differentiate his slider from his curve. Considering Preston got hurt and Chris quit, he stepped up big time to fill their roles. Justin is definitely a solid pitcher.”

Final Pacific League Standings:

Arcadia (5-2 overall, 3-0 in league)

CV (5-2, 2-0)

Burroughs (3-3, 2-0)

Muir (5-2-1, 2-1)

Glendale (5-2, 0-2)

Pasadena (5-3-1, 0-2)

Burbank (3-4, 0-2)

Hoover (3-5, 0-2)

To see Justin’s photo gallery, click on the Facebook link here: Facebook