Coach Garza reflects on Jacks season

QUINCY — The Quincy Jacks (7-16) were defeated 10-0 Saturday by the Ellensburg Bulldogs in the quarterfinals of the District 5 2A tournament. The loss brings an end to their 2026 campaign.  

“Saturday's game was a tough one,” Head Coach David Garza said. “It hurts a little bit because if we were back and forth, ‘Hey, this is a very low scoring game because it's really good defense, really good pitching, etc,’ then it's a little bit easier to accept.” 

The Jacks defense started strong, allowing one run in the first inning. However, the game quickly got away from them in the second when the Bulldogs’ offense erupted for seven runs. Despite the defense holding their own the rest of the game, the Jacks were unable to get things going on offense and Ellensburg advanced to the semifinals against Othello later that day.  

“Our pitching was perfectly fine. I really can't say anything negative about Jaxon Porter, who started the game, and Ashton Barnes-Keller, who came in a little bit later,” Garza said. “After we gave up a good amount of runs in that second inning, we slowed things down a lot ... offensively we needed opportunities, and we needed to get guys on base and guys ultimately couldn't find that spot and that consistency to be disciplined and get on (base).”  

Laying a promising foundation 

Last weekend concluded Garza’s first season as head coach of the Jacks program. After a rocky 2-10 start to the season, he told his team things were going to change. From there, they approached practice differently, working with players in a one-on-one format to help them develop their skills, he said.  

The Jacks went on to win five of their next six games, defeating teams like Toppenish, Othello, Prosser and Ephrata.  

“I think what turned around is the mentality of how baseball gets produced, the execution during practice and how much it relates to that translation to the game,” Garza said. 

Working with players individually helped instill more confidence and address what might be hindering their play on the field, he said. However, some tendencies were harder to throw out than others and Quincy lost its last five regular-season games. 

“There were guys that could easily lose confidence in a short amount of time, after one mistake, not realizing that there's a whole game of baseball and a lot of other things going on,” said Garza. 

Despite some of their struggles, the Jacks bounced back from a doubleheader sweep to close the regular season by defeating the Greyhounds 5-4 in the first round of the district tournament.  

What became helpful throughout the season was better communication, Garza said. He felt that was lacking early in the season.  

“In a game like baseball, there has to be clear communication. Everyone has to know their role and their job, how to support (each other), how to back up (teammates), and if one person is lost that can conflict and be a problem in the game,” Garza said.  

Alongside instilling more confidence in his players, Garza feels a good foundation was established this season which they can build off for seasons to come. Outside of coaching, he runs a private gym, Athletic Break-Through, in Quincy. He plans to utilize his facility to provide players with an opportunity to develop in the offseason through one-on-one or small group training.  

“Just going over a lot of the essential things that these players need and getting them around other experienced coaches or individuals that maybe played college baseball (or) pro baseball,” he said.  

As a former multisport athlete from Othello, Garza loves to see other student athletes doing the same thing, he said. However, there is an emphasis on athletes dedicating more time in their offseasons to training.  

“I was always developing my fundamentals,” he said. "Even if it was picking up a basketball – and I knew basketball wasn't going to be my sport – but hey, if I'm going to do it, I'm committed to playing the school sport, I’ve got to put some work in and not just show up day one without any previous goal and growth.”  

Standout players 

Helping him lay a new foundation this season was the senior class, Garza said. He pointed out Barnes-Keller as one of those players that was key this season.  

“He's been on the team since his eighth-grade year, and there was a lot of change and growth that he went through,” he said.  

Garza pushed Barnes-Keller to develop his leadership skills, emphasizing the importance of communicating in a productive way when a player makes an error. 

“There's a right way to communicate with that player to build their confidence so that the next time they have an opportunity, they can perform. When you're quiet and you're not saying anything, or you're saying something negative, then you're kind of derailing the situation,” Garza said.  

He also pointed out Caleb Kukes as a key contributor for the Jacks this season, serving as a utility player. Kukes played catcher most of the season, a position he was not initially expecting to play, Garza said. However, he took it on and worked hard to do his best in that role.  

“There's a lot that has to be worked on and developed daily to really control the game, the defense and kind of be that defensive captain. I think he did a really good job accepting that role and then learning,” Garza said.  

Jace Reyes was another player who bounced around in the lineup. According to Garza, the players responded well to doing what was best for the team despite their specific role being the ideal position they had in mind.  

“I think a lot of guys understood that, which was really helpful in some of that success this year,” he said.  

The Jacks showed a lot of promise this season, which gives Garza a lot of hope for what’s to come next season, he said.  

“I think that gives us a little bit more motivation to understand, ‘Hey, this is where we're going,’ and every year the hope is we go a little bit further and push a little bit harder,” he said.  

BOX SCORE: 

EBRG: 1-7-0-1-1: 10 

QNCY: 0-0-0-0-0: 0

    Clinton Tuttle (19) cheers on his teammates while on defense against Cashmere earlier this season.
  

    The Jacks’ Caleb Kukes (3) claps his hands toward their dugout after getting to first base during a previous game against the Ephrata Tigers.
  

    Jace Reyes, in white, leads off second base while on offense for the Quincy Jacks this season.
  

    EJ Mora (22) fields the ball in the outfield before throwing it back to the pitcher in an earlier game.
  

    The Jacks’ Ashton Barnes-Keller (10) rips off another pitch against the Othello Huskies earlier this season.