As the regular season comes to a near end, the Orestimba High baseball team continues its struggles with its ninth-consecutive loss after losing 10-1 in its series closer to Ripon High on Friday.

The Warriors fell to 8-13 overall and 2-6 in its Trans-Valley League slate. With its third-straight win, the Indians improved to 13-9 overall and sit in third place in the TVL standings at 5-3 in league play.

Through the team’s league play slate, head coach Louie Dominguez said his team needs “to get stronger.” He added that’s an aspect he’s overlooked in first season at the helm.

“We look at other teams, and they’re just bigger and stronger than us,” Dominguez said. “That’s one thing we’ll have to spend the offseason doing.”

A common recurrence in Orestimba’s losing streak is not stopping opposing batters from bringing runners to home plate. In the last eight out of nine games, the Warriors allowed at least 10 runs. The sole exception was against Mariposa County High on April 6, where the team lost 8-3.

Friday’s game was no different.

Junior first baseman Fabian Nunes had his best performance of the season for the Indians when it came to bringing in runners, recording four RBIs. Similar to his teammate, senior shortstop Hunter Weber recorded his most complete game this season, going 3 for 4 for two RBIs and three runs.

The Indians didn’t waste any time to score with a combined six runs through the first two innings. Orestimba slowed down Ripon to a run in the top of the third inning and scored their sole run of the afternoon during the bottom of the third to trail 7-1.

However, the Warriors momentum was short-lived as the Indians scored two more runs the following inning. The visitors put the game and series away with a final run in the top of the sixth inning to win by nine runs.

Orestimba will continue its TVL slate as the team visits Ripon Christian (20-2) (7-1 TVL) on Wednesday with a 4 p.m. start. The Knights enter Wednesday’s matchup as winners of 11 straight while sitting at the top of the TVL standings with a one-game lead over Escalon High (16-6) (6-2 TVL).

With the Warriors final two series matchup against the top-two teams in the league, Dominguez emphasized the team’s need to continue practicing.

“Everybody’s trying, everybody’s doing the best they can, and that’s all you can ask,” he said. “So that’s kind of more important than anything.”