Pecos League baseball returns to Monterey with a new squad and high hopes.

Tom Fitzpatrick has his eyes on a number – .590 – that he hopes will define the 2022 edition of the Monterey Amberjacks.

The figure represents the team’s winning percentage in 2019, when they finished 36-25. It’s the only season in four years of Pecos League play that the Amberjacks finished on the positive side of .500. Yet the new manager has confidence in the squad he’s assembled for 2022.

“Hopefully we’ll break the winning percentage record,” Fitzpatrick says.

Monterey opens the season on May 27, with a three-day homestand against Santa Cruz, interrupted by a trip north for part of Saturday’s home-away double header. The 50-game regular season wraps July 31 with a visit from Tucson.

Life on the lower rungs of professional baseball can be tenuous, particularly off the field. Players drive themselves to road games and generally need host families at home. A week before Monterey’s home opener, Fitzpatrick was still looking for rooms for a few of the players.

On the diamond, however, the game is familiar. Fitzpatrick preaches a style of play designed to wear down the opposing hurler.

“We’re going to have a solid defense and a lethal lineup that will do some damage,” says first baseman Austin Labarber. A year ago, Labarber tore up Pecos League pitching. He hit .356 and drove in 48 runs playing with Garden City. Right-hander Blake Svoboda is slated to take the mound for Monterey on Friday evening at Sollecito Ballpark. He spent last season with Sioux Falls of the American Association.

“It’s always a good feeling,” Svoboda says of being selected to start on opening day. “I have big expectations for me and the team.”

The Amberjacks first hit the field in 2017, struggling through an 18-43 season. They improved slightly to 19-43 the next year before enjoying a successful run in 2019. As with so many activities, the 2020 season was shelved by Covid. The Pecos League returned with a shortened 38-game schedule a year ago. This year Tucson joins Monterey, Bakersfield and Wasco in the Pacific South. But the Amberjacks will become more familiar with Pacific North squads Santa Rosa and Santa Cruz, who they host 11 times and face in five home-road double headers.

“Every game is going to be a close game,” Svoboda predicts.

THE AMBERJACKS’ opening game is at 6pm Friday, May 27 at Sollecito Ballpark, 851 Pearl St., Monterey. $10. montereyamberjacks.com.