With last year's historic squad having won the Western State Conference before advancing all the way to the state tournament, the 2012 Glendale Community College baseball team inherited a lofty standard of success, even though it featured few holdovers from its predecessor.
The Vaqueros lived up to the expectations and effectively maintained Glendale's status as a contender, as the team is currently back in the playoffs.
They also brought home the program's second straight WSC South Division title and reaped the rewards when the all-conference team was released recently.
"I think there was maybe a little [pressure] at the start [of the season], maybe some guys were feeling that," said Glendale sophomore pitcher Cory Popham, who earned the conference's pitcher of the year award. "Our team's a really talented team and I think once everybody realized it's just baseball and whether we do as well or better or not as well as last year's team, it doesn't really matter.