With a talented pitching staff, more depth and a strong freshman class, SBCC baseball coach Teddy Warrecker has plenty of reasons to be optimistic.
“Our pitching staff is as talented and deep as I’ve had,” said the Vaqueros ninth-year head coach. “We have some guys with experience and we also have some freshmen who will make a big, big impact. We have a good blend of returners and a freshman class that’s ourstanding — the best group I’ve had in my nine years.”
The Vaqueros open their season Tuesday with a 2 p.m. home game against Compton. They’ll also be home for two games on Friday and another on Saturday in the Bash at the Beach.
“Greg Pellici is our closer but he’s getting the start on Tuesday based on his performance throughout the fall,” noted Warrecker. “We’re going to whole-staff it and try to get everyone an inning.”
SBCC has made the Southern Cal Regionals in three of the last four years and claimed its first WSC title in 35 years in 2007. Last year, they went 23-21 overall and 11-14 in the Western State Conference, winning their last four games qualify for a one-game, play-in to the Regional. The Vaquero season ended with a 3-0 loss at Palomar.
Santa Barbara needs to improve its team batting after hitting just .284 last season with seven homers.
“The talent level is as high as I’ve ever had here and that’s saying a lot,” Warrecked declared. “The ’07 team was pretty special offensively but after our front line, we didn’t have much depth. This year, it’s very competitive. Our depth is good, our athleticism is good. We’ll be more offensive than we were a year ago.
“The power game will be much improved, 1 through 9. Not everyone has home-run power but certainly guys have gap power. We scored runs pretty consistently throughout the fall.”
Ten players are back from last year’s edition, which finished third in the WSC. Blake McFarland, a 6-foot-6 right-hander, will be the No. 1 pitcher with Sean Costella returning at shortstop. Outfielders Aaron Bauman, Corey Krupp and Brad Marasco are also back along with Andrew Leighty. Marasco was a second-team All-WSC performer along with McFarland and Bauman.
Tommy White was pencilled in at catcher before going down with a season-ending injury last week. Leighty, Steven Keller and Jeremy Howard are vying for playing time behind the plate. Krupp has temporarily sidelined by an arm injury.
Zack Chavez, a shortstop and second baseman from Santa Barbara High, tops the talented freshman class. “He’ll bat leadoff for us and has a really bright future,” said Warrecker, whose father, Fred, coached Chavez at SBHS. Chavez, Tony Cooper, Bauman and Jeremy Baum will fill the top four spots in Tuesday’s batting order.
In addition to Chavez and Leighty of SBHS, there are four players from Dos Pueblos on the 33-man squad — pitchers Danny Martony, Zach Coonen and Ryan Gardner along with outfielder Danny Cavaletto.
Other top newcomers are Cooper, the Vaqueros’ second-leading hitter in the fall; Howard, who also plays right field and center fielders Rorry Nakayama and Nick Halloran, who both redshirted last year.
Joe McGrew, a redshirt freshman, will be the No. 2 starting pitcher and has “a chance to be a very special pitcher,” according to Warrecker. Three hurlers are battling for the No. 3 spot.
“Pillici, a redshirt sophomore from Connecticut, will be our closer and he’s already signed with Pepperdine,” Warrecker said. “He’ll be set-up by Jeremy Peterson and Chad Caraccioli. Peterson has been offered a scholarship to Hawaii but has declined it to see what else is available.
“We’ll carry 12 pitchers this year, the most we’ve ever had by far.”
Depth is another strong suit for the Vaqueros.
“Having that depth is critical,” said Warrecker. “If you get into a three-game series in the playoffs or have to play five games in the Super Regional, you need depth. In the past, we were set up pretty well for one playoff game but beyond that, it got a little iffy. This is the type of staff you have to put together in order to make a deep run into the playoffs. That’s definitely our goal this year.”
Former SBHS and SBCC standout Jon Combs has been added to help with the Vaqueros’ infield and hitting, giving Warrecker four assistants who played for him.
“We definitely have a shot at winning the (WSC) title,” Warrecker concluded. “That was our goal from Day 1 and the longer I’ve been here, I’ve grown less afraid of stating those goals outright. If you’re not talking about winning the conference championship or advancing to Fresno (for the Final Four), I don’t think you’ll ever get there because it doesn’t became part of your mindset.”
