Season Preview: Vaqueros restock with talented position players

SBCC lost most of its pitching from last year's WSC North championship baseball squad with its top four pitchers all playing for NCAA Div. 1 teams this year -- Ian Churchill (last year's State Pitcher of the Year, Arizona); Conner Roberts (UCSB); Jack Aldrich (Tulane) and Dylan Porter (Washington State).

Eleven players return from last year's 24-15 edition that won its last eight conference games to capture its fifth WSC title in the last nine years. There's only two returning starters and they were both all-conference -- catcher Alonzo Rubalcaba and first baseman Jacob Bravo.

"We don't return a whole lot of innings or at-bats," said ninth-year coach Jeff Walker. "Our position players are going to have to carry us this year. Alonzo is pretty special behind the plate, he's one of the best catchers in the country. We're looking for big years from Rubalcaba and Bravo. We can really swing the bats and we'll be tough to defend."

The Vaqueros have qualified for the Regional playoffs for nine straight years, the longest streak in Southern California. Walker is 186-135 (.579) and needs 14 wins to get to 200.

SBCC opens the season with a two-game set with West L.A. Blake Corsentino, a 6-4 sophomore right-hander from Ventura High who pitched for Cal State East Bay last year, will be the opening-day starter on Friday at West L.A. at 2 p.m. Toby Spach is pencilled in as the "opening" pitcher (tossing the first two or three innings) for the Vaqueros' home opener vs. West L.A. on Saturday at 1 p.m.

"Toby committed to USC in the fall and he has a big power arm," said Walker. "He just lacks experience on the mound."

The only returning pitchers are 6-5 right-hander Jake McBride (Dos Pueblos High), Mason Metcalfe (San Marcos) and Spach (Carpinteria). McBride pitched 14.1 innings last year and took over the closer duties down the stretch. He had three saves in the last six regular-season games and had a glossy 0.63 ERA for the year.

The Vaqueros were 12-5 at Pershing Park last year and 23-11 in the last two years.

Shortstop Kyle Froemke, a sophomore from Round Rock, Texas, tops the list of newcomers. The 6-4 shortstop played in 35 games for Oregon last year and recently committed to Oregon State. Other top new faces are Noah Williamson, a 6-3 outfielder from Las Vegas; infielder Brandon Lawrence, an All-CIF player from Dunn School who hit .507 last spring with 41 RBIs and 21 steals in 23 games and Jarred Greene, a sophomore transfer from UCSB who will play outfield or designated hitter. "Jarred will be a good left-handed bat in the middle of the lineup," says Walker.

Nick Catalano also figures to see playing time in the outfield, along with Matthew Entrup and Zach Orn. Orn, who can play infield or outfield, is a transfer from Ivy Tech Community College Northeast in Indiana, where he batted .383 in 40 games last year.

Rubalcaba will start at catcher with Kyle Gonzalez (freshman, San Marcos High) as his capable backup. "Kyle is a really good No. 2, he'd probably start at 80% of the other community colleges," Walker said.

Bravo will be the anchor at first base and Froemke will start at shortstop. The second baseman could be Lawrence or Santa Barbara High product Zach Jensen, the younger brother of former SBCC star and WSC MVP John Jensen, who's a senior at UC Irvine. Trevor Davis will also see time at second or third base.

Walker says Hunter Call "can really go get the ball and he's electric out there in center field." Other starting outfield candidates are Williamson in right and Ryan Guardino, who played on the 2018 Vaqueros, in left. "He's a potential four-tool player," said Walker about Guardino, a sophomore from San Marcos High. "He can run, he's got some size and he can hit. Matthew Entrup is also expected to play in the outfield along with Greene.

Metcalfe has moved to pitcher full time and Bravo will also pitch when he's not playing first.

"We have a lot of 3-4 inning guys and we have good pitching depth," Walker noted.

Walker said he envisions Froemke, Bravo, Rubalcaba and Greene as the 2, 3, 4 and 5 hitters in the batting order. "We're not really sure who's leading off, maybe Noah," said Walker. "We have some speed and Noah can really run and Guardino can run. One unique thing is the position players who are our best hitters are also our best defenders. So we won't have to pinch-hit or pinch-run a lot, which is certainly nice."

The Vaqueros will play a typically tough schedule with 16 non-conference games and 24 WSC North contests. They'll play four teams from the top league in the state, the Orange Empire Conference, in Saddleback (early 3-game series), defending state champ Orange Coast, Riverside and Fullerton.

"hose are top programs and we're a top program, so we should be playing each other," said Walker. "Those are the kind of teams you have to get through in the playoffs."

So what are the keys to winning another WSC title and making a 10th straight trip to the playoffs?

"No. 1: Stay healthy," said Walker. "No. 2: Trying to mix and match our pitching and find the right combination that works. We're an inexperienced team that's going to get some experience really quickly. That will lead to confidence.

"I really like our team overall, I don't think we have any glaring weaknesses. I'm always excited to get the season started. It takes forever to get here but once it starts, it goes by really fast."