Spring preview: With plethora of pitching NVC looks to have strong season in 2019
By Kyle Foster
Twitter: @NapaKyle @NapaSportsNews
Pitching is always important at every level of baseball. Luckily for the Napa Valley College baseball team they’ll have plenty of it for the upcoming season.
The Storm have a total of 17 pitchers on their roster, which should help them immensely at the end of games.
“Pitching is always a key for success it seems like in this league,” Napa Valley College coach Dan Parker said. “We have a couple returners that will be good to get out there and a good set of freshman coming in.”
Leading the pitching staff will be 2017 Napa Hgh graduate Felipe Gonzalez who went 5-6, had two saves, and had a ERA of 6.50 in 14 games with 12 of them being starts.
“Just kinda the same as last year,” Parker said of what he’s expecting from his ace. “Just make sure he progresses, at this level it’s about progression. We like to put a lot on winning and losing as coaches, but I like to look at it just as a progression thing and make sure he’s ready to go for the future.”
Other than Gonzalez Napa Valley has a total of nine returners. Those returners are: pitcher Nick Adair, infielder Trent Davis, infielder Hunter Leavitt, catcher Clayton Espino, infielder/pitcher Louis Hall, pitcher Alex Nelson, catcher Sean Quinn, outfielder Noah Wallen, and 1B/pitcher Carter Pennington. To view the full roster go here.
Otherwise, the Storm are a pretty young team, which could mean a slight lack of experience.
“I think it rotates every other year since it’s a two-year college. One out of two years you’re going to be young,” Parker said of having a young group. “For us it’s just trying to get as many reps in as possible or as early as possible and see if we can’t gain some knowledge as quickly as possible for these youngsters.”
Last season NVC went 15-24 overall and had a 9-12 record in Bay Valley Conference play.
They went 6-4 over their final ten games of the season.
Due to all the January rain Napa Valley won’t have their first home game until Friday, February 8th when they host College of Siskiyous-Weed at 1 p.m. However, that’s something that NVC always has to deal with this time of year.
“I think it’s the toughest thing in Northern California. I think this group of guys has to battle harder than any other team, especially early in the season,” Parker said of the field situation. “It’s not easy to throw bullpens in a gym and go out and face a team that goes to state the last four or five years as your first challenge, so these guys are tested right away.”
The preseason schedule certainly isn’t a cake walk for the Storm. They’ll open up the season on Friday when they visit Ohlone-Fremont at 2 p.m. Then, on Saturday they’ll visit Merced at 1 p.m. Both those teams are ranked in the top 12 of the California Community College Baseball Coaches Association Northern California preseason rankings.
“Just again trying to better these guys. I know it’s going to be a tough preseason, especially with our field being underwater like it is every year and early in the season,” Parker said of the meat grinder preseason. “But, yeah, same thing just making sure we put ourselves in position to get better as individuals.”
NVC will begin Bay Valley Conference play on Tuesday, March 5th when they host the College of Marin at 2:30 p.m. The Storm will hist Solano on Thursday, March 21st at 2:30 p.m. To view the full schedule go here.
Over the summer Parker managed the Martinez Clippers. The Clippers were an expansion team last season in the Pacific Association of Pro Baseball Clubs. Parker’s first road game as manager of the Clippers was in Napa when they faced the Napa Silverados who were the other expansion team to the Pacific Association of Pro Baseball Clubs.
Although it was still managing baseball, Parker says none of it will transfer over when it comes to coaching college-level kids.
“Not really at all, it’s so different,” Parker explained of managing in the Pacific Association. “The on-field stuff is extremely easy for me, it seems like, so the pro thing was kind of just like a summer off. It’s easier to coach at that level than it is at this level.”
This season is Parker’s third at the helm of Napa Valley College baseball. Warren Brusstar and Paul Wiebens will also assist Parker this season.
