The 2010 season will be the final shot at a conference title and a berth in the NCAA tournament for 10 Coyote baseball players.
The 'Yotes will return a corps of veteran players and pitchers from the 2009 team that produced a 23-23 record (17-18 in the CCAA). The team was in contention for a berth in the four-team CCAA championship tournament until the final weekends, but finished sixth in the standings.
Chief among the returners is senior second baseman Brent Plank who hit .318 last season with two home-runs and 34 runs batted in. Also back is senior short-stop Kyle Davis, who batted .307 with one home run and 19 RBI’s and Jordan Lowe, who batted .320 with 11 RBI. Julio Torres is another returning starter who played right field in 2007.
The returning pitchers are led by senior right-hander Danny Stenavich who had a 5-1 record with a 2.09 ERA and 89 strikeouts last season, and Aaron Brooks, another right-hander with a 5-2 record and a 3.96 ERA, with three complete games.
A third starter, senior Trevor Longfellow, is also back.
Several newcomers figure in Head Coach Don Parnell's plans for success in 2010, primarily third baseman Raul Meraz and second basemen Erik Ornales, both sophomores and both all-Orange Empire Conference second-team selections. They figure to vie for starting positions right away as juniors at CSUSB.
CSUSB looks to fill the third base job now that all-CCAA second-team selection Jesus Beltran has used up his eligibility. Ornales will vie with senior Brent Planck for the third base job and can back up returning shortstop Kyle Davis.
“They (Meraz and Ornelas) come from the toughest junior college conference in the nation and have had success there so they should be able to compete and play pivotal roles for us in the CCAA,” Parnell said.
"Our season should go according to how we pitch," said Parnell, entering his 20th season as the head coach. "If the pitching is solid, we will be solid. We return seven pitchers who all played a pivotal role last year. If those same guys can take it up a notch, we should be very competitive in the conference."
One of the newcomers expected to start in the outfield is Matt Winn, a freshman, who had to take a medical redshirt after getting hit in the face earlier last season.
Two other players considered key to the team's lineup are Darren Dworak, an infielder from University of San Diego, and Cody Madison, a transfer from Riverside College.
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