 February 6, 2010 - By Vincent Tannura
Posted: 02/03/2010
HEAD OUT to a College of Marin baseball practice and you'll very likely see towels, string, even mirrors on the field.
Those three items are not necessarily standard tools for pitchers, but they are all part of the throwing program put together by pitching coach Conor Bird. The regimen has fostered the growth of Bay Valley Conference pitchers of the year for two of the last three seasons and helped the Mariners field competitive teams.
If a young 2010 COM squad hopes to repeat as BVC champions, Bird must continue to work his magic.
Apart from long toss and throwing off flat ground (both common elements of a throwing program) Bird's tactics may seem a tad unorthodox at first. Towels are used for throwing drills. String is suspended over the plate and pitchers are encouraged to throw underneath it to establish command of the lower part of the strike zone. Mirrors are brought out to help pitchers work on their mechanics.
But Bird's practices have proven to be as effective as they are eccentric. He honed the throwing program over a pair of summers as a pitching coach, and then head coach, with the Mat-Su Miners in the Alaska Baseball League, an amateur summer league for top collegiate athletes. Both years, the Miners led the league in earned-run average, Bird said.
In 2007, Bird's first year at COM after several years as an assistant at San Francisco State, where Bird was a reliever early in the decade, the pitching coach helped Eric LeBaron earn BVC pitcher of the year honors. LeBaron now pitches for San Jose State.
Last year, it was the same story for a different player. San Marin High alum Vinny Pacchetti, now with NCAA Division II Cal State Stanislaus, started the year as a reliever before becoming the staff ace and also earning conference pitcher of the year, thanks in large part to Bird.
"For me it's all about having a consistent routine or throwing program," Bird said. "We throw probably more than 95 percent of programs. I believe that's something that's going to make you durable and consistent. Just being on a consistent throwing program, you're able to reinforce your mechanics every day."
This season, Bird has the task of bringing along a mostly freshman pitching staff, with relievers Donny Miller and Connor Kojimoto (the club's only lefty) the lone returners. Jesse DeLong, a Marin Catholic High grad, is expected to be the staff ace after a summer and fall of working with Bird helped him improve his command, develop a slider and changeup and add better than 5 miles per hour to his fastball.
Kevin Mayne (Drake) and Erik Kriessman (San Rafael) are also expected to start, while Andrew Hammond (Tomales) is in the mix as well. Mike Lopez, a San Marin High grad who stands 6-foot-8, has impressed the coaching staff with his potential and the intimidation factor he brings coming out of the bullpen.
The coaching staff seems most excited about DeLong, who passed up playing at D-II Cal State Los Angeles to take the field at COM. DeLong said he knows he made the right decision after having worked with Bird.
"He's made a huge impact on my pitching," DeLong said. "I've gotten a lot more velocity on my fastball, a lot more command with it too, and I'm living low and away. That's the philosophy and that's what he's helped me do. É He helped me learn how to train, how to run and get in shape and lift weights, stuff to get to the next level."
The presence of an explosive lineup would certainly help the young pitching staff, and the Mariners believe they have just that this year. Shortstop Cody Weiss and Terra Linda High alum Rick Hughes, a right fielder, are preseason All-Americans and slated to bat second and third, respectively. Mariners coach Steve Berringer said projected leadoff man and center fielder Abel Gonzalez will turns heads with his speed and bat control, while Danny Dworkin is expected to slide into the cleanup slot as an outfielder and designated hitter.
First baseman Mike Roseland, outfielder CJ Engelstad, returning catcher Mike Stone, second baseman Max Newman and third baseman Will Cote areslated to round out the lineup, with DeLong also expected to get some at-bats.
"I'm excited about this group," Berringer said. "I've told them from Day 1, we won the (conference) championship last year and while I've been coaching here we haven't repeated, so that's our goal, and I think this group is very capable of doing it."
Whether the lineup prospers or founders, Bird, who hopes to head his own baseball program one day, said he expects his staff to be consistent enough to keep COM in games this year, and perhaps good enough to carry the Mariners the following season.
"We were lucky last year having Vinny Pacchetti and Kory Wallace who ate up a lot of innings and threw a ton of strikes," Bird said. "We have some talented kids, we're going to have some success and we're going to throw strikes, but it's going to be a different mix of kids. É We're going to see how they progress and then next year they will have been under this system for a year, so we're going to expect to see even more success out of them."
It remains to be seen how COM's green pitchers will fare in live game situations, but it is clear that the Mariners' chances of making the state playoffs will ride largely on how fast the inexperienced staff can mature.
According to a certain former BVC pitcher of the year, that should not be a problem as long as Bird is around.
"He knew exactly what he was talking about," Pacchetti said. "As a pitcher you have to listen and buy into what he's saying, and you'll see the results." |
