PALM SPRINGS, Calif. – The 2019 SCCBL season is in full swing and the first weekend is in the books for most of the six teams competing this summer. The league returns five of last year’s teams, with one team going with a new looks this year, and has added a new team after the loss of the SoCal Bombers.

The Palm Springs Power, perennial powerhouse of the SCCBL are joined by the defending league-champion San Diego Force. Last season’s runner-up, the Inland Valley Bucs return as well and are joined by their sister team, the Inland Valley Pirates. The Riverside Bulldogs return this season as the SoCal Stros, and the Cal Jays look to make a statement as the new kids on the block.

PALM SPRINGS POWER & SOCAL STROS – Cade Temple

The Power enter 2019 looking to make their way back to the SCCBL Championship Series after falling short last season. They return All-SCCBL selection Matt Green out of St. Mary’s College (Calif.). Green hit .232 this season for the Gaels. A rising junior for Illinois State, Jordan Libman played a lot this spring and totaled 234 at-bats with a .300 batting average. Libman had 28 RBI in his sophomore year for the Redbirds. Another strong addition from Illinois State, Jeremy Gaines totaled 62 at-bats with a .306 batting average.

Jorge Valerio, a junior pitcher out of Cal Baptist University, had a strong year on the mound for the Lancers. He finished the season with a 5.17 ERA in 47 innings pitched. The opponents he faced had an average of .244 against him, making him an important piece the pitching staff. He collected up 35 strikeouts throughout his innings pitched. His longest outing was against Pacific where he threw 7 innings, only giving up four hits and two runs. Ethan Sachs of Riverside City College completed 42.1 innings on the mound with a 3.61 ERA as a freshman. He had 37 strikeouts with an opponent batting average of just .182 A rising junior for Union (Tenn.), Josh Bozoian played a lot this spring. He totaled 142 at bats with a .261 batting average. Bozoian had 25 RBI in his sophomore year for the Bulldogs.

SAN DIEGO FORCE & CAL JAYS – Cassidy Thornburg

The San Diego Force finished the 2018 regular season as SCCBL Champions for the eighth time in their ten seasons within the league. The Force are led by Head Coach Jason Fowler who just finished his third season as the Varsity Head Coach at Mira Mesa High School and 16th season coaching high school baseball. He actually began his coaching career at Madison High School where the San Diego Force will be hosting their home games this season. Head Coach Jason Fowler voiced complete confidence in his team this year to again take first in the league, especially when considering his returning and new players on the roster. The Force return a couple of players from their squad the past few years, including right-fielder #33 Ryan Williams who took off at the end of last summer with a back-to-back RBI-double and homer in the NBC World Series. The Force also return catcher and third baseman #22 Byron Smith, who played for the Force two summers ago after having a high school season at Maranatha Christian Schools where he hit .430 with 23 RBIs while going 10-1 on the mound with a .77 ERA and 124 strikeouts in 73 innings, and finally the Force return #19 Justin Webb who will be jumping back into the rotation for the Force. New faces to the Force’s roster include #2 DJ Lewis, an expected leadoff hitter for the Force, #4 Keiton Caratinni, who in his three seasons with the Wolverines pitched 2.11 and threw 92 strikeouts in 83 innings. Cade Bochtler, another commanding pitcher will also join the starting rotation this season. The Force kicked off their 2019 season this past Saturday, June 1 at 5 p.m. at Madison High School against the Invaders. 

The California Jays are a newly formed team entering their first season in the SCCBL. The California Jays are out of Hemit and will host their home games at the Soboba Sports Complex in Hemit, Ca. Their roster is made up of 22 players from six different states. There are a couple of names on the list to look out for as the California Jays’ season gets underway. First, the right-handed pitcher #11 Joshua Torres, a freshman at Chaffey College. Torres just finished his senior year at Don Lugo High School where he pitched 47 strikeouts in 64.2 innings, averaging 6.54 strikeouts per game. Torres will join the starting rotation for the California Jays this season. Second, the outfielder #21 Ricky Nunez, a sophomore from Cal State University-Monterey Bay who ranked 74th in California during high school. His senior year he played in 22 games, hit .307, had an on-base percentage of .384, racked up 21 RBI’s and had 12 runs. Third, the second baseman #1 Christian Carlos, a sophomore from Holy Names University who will be another contributing power hitter to the California Jays’ lineup. He represented the California Jays this spring while playing for Holy Names University. He appeared in 34 games, making twenty-nine starts during which he recorded 18 hits, 3 doubles  5 RBI's, and 2 HRs. The California Jays kicked off their 2019 season this past Friday, May 31 at 7 p.m. at Amerige Park against the SoCal Stros.

IV BUCS & PIRATES – Jordan Quinn

After coming up short in a decisive 14-inning game for the 2018 Southern California Collegiate Baseball League Championship last year, the Inland Valley Buccaneers are looking to improve upon one of their strongest seasons in recent years. The 2019 Bucs will have four returning players from last year’s roster including outfielder Dylan Hirsch (Loyola Marymount), who had a .347 batting average in the 2018 SCCBL season. Also back for the Bucs are pitchers Tyler Agajanian (LaVerne) who boasted a 1.76 ERA for the Leopards this season, Matthew Goytia (Colorado State-Pueblo), and Peter Etipence (Chico State). All three bring experience to the pitching staff. The addition of pitcher Enrique Zaldivar (Citrus College) and outfielders Rion Satamaria (Colorado State-Pueblo, .359 BA) and Gabe Arrellano (Pasadena City College, .395 BA) give the Bucs depth heading into the new season. Zaldivar will be one to watch after going 5-4 at Citrus with 53 punch-outs.

The Inland Valley Pirates are looking to improve upon 2018’s playoff appearance with a deeper run this season. Pitchers Andre Henson (Cal Poly Pomona), Jake Lacheman (UC Riverside) and Kohto Hasegawa (Cal Poly Pomona) will be returning to the Pirates for the 2019 season after each was amongst the staff leaders in appearances last year. Other returners to this year’s team are outfielders Ryan McAnless and Ryan Pho, each from Holy Names, infielder Travis Aversa (Long Beach City College) and utility player Aaron Halpert (Cypress College). Key additions to the Pirate roster this year include pitcher Trevor Harris (Saddleback, 1.35 ERA), infielders Demetri Collachio (Saddleback, .379 BA), Haydon Winters (Cypress, .342 BA) and Riley Kaspar (UC Irvine, .382 BA).  The combination of the veteran Pirate players with the new additions to the roster give the team a good look on paper.