For a group who wasn't that much heralded out of high school, this past season's Western Nevada College baseball class has sure made a name for itself.
In only their second season of existence, the Wildcats advanced to the JUCO World Series. But that still wasn't the climax for Western Nevada's sophomores. Fourteen of the 17 sophomores from that team have already begun their professional careers or will continue their careers at the four-year level.
Six of the sophomores signed at the Division I level: pitchers Cole Rohrbough (Arizona State), Stephen Sauer (Arizona State), Justin Garcia (UNLV), Dan Grubbs (New Mexico) and Jeremy Joustra (New Mexico State) and infielder Thomas Miller (University of Nevada).
Seven other players have signed with other four-year schools: Outfielder Brad Carlsen and pitcher Jake Bottari signed with one of the nation's top NAIA programs, Albertson in Idaho; pitcher Josh Brink signed with another top NAIA program, the University of British Columbia; catcher Taylor Mieras and outfielder Pat Grennan signed with Division II Western Oregon; outfielder Andrew Ferguson signed with NAIA Bethany in Kansas; and infielder Kyle Bondurant signed with NAIA Vanguard in Southern California. In addition, pitcher T.J. Wohlever signed with the Atlanta Braves.
Western Nevada coach D.J. Whittemore said it's still unclear what pitcher Chris Rickey and outfielder Anthony Garcia are going to do. Whittemore also said that Chad Walling has decided not to continue to play. "Everybody else is signed, committed and going," Whittemore said.
Whittemore said the goal of every junior college program is to make sure that every one of its players who want to has the chance to continue to play.
"They're going to have a chance to earn a bachelor's degree and they're playing for two more years," said Whittemore about the players who are continuing their college careers.
It's impressive that 14 of the 17 sophomores are continuing to play because the vast majority of the players weren't that heavily recruited out of high school.
"That's a great average," said Whittemore about having 14 of 17 sophomores move on. "They did it all themselves.
"They earned every scholarship the hard way by performing. I think they fed off of each other. They just kept picking each other up to higher levels."
All 14 of the players moving on received some kind of scholarship or pro offer. While Miller, a first baseman-third baseman, is walking on at Nevada, he had previously received a scholarship offer from Division I Binghamton in New York, before deciding to walk on with the Wolf Pack.
Miller will be joined by middle infielder Jerahmie Libke, who played at Western Nevada in 2006. Libke is transferring from Southern Utah to walk on at Nevada as well. Miller and Libke will join two other teammates from the 2006 Western Nevada team who are already at Nevada, outfielder Aaron Henry, a Carson High graduate, and infielder-catcher Tyson Jaquez.
Whittemore said the competition will be tough for his former players at Nevada. "They've got some talented players," said Whittemore about the Wolf Pack. But he also said all of his former players could earn eventually earn starting spots at Nevada.
Ryan Iodence, who pitched for Western Nevada in 2006, is at Nevada as well.
As a draft and follow with the Atlanta Braves, Rohrbough signed with the Braves for a $728,000 signing bonus. He was named the Braves Pitcher of the Month for the entire organization.
Rohrbough began with the Braves advanced rookie league team, the Danville (Va.) Braves. There, he was 3-2 with a 1.08 earned run average with 58 strikeouts and eight walks in 33.2 innings.
He has since been promoted to the lower Class A Rome (Ga.) Braves where he's 1-0 with a 1.00 earned run average and nine strikeouts in nine innings.
Justin Garcia signed with the Tampa Bay Devil Rays and with the Devil Rays rookie league team, the Princeton Devil Rays in the Appalachian League, Garcia has posted a 2.53 E.R.A. in 21.1 innings. Sauer was drafted in the 31st round by the Devil Rays, but decided to pitch at Arizona State.
Several other players with Western Nevada ties are continuing to play as well. catcher Aaron Greer, who saw limited action in 2006 due to a condition that caused him to have blood clots, is going to NAIA Concordia in Portland, Ore. Chadd Dudley, who pitched for Western Nevada in 2006, is attending DIvision II Grand Canyon University.
Mason Tobin, who pitched for Western Nevada in 2006, is pitching with the Anaheim Angels' affiliate, the Orem Owlz, in the Pioneer League. He is 1-0 with a 1.64 E.R.A. in two starts.
Other Wildcats who have been drafted include Rickey by the Milwaukee Brewers in 2004 and Greer by the Philadelphia Phillies, Brink by the Minnesota Twins and Jaquez by the Detroit Tigers in 2005.
The 2008 season is also really underway as the Wildcats have already begun fall practice. Western Nevada currently has 36 players - 29 freshmen and seven sophomores - on their roster.
Western Nevada has scheduled seven intrasquad scrimmages, with the first two to be held on Sunday and Monday at noon. There will also be scrimmages on August 25 and 26 at noon, one on August 31 at 2 p.m. and scrimmages on September 1 and 2 at noon.
The Wildcats will open their fall scrimmage schedule on September 7 at JohnL.Harvey Field with a series of games against teams featuring top high school seniors from Northern California , the Northwest and Utah.
Western Nevada will play NorCal Baseball at 4 p.m. September 7, Baseball Northwest at 1 p.m. September 8 and the Utah Baseball Academy at noon September 9.