Baseball publication honors four Wildcats

BY MIKE HOUSER

Nevada Appeal Sports Writer

The Western Nevada College baseball team is opening up the season on a roll.

After Collegiate Baseball Magazine ranked the Wildcats No. 18 in its December preseason poll of 190 Division-I National Junior College Athletic Association schools, the publication has singled out four WNC players.

In its January issue, Collegiate Baseball named right fielder Brian Barnett and pitchers Logan Odom, Josh Moody and Kyle Starratt among the top junior college players in the country at their respective positions.

"This is the most we've ever had," said D.J. Whittemore, who had two players " Andrew Reid and Kyle Farrell " earn the same honor in 2008. "That's what it's all about, getting accolades and exposure for our players in the program. All four have earned Division I scholarships. That puts them on the map with pro scouts as well."

All four are sophomores.

Barnett, a McQueen High School graduate, led the Wildcats last season with a .364 average, 11 home runs and 44 runs batted in. He also had a .591 slugging percentage and was named the Region XVIII Player of the Year. He has signed to play at the University of Nevada next year.

Moody, who went 8-4 and carried a 2.37 earned run average in 2008, and the 6-foot-6 Odom both signed with Pac-10 teams. Odom has selected the University of Southern California and Moody signed with Arizona State. Starratt went 9-4 with a 2.43 ERA last year and signed with Texas Christian University.

The Wildcats went 39-20 last season and were the Region XVIII runner-ups. They ended the season with a 6-5 loss to rival College of Southern Nevada.

Western Nevada begins practice Monday and of its 26 players, 11 are returners. The Wildcats will play 28 of their first 32 games on the road, beginning with South Mountain Community College (of Phoenix, Ariz.) Jan. 30, in Las Vegas.

WNC has 55 games scheduled, but Whittemore said he would like to add another game with Feather River Community College or play an exhibition with the Triple-A Reno Aces.

"When you lose, you get better," Whittemore said.

The Wildcats haven't done so bad when they win, either. In their inaugural season in 2006, they captured the Scenic West Athletic Conference title. In 2007, they added the Region XVIII championship and Western District championship before advancing to the NJCAA JUCO World Series.

Whittemore said the Wildcats are in no position to rest on their laurels.

"We have some glaring weaknesses to try and address," he said. "First, we don't have any experience at the catcher position. Second, even though we return two number ones in Starratt and Moody, we have only 16.5 innings combined in the rest of the returning pitchers.

"We have a lot of new faces on the mound. It's a question of how quickly they adjust to college baseball. How they perform will determine how quickly we start."

Whittemore said sophomore Jerome Pena, another TCU signee, would be the Wildcats' starting catcher, while two freshmen " Cory Raymond and Eric Maupin " would also compete for the spot.

Maupin, a 48th-round pick for the Mariners in 2007, is a former standout for Galena and originally signed with Washington State. He pitched and played at first base for the Grizzlies.

In their season-opening series March 6 at John L. Harvey Field, the Wildcats will play a double header against College of Southern Idaho. The opening game is at noon.