Cathleen Allison/Nevada Appeal
For the Western Nevada College baseball team, there is only one side of the swimming pool: The deep end.
The Wildcats, who finished 38-20 in 2008 and were the Region XVIII runner-up, will begin their fourth season of play today against South Mountain Community College, beginning 3 p.m. at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas.
"South Mountain is a very talented team that should compete for the championship in Arizona," Western Nevada coach D.J. Whittemore said. "It's probably the best junior college region in the NJCAA (National Junior College Athletic Association)."
The Cougars, of Phoenix, play in the talent-rich Arizona Community College Athletic Conference (ACCAC), where last year they finished in second place behind Yavapai, with a 25-13 conference record (they were 38-18 overall).
"They will be a handful. They're as a good a team as we have ever played, is the way we're looking at it," said Whittemore, whose Wildcats finished 29-11 in Scenic West Athletic Conference (SWAC) play in '08. "They have 10 pro prospects. They have three left-handed pitchers that have already been drafted. They have a bunch of players bound for Division I colleges. They're really good on the mound and swinging the bats."
Western Nevada owns a 2-3 record against the Cougars. The Wildcats opened 2008 against SMCC, going 1-2 before their fourth game was canceled. WNC went 1-1 against South Mountain in 2006.
The Cougars return only four players, including starting pitchers Jordan Whatcott (5-2 last year), Adam Prange and Kyle Hurst. Prange started in relief last season and Hurst was their mid-reliever and closer.
First baseman Jason Summers is SMCC's other returner. Summers hit .337 with two home runs and 43 runs batted in last season.
The Wildcats return 11 players, including right-hander Kyle Starratt, who will get the start today against the Cougars. Starratt pitched his way to a 9-4 record last year, with a 2.43 earned run average.
Whittemore said freshman left-hander Jordan Lewis would start the opening game of Saturday's double header against SMCC (at 11 a.m.) and sophomore Josh Moody would get the call in the 2 p.m. nightcap.
With USC-bound sophomore Logan Odom out of action with tendinitis in the elbow of his throwing arm, Whittemore said he hasn't settled on a fourth starter yet and just about everyone in the bullpen will get a chance to step up in relief.
The teams meet again on Sunday at 11 a.m.
Whittemore said freshman Cory Raymond has earned the starting catcher spot, taking the place of injured backstop Jerome Pena, whose recovery from surgery to repair a sports hernia remains "on schedule."
Whittemore said his team was able to take advantage of a warmer-than-expected January.
"I'm very excited. Our team will be as prepared as it can be at this point of the season," he said. "We've had more days on the field this January than we had the last three seasons, even though we missed a week " Wednesday to Wednesday (because of the weather). It's not perfect, but it's better than it's been in the past."
The Wildcats, who won the SWAC championship in 2006 and the Region XVIII and Western District championships in 2007 (they also finished fifth in the JUCO World Series), will now see how well they can swim in the deep end of what they hope is another successful year against a talented pool of competition.