The Pirates return 14 players from their SCCBL 2015 regular season co-championship team.
Andrew Alvarez
Former SCCBL all-stars Andrew Alvarez, Kyle Jackson, Jonny Reynoso, Anthony Virgen and Nathan Virgen are all back to help the club improve to the next level after last season’s successful 26-8 finish.
Alvarez posted gaudy numbers, while dominating the competition in 2014. The Houston Baptist senior-to-be earned Pitcher of the Month honors in June, while finishing 5-0 with a 2.42 ERA and 38 strikeouts in 44.2 innings. He did damage with the bat as well, finishing with a .341 batting average and leading the team with 31 hits for the season.
Jonny Reynoso
Jonny Reynoso led the Pirates offensively, tying for the highest batting average with an extraordinary .380 clip. Reynoso currently plays for Cal Poly Pomona as a junior after earning first team All-Conference honors at Citrus College.
Kyle Jackson is having a great season as a sophomore at Chaffey College. He’s been nothing short of great the past two seasons for the Inland Valley Pirates and is hoping this summer to find a scholarship and home for his final two collegiate seasons. He’s raking at Chaffey with a .308 BA and .400 OBP. Jackson led the team with a .340 batting clip in 2013 and followed that up with a strong .312 average last season.
Anthony Virgen
Two more standouts who return are the Virgen brothers, Anthony and Nathan. Both were on-base machines for the Pirates in 2014. Anthony finished with a .435 OBP while his younger brother Nathan boasted a .444 OBP.
Brett Early, who finished with a 1.08 WHIP and struck out 32 in 25 IP in 2014 is the all-time leader in strikeouts (62) for the Pirates. Jacob Bernardy, Nolan Henley, Dylan Lowenstein, Conlan McKenzie, Jason Padlo, Sean Patton, Matthew Reynoso and Chaneng Varela round out the stellar returning cast.
While the 14 returners are proven commodities, the six newly signed players will bring even more talent to a loaded Pirate roster.
The three new Division 1 players who will don the red and black for the first time this summer are Michael Deceglie (Louisiana Tech), Tyler Urbach (Fordham) and Kyle Wade (Iowa).
Cal Poly Pomona hurler Eric Trask makes the move from the Bucs to the Pirates for this season. Trask led the Bucs with a 1.86 ERA striking out 29 hitters in 29 IP.
Troy Resch and Nicholas Sergi enter the fray as teammates from Citrus College, who look to take the SCCBL by storm in 2015. Resch is off to a great start offensively for the Owls with a .312 BA, 18 RBI and 15 runs in 21 games. Sergi has tossed 68.1 innings while posting a 6-2 record with 47 strike outs and a 2.75 ERA.