Fresh off a trip to Wichita, Kansas for the NBC World Series, the Pirates will take on a new challenge this season. They make the move to the brand new Sunset Baseball League.
Traditionally, the Pirates had been coached by program founder and GM Charlie Reynoso, but this year Reynoso takes a step back to focus on his GM duties and gives an opportunity to several exciting new coaches.
Jenzen Torres will be the manager. Torres has been at Cal Poly Pomona as an assistant for the past three years and brings energy and excitement into the program. He has the most home runs in Bronco history and also played professionally.
Speaking of professionals, Chad Cordero will serve as the pitching coach. He currently coaches at Cal State Fullerton and was an MLB all-star for the Nationals in 2005 recording 47 saves.
While the coaching staff is stellar, the roster is even more impressive.
Iowa sophomore Kyle Wade looks to have the makings of a legitimate ace.
Senior Sean Patton (Cal State East Bay) will be another ace for the staff. Last season, Patton recorded a microscopic 1.31 ERA for the Pirates, the second best in program history.
Senior Conlan McKenzie adds another veteran presence for what should be a lights out pitching staff. McKenzie is in his third go-around with the Pirates.
Joseph Morreale jumps ship from the Bucs to the Pirates. He’ll take on the catching duties. He had a great season at Citrus finishing with a .327 BA and was a key cog toward the end of the season last year for the Bucs.
Another big bat will be Jonathan de Marte’s, who makes the trip all the way from New York after hitting .319 this past season with the Richmond Spiders.
Other returning Inland Valley players include: Jarrett Anton, Nick Cordoba, Art Corona, JP Hopkins, Aaron Torres and Hayden Wright.
The Pirates take the field for the first time at Mt. View High School in El Monte to take on the Gamers. Their first SBL game will June, 9 at home against the Arroyo Seco Saints.