“As much as we don’t like talking about last season the wounds are still there,” said head coach Tony Dress.

“We want to win league,” said the second year coach.

Winning the California Collegiate Athletic Conference is the lofty goal set by the SF State baseball team who went 10-45 last season. The conglomeration of seven returning players and junior college players will make up a team high on spirit with an attitude change to match.

“We’ve won here before and we’ll win here again,” said Dress. “All the moons are going to have to align to win league.”

The team’s attitude has done a 180 from last year’s season of struggles. The attitude change was visible from day one with a group of “quality kids,” said Dress.

Catcher and team captain Matt Kavanaugh’s goal is to be in the top four of the CCAA to extend the team’s season into the playoffs. He said the baseball team is always ranked at the bottom of the CCAA in the preseason and wants to turn some heads.

There was a mass mix-up of coaches in the last few years when the athletic department put new coaches at the helm who have come in with a desire to turn their programs around, Kavanaugh said.

Dress has high expectations for his second season as the Gators’ coach being able to select his own assistant coaches and do his own scouting and recruiting, he said. “Building trust from the first phone call” is so important to the coach that came into last year with players and coaches that were not his own.

Captain Beau Moorehead is confident in the pitching staff that is returning only two players, himself and Zach Beal. He said they are expecting a lot out of their two senior staff members and putting a lot on the shoulders of the incoming players, but they have good arms all around at a high caliber.

Moorehead had 18 appearances and five were starts. Last year he posted an 0-6 record with a team leading two saves. His ERA was 5.83 and had 14 strikeouts in 46.1 innings.

In the off-season Moorehead learned a slider to use as an out pitch to add to his curve and change repertoire. Kavanaugh said that the slider is looking good and coming over the plate in the strike zone.

Beal had seven strikeouts in 15.1 innings, but in those innings he gave up 22 runs giving him an 11.15 ERA. His record was 0-1 in eight appearances.

Despite the last year’s numbers Moorehead is confident coming into this season with the new look team.

Kavanaugh is coming off rotator cuff surgery. He spent last season rehabbing and the summer playing ball as a designated hitter. He said the arm is feeling good and will be ready for opening day along with his catcher legs that benefited from the rest.

Dress said that Kavanaugh “swings the bat well from the right side.”

Before the season-ending surgery Kavanaugh busted out of the gates in the first four games with a .333 average, a home run, and .375 OBP.

The strongest suit for the Gators this season will be their offense.

Hitting coach Gerard Nyman, former professional player in the Montreal Expos farm system, said a lot of guys were successful hitters in other programs. He said the team “swings it well.”

The Gators last year had a .244 team betting average and a .322 OBP. The team was out scored 337-191. In the 55 games the team had nine home runs, but the Swamp is not a power-friendly park.

The team plays for the big innings, but does not have the prototypical table setters. Players that will hit leadoff for the Gators would be three hitters for other teams posing an early threat to opposing pitchers.

"Jeff McCall swings violently from the right side,” said Dress about the Santa Rosa Junior College transfer.

Evan Romanchuk is adding the “international flavor” to the team and a solid spot in the lineup said Dress.
Romanchuk hit .306 last season in 46 games with one homerun and 12 doubles. He lead the team with a .382 OBP.

“My coach in college said never get in a fight you can’t win,” said Dress. This team is confident that they can get the KOs to carry them through conference.

The first punches will be thrown Friday in the Swamp at 2:30 against Cal State East Bay. Round two against Cal State East Bay will be Saturday in Hayward at 11:00.