2024 Dirtbags Preview Part 1

Photo by: John Fajardo

2/12/2024 4:38:00 PM | Baseball

Looking At The Pitchers And Catchers

By: Matt Turk, Associate Athletic Communications Director

LONG BEACH, Calif. ---The 2024 Long Beach State baseball season gets underway this week as the Dirtbags host the University of Washington in a three-game series beginning Friday at 6 p.m. Saturday's action gets underway at six before the weekend concludes Sunday at 1 p.m.

We begin a look at the Dirtbags by focusing on the pitchers and catchers.

THE STARTING ROTATION
Entering the season, Peters expects the trio of CJ Hood, Myles Patton, and Kellan Montgomery to serve as Long Beach State's weekend rotation.

Hood sat out 2023 after making 18 appearances for Nebraska as a true freshman in 2022. He went 2-0 with a 4.26 ERA and a save for the Cornhuskers.

Patton, a sophomore lefty, went 3-4 with 37 strikeouts against only six walks in 39.1 innings as a freshman. He was named to the 2023 California Collegiate All-League Team during the Summer after going 4-1 with a 1.11 ERA.

Montgomery was second on the team as a sophomore with 22 appearances, including three starts as a freshman. He recorded two saves and a 4.91 ERA in 40.1 innings. Montgomery recorded 47 strikeouts compared to 13 walks.

Freshman Josh Donegan is the likely weekday starter for the Beach. A Long Beach native, Donegan was a four-year letterwinner at Los Alamitos High School. He earned Perfect Game Freshman All-America honors despite the shortened COVID season in 2020. Donegan returned as a first-team All-League pick in 2021 as a sophomore after posting a 2.01 ERA in 59 innings. He was selected as the Sunset League Pitcher of the Year with another first-team nod after throwing 65 innings with a 2.00 ERA. He earned a third All-League nod as a senior with another 50+ inning season.

THE BULLPEN
Grant Cherry, Nick Wallerstedt, David Ladjevic, Jonathan Largaespada, Jake Fields, Alexander Mihalakis, Bryson Schultz, Mike Villani, and Mason Dillow will all be impactful in short stints. They all bring something unique to their arsenal.

Owen Geiss, Austin Castillo, Van Larson, and Nathen Morris are what Coach Peters calls his "strike throwers" out of the pen and could be used in various roles, including long relief or starts.

Leftys Nick Williams and Cristien Banda should serve as situational specialists.

"I've worked with a lot of great pitching minds, including one of the very best in Eric Valenzuela here, and it's been a pleasure to watch what Coach Ope (Jeff Opalewski) has done for our staff and this program," said Long Beach State interim head coach Bryan Peters. "He's made such an impact already. We had a clear vision of what we wanted to do with our pitching here; the skill set we required made the pool of applicants remarkably small, and we pretty much hand-picked the best person for the job. Working with a guy with this passion and with such a body of work is an honor and a privilege."

BEHIND THE DISH
UC Santa Barbara transfer John Newman Jr. is the likely opening-day starter. Newman played for three seasons for the Gauchos. He appeared in 36 games, starting 29 as a junior, hitting .255 with three doubles and five home runs. Newman Jr. was named honorable mention All-Conference after leading the Big West in on-base percentage at .496 with 17 walks. He hit .337 in 39 games. He played 13 games as a freshman for UCSB.

Junior Cole Santander, Jack Collins, a sophomore transfer from Saddleback College, and freshman Roman Meyers should also see action at catcher. Santander, who should also see time as a designated hitter, hit .344 with a .434 on-base percentage and a .609 slugging percentage a year ago.

"This year's team has a different look, to say the least," Peters said. "As a program, we knew replacing Connor Burns would be impossible. We can never have another Connor Burns. However, we have some good pieces to fill the gaps as a unit. Newman brings a spirit and energy that feeds our team. He has experience in this league and some offensive attributes that blend well with his style. Collins and Meyers have come along well and give us a strong core of catchers. With them and Cole Santander as well, we have the depth behind the dish we didn't need when we had the talent and durability of Connor for the last three years."

~#SkoBags~