By James Hernandez

Fresh off the second most prolific offensive season in program history, the 2017 College of Southern Nevada baseball team looks to take the journey one step further and end the season in Grand Junction, Colorado for the Junior College World Series. 2016 Region XVIII coach of the year Nick Garritano brings an impressive 187-107 record at CSN into the 2017 season that includes back to back Scenic West Athletic Conference regular season titles, as well as a trip to the 2015 Western District tournament title game.

With 13 returning sophomores including All-SWAC first and second team selections Blake Wiggins 3B (.315 AVG, 12 HR, 59* RBI),  Dillon Johnson 2B (.338 AVG, 66* Hits, 39 RBI), Jay Martz SS (.297 AVG, 49 Hits, 37 RBI) and Jarrett Perns OF/INF ( .344 AVG, 54 Hits, 28 RBI) this is one of the most talented groups of returning players the program has seen in quite some time. "Morse Magic" has been alive and well the last two seasons. In fact, the Coyotes have been nearly unbeatable at home over the last two seasons, posting a 50-9 home record as well as a 51-17 mark in SWAC play. Over that period of time, CSN has outscored its opponents at Morse Stadium by an average of nearly 2.25 runs per contest.

Despite losing four arms to either the MLB draft (Mikey York, Gabe Gonzalez and Tyler Hallead) or Division 1 collegiate baseball (Aj Jones LBSU commit) the cupboard is far from empty. Future Alabama Crimson Tide commit Sage Diehm highlights a talented and versatile group of returning sophomores that includes Timmy Burtzloff, Todd Danzeisen, Trevor Mullaney, Blake Inouye and Ben Cutting. Those arms along with talented freshman like Herbie Good, Austin Strong, Alex Tisminezky, Bryce Bartlett, Fisher Anderson and Tyce O'Neill will attempt to lead the SWAC in overall team E.R.A. and strikeouts for a third consecutive season. Coach Garritano credits quite a bit of the program's overall success and stability to his assistant coaches Brian Gidge, Sean Larimer, Brian Maloney, Mike Eshragh and newcomer Dan Jaffe. "Consistency and effort are two keys to building a winning program. When you have a coaching staff that shares the same vision and coaching philosophies as the head coach it allows the program time to develop and succeed the right way."

All the pieces appear in place for an extended postseason run in 2017 and this quote from coach Garritano brings it all into perspective. "Each season brings new and exciting challenges for both the players and coaches. As long as we continue to strive for excellence, learn from our mistakes, grow together and sacrifice ourselves for the greater good of the team I believe that at the end of the year we will have given ourselves a chance to accomplish our goals."

CSN will kickoff its regular season versus the reigning and defending NJCAA National Champions,and #1 ranked Yavapai College Friday January 27th as part of the annual Coyote Border Battle.

For a complete listing of all participants in this weekend's Coyote Border Battle as well as game times please log onto www.csncoyotes.com or follow us on Twitter @CSNCoyotes | Facebook CSNCoyotes.
 
*Denotes 2016 team leader