WNCC baseball has lofty goal

Community College of Southern Nevada won a national title in baseball in its first four years of existence. Western Nevada Community College baseball coach D.J. Whittemore wants to beat that.

Based on his first recruiting class, Whittemore should be well on the way to his goal. Whittemore did his best to blanket Northern Nevada in recruiting and the end result was signing many of Northern Nevada's top student-athletes.

All of the Northern Nevada athletes signed by Whittemore will be names recognized by those who follow high school sports in Northern Nevada. All are standout athletes who have received various honors and many have been featured in the Kelley Showcase Classic.

Eight players signed with Whittemore's program at WNCC on Saturday and another five were scheduled to sign. Another five from Las Vegas will sign at 2 p.m. Monday at the Hard Rock Cafe in Las Vegas.

That will give Whittemore 18 scholarship players, with an additional six scholarships to give. Whittemore plans to take the field when WNCC opens play in the spring, 2006 with 24 scholarship players and up to an additional eight walk-ons giving him a roster of 32.

WNCC has been accepted into the National Junior Collegiate Athletic Association and its admission into the Scenic West Conference is expected to be approved in March. With WNCC, the Scenic West will consist of 10 teams from Nevada, Idaho, Utah and Colorado, including CCSN.

And when Whittemore's team takes the field in the spring, 2006, it will do so in an on-campus ballpark, John L. Harvey Field. The ballpark will cost $2 million when it's finished and $1 million has already been raised for the project.

"I feel like I am the luckiest man in the world," Whittemore said. "I've got the best job in the world."

Whittemore said the goal for WNCC is to win a national title faster than the four years that CCSN was able to do it. "That's our timetable," he said.

Whittemore said his first class has exceeded his expectations. Two Carson Country players signed on Saturday - Carson High left-handed pitcher Wes Osmer and Douglas High second baseman Chad Walling. Whittemore signed four of Northern Nevada's top pitchers in Osmer, a senior, 2004 graduates Garrett Banks, a left-hander from Reno High, Dustin Rosness, a right-hander from McQueen and Manogue's Matt Pagni, a right-handed senior.

Walling was the first player to commit to WNCC. "Chad's really special to me," Whittemore said. "He's the first player I recruited to Western Nevada."

Walling had a monster year as a junior last year for Douglas, hitting well over .400 in leading the team in hitting. "It's an honor," said Walling about being Whittemore's first recruit.

Whittemore said Osmer had his options as far as where he wanted to go to school. "With this I know I have a chance to improve," Osmer said. "I don't have to worry about anything now, just go out and play baseball."

Banks was the winning pitcher as a freshman in the Northern 4A zone title game in 2001 with Galena and came back to be the winning pitcher in the zone championship contest as a sophomore in 2002 with Reno.

Others who signed on Saturday were Spanish Springs shortstop Brad Carlsen and Manogue centerfielder Glen Deweese, who could be WNCC's leadoff hitter, Whittemore said.

There's also left-handed hitting catcher Aaron Greer of Eugene, Ore., who Whittemore said had other options as well. "Those guys are very valuable," said Whittemore about left-handed hitting catchers.

In addition, there's Tyson Jaquez, an infielder from Loyalton, Calif., who was an all-state performer in three sports last year as a junior.

Others scheduled to sign on Saturday was Spring Creek catcher Taylor Mieras, who attends the prestigious IMG Academy in Bradenton, Fla. Others who were going to sign in their home states on Saturday were right-handed pitcher Josh Brink of British Columbia, Canada; outfielder Brett Mosher of Parker, Colo.; and outfielder Justin Reynolds of Independence, Ore.

Whittemore's first class includes several left-handed pitchers and hitters. Of the 13 Nevada players who have signed or will sign on Monday, 11 are eligible for the Millennium Scholarship. Jaquez would also be eligible for the Millennium Scholarship if he was living in Nevada.