By Jacob Norling
January 26, 2022
 
(SANTA BARBARA, Calif.) Since Robert Ruiz took over the Westmont baseball program in June of 2009, Westmont is 102 games over .500, and they have competed in postseason play in eight of the last ten years. While Ruiz and company take pride in their sustained success, they not only have their eyes on continuing that tradition, but taking the program to new heights in 2022.
 
"For the last several years, our goal has been to sustain success," noted Ruiz. "Beyond that, the goal has been to continually try and raise the bar. We saw some pretty significant growth early on in our teams here, and now it's about incremental progress and focusing on reinforcing our core values and building on a foundation of success that can last for a really long time."
 
Since 2014, the club has competed in six NAIA Opening Rounds, including 2019 and 2021, when the club hosted the tournament in Santa Barbara. In those tournaments that took place on Russ Carr Field, the Warriors were eliminated by the clubs who would ultimately advance to the NAIA World Series in Lewiston, Idaho.
 
"The last few years, it's been great to be a part of the national tournament," reflected Ruiz, "but we're aware we haven't been to Lewiston. That's a special experience and I want that for our guys, but I'm well aware that it doesn't come easy. We're going to keep our eyes fixed on getting better every week, and sticking to the process. Ultimately, if we had one goal, it would be getting the team to Lewiston."
 
The club returns a recognizable core from their 30-win season a year ago, while the coaching staff acknowledges that regardless of returning players, each year comes with a new identity.
 
"We constantly go back to the idea that every guy is a part of the same program, but each year it's a new team," said Ruiz. "This year is a very new team. We have a lot of new guys in the program and we feel good about what they bring to the table."
 
Staples of the team returning to action in 2022 are Simon Reid, the reigning GSAC Freshman of the Year, and Robbie Haw, the reigning GSAC Gold Glove winner at shortstop. Reid, who will be geared up behind home plate for much of the year, led the team with a .373 batting average a year ago. Reid also hit seven home runs, drove in 35, and finished with an on-base percentage of .415.
 
Haw, who is likely to find himself at the top of the order this season, reached base at a .370 clip last year.
 
Another anchor in the Westmont lineup is returning senior Thomas Rudinsky, who was named to the All-GSAC team in 2021. Rudinsky led the Warriors with a 1.062 on-base-plus-slugging percentage (OPS) last season, after slugging 10 home runs and leading the club with 28 walks.
 
"We have guys such as Robbie Haw and Simon Reid who are not only captains, but high-level impact players," offered Ruiz. "Rudinsky, as well, is such an impact guy, and not just with the bat. His ability to be versatile defensively and be able to gear up behind the plate, as well as manning first base, is huge.
 
"Rudinsky, in particular, has a great mind for the game and I think a lot of our guys look to him as an example for having a good approach."
 
A couple other Warriors who figure to see time in the heart of the lineup are second baseman, Brady Renck, and first baseman, Josh Rego. Renck, now a junior, fell on hard times at the plate last season, but led the club with 114 assists and a .978 fielding percentage. On top of that, Renck led the club with 12 home runs during the fall.
 
"Brady Renck looks like a completely different guy than he did a year ago," expressed Ruiz. "He established himself as an everyday player in our program when he was a freshman and he's coming off one of his stronger falls. I expect him to be one of our core producers offensively this season."
 
Rego, a senior, hit .333 last season and posted an OPS of .875. However, Rego was left to compete for at bats as a designated hitter and found himself in and out of the lineup for most of the season. This year, Rego has put the work in to become more versatile.
 
"Rego has seen a nice progression of growth over the past few years," explained Ruiz. "Last year we started to catch glimpses of who he could become. Our target goal was for him to get himself ready to be more than just our DH. We wanted him to put some time in and polish up as a first baseman and he did just that."
 
While each position on the field is likely to be occupied by a handful of men throughout the season, a few specific positions provide even more questions ahead of opening day. In particular, the Warriors graduated not only their third baseman in 2021, but their entire outfield as well.
 
"I don't know if there's many things that are ever fully locked down in our program, and I think that's a good thing," said Ruiz. "There's always competition and I think that's healthy, because it's good preparation for life.
 
"Ryan Desaegher is an option at third base, who might also play some outfield for us. David Martinez, an SBCC transfer, is another option who's a competitor and has been a good baseball player his whole life. David is a local kid from Carpentaria who we are really excited to have in our program. He's that scrappy gamer that just finds a way. You can't go wrong with either guy at third, it's just a matter of finding the best matchups.
 
"In the outfield, no one flat out won positions out of the fall and our guys know that. Paul Mezurashi has always been a fantastic defender in center field and he's continued to grow as a hitter. Jonah Paez, a Cal Baptist transfer, is a big left-handed bat who has a chance to compete as both a DH and right fielder.
 
"Finn Snyder, another transfer, is competing in left field with Michael Welikala who had an outstanding fall for a first-semester freshman. I could list all the outfielders honestly, but what it comes to is those who are performing will get the opportunity to play."
 
As far as the pitching staff goes, Ruiz's club has a set plan for their first weekend of the games. From there, the rest of the season is sure to include a large ensemble of Warrior arms.
 
"This Thursday we're handing the ball to a true freshman, Bryan Peck, out of Paraclete High School," announced Ruiz. "We believe he has some of the best stuff on our staff. We're putting him in a big situation on Thursday against the number four team in the country, but we think he's prepared for it."
 
Peck, who will be the first true-freshman to get the opening day nod under Ruiz, will take the ball on Thursday against 19-time NAIA champion Lewis-Clark State.
 
"Bradley Heacock will be starting on Friday, and he's come a long way since last season," noted Ruiz. "On Saturday, Chad Stoner, a high-end starter, will be going for game one, and then Cameron Phelps will be throwing game two. That's how it shapes up in week one, but we know things will change."
 
When Heacock takes the ball on Friday, it will be the first collegiate start for the sophomore who appeared in 14 games last season. Stoner, now a redshirt-junior, led the club with 64 and two-thirds innings pitched last season. Phelps appeared in nine games last season and made just one start. However, the now-senior's lone start of 2021 was a five-inning scoreless affair against Biola at the end of April.
 
The Warriors believe their bullpen is as deep as it has been in years, with men such as Carlos Moreno and Zac Bridger headlining a group that also includes Alex Blaszyk and Aidan Holly. Also opening the season in the bullpen are Eric Oseguera and Gabe Arteaga, who figure to see time in the starting rotation as the year goes on.
 
Also lurking as a bullpen option for the club is Haw, who led the club with six saves last season while limiting opponents to a .205 batting average.
 
"This year, we feel like there's not a big drop off anywhere on our pitching staff," reflected Ruiz. "There's been years we feel good about two or three guys in our rotation and then struggle from there, but not this year. We feel like our staff is ready to go."
 
After the club takes on Lewis-Clark on opening day, they'll finish off the weekend by hosting Saint Katherine and Providence Christian on Friday and Saturday. The club has an additional eight games scheduled over the next two weeks before their conference opener.
 
"This pre-conference schedule matters as far as rankings and postseason opportunities go, but it's also a time for us to figure out what our best lineup looks like," said Ruiz. "These first couple weeks we'll see quite a few different lineups, and probably more so than in years past."
 
On Friday, February 18, Westmont opens their Golden State Athletic Conference schedule by hosting the Menlo Oaks in Santa Barbara. Westmont's first road trip of the conference season begins March 4, when they play William Jessup in Rocklin.
 
The Warriors host Hope International beginning on March 19 in what will be the first meeting between the two since the NAIA Opening Round last May. The club ends their conference schedule the weekend of April 22, when they take on Vanguard, the reigning GSAC-champions, in Costa Mesa.
 
"The GSAC gets more and more competitive every year," stated Ruiz. "There's always a lot of turnover, but we've never felt like turnover equated to down years for anybody. Hope and Vanguard were obviously very good last year and those are going to be tough weekends. We also didn't see The Master's, OUAZ, or Arizona Christian last season and they're all going to be tough.
 
"There's never an off-weekend in the GSAC and we look forward to the rivalries and a competitive season. We know if we find ourselves in the top-third that we give ourselves a good chance of getting to the national tournament and that's the first step in getting to Lewiston.
 
The GSAC Tournament is scheduled to take place in Irvine beginning on May 2.
 
"Our goal is to win every week and see where that puts us in the end," said Ruiz. "We're excited to face the challenges ahead of us."
 
The 65th NAIA World Series begins on Friday, May 27 in Lewiston, Idaho.