Cal Poly baseball team focuses on improving speed with latest recruiting class
The Cal Poly baseball team announced in a school release the signing of eight high school recruits to National Letters of Intent on Thursday morning.
Head coach Larry Lee and his staff signed three pitchers, three infielders and two outfielders during the one-week early signing period that opened Wednesday. The regular signing period runs April 11 through Aug. 1.
The three pitchers to sign were Matt Arens, a 6-foot-4, 210-pound lefty from Apple Valley, Minnesota, right-hander Zach Chalmers from San Ramon, and the 6-8, 250-pound Darren Nelson out of Granite Bay.
Chalmers sister, Lindsey, is a pitcher on Cal Poly’s softball team, and Nelson’s sister, Taylor, is an all-conference performer on the Mustangs’ volleyball team.
“We’ve added three quality arms on the mound,” Lee said in the release, “that will help replace the pitchers that we will lose due to graduation and the professional draft.”
Infielders Nick DiCarlo of Scottsdale, Arizona, Connor Gurnik of Naperville, Illinois, and Tate Samuelson of San Diego, also signed with Cal Poly on Thursday.
Outfielders Cole Cabrera, from Honolulu, Hawaii, and Blake Wagenseller, from Poway, rounded out the early signing class.
“Speed was a major focus in our recruiting plans,” said assistant coach and recruiting coordinator Teddy Warrecker. “Playing at Baggett Stadium, in particular we wanted outfielders who can run, which really can affect our defensive abilities. On the offensive side, we want to continue to put pressure on opposing defenses with our speed.”
The Mustangs went 32-25 overall last spring, including a 12-12 mark in the Big West Conference. Cal Poly opens the 2017 season Feb. 17 at Cal.
Cal Poly XC heads to NCAA regional
Two weeks removed from sweeping the Big West Conference championships, the Cal Poly men and women’s cross country teams will toe the line at the NCAA West Regional meet Friday morning in Sacramento.
The races will be held at Haggin Oaks Golf Course, with the top two teams earning automatic bids to the NCAA Championships held Nov. 19 at LaVern Gibson Championship Course in Terre Haute, Indiana.
Sophomore standout Peyton Bilo will lead the Mustangs during the women’s 6,000-meter race, which is scheduled to begin at 11 a.m. The men’s 10,000-meter race will follow at noon.
Teams from the Big West, Pac-12, Mountain West, WCC, Big Sky and WAC will each be represented in Sacramento.
In addition to the top two teams, the first four individuals who finish in the top 25 and are not from one of the top two teams also will receive and automatic berth in the NCAA Championships.
An NCAA committee will select 13 at-large teams along with two at-large individuals, which will be announced the day after the regional meets.
The Cal Poly women enter the weekend ranked No. 8 in the region, and the Mustang men are ranked 10th.
Mustangs open at No. 11 Stanford
The Cal Poly women’s basketball team will open its 2016-17 season at 7 p.m. Friday against No. 11-ranked Stanford at Maples Pavilion.
The Mustangs also will play Sacramento State at 2 p.m. Sunday, before returning to San Luis Obispo for their home opener Nov. 18 against Northern Arizona.
Cal Poly finished 15-16 overall last season, with a 7-9 record in the Big West Conference. Two of the team’s top four scorers from last year have graduated in Beth Balbierz and Lisa Marie Sanchez, but an eight-person junior class and two talented seniors return.
Senior Hannah Gilbert, a 6-foot-3 forward from Morro Bay High School, led the Mustangs in points (12.7), rebounds (8.4) and blocked shots (1.3) per game last season en route to second-team all-conference honors.
Gilbert and junior guard Dynn Leaupepe were both named to the preseason all-conference team last month. Leaupepe averaged 12.2 points and 4.6 rebounds during her honorable mention sophomore season, which included six 20-point performances.
Her twin sister, Lynn, was a 31-game starter who averaged 7.1 points, 5.4 rebounds and was second on the team with 43 steals. Senior forward Amanda Lovely adds 22 games of starting experience from a year ago, when she was the Mustangs’ second-leading rebounder with 5.5 per contest.
This will be head coach Faith Mimnaugh’s 20th season at Cal Poly.
This story was originally published November 10, 2016 at 11:43 AM with the headline "Cal Poly baseball team focuses on improving speed with latest recruiting class."