CALDWELL, Idaho – With an ever-changing Cascade Conference, The College of Idaho will turn to an seasoned pitching staff in hopes of returning to the postseason for the first time since 2017.
The CCC has evolved from a 5-team NAIA West Grouping to a strong, 7-team circuit – as Eastern Oregon joined the longtime teams (British Columbia, C of I, Corban Lewis-Clark State, Oregon Tech) for the 2021 season and Bushnell joins the fray in 2022. The goal is the 4-team CCC Championships, with the potential of an automatic bid to the NAIA Championships on the line.
The duo of
Connor Root and
Dimick Wood bring veteran experience to the mound – both having traversed the rigors of the CCC.
Root has started 26 games in his C of I career and logged over 150 innings, with the senior righty posting a 4-3 record and a 4.88 ERA in 2021, finishing the year with 54 strikeouts. A third-year senior, Wood ranked fifth in the CCC in strikeouts last season (62), going 3-5 on the year, but limited opponents to a .237 batting average.
Returning righties
Erik Wisenor and
Jared Bowman look for success in 2022. Wisenor, a junior was dominant out of the bullpen, picking up a pair of saves and recording more strikeouts (26) than innings pitched (24), with the senior Bowman looking to rekindle his 2020 season cut short by the pandemic – as he was 1-1 with a 3.19 ERA in 31 innings of work.
Last season's workhorse,
Colby Durski returns, as the sophomore led the entire CCC with 24 appearances, while fellow right-hander
Wyatt Hankard added a pair of saves out of the pen.
Two left-handers are back for the Yotes –
Andrew Vaughn and
Luke Brewer. Vaughn is an imposing figure on the mound (6-foot-3, 245 pounds) and has electric stuff (nine strikeouts in six innings as a junior), while Brewer had a great start to the 2021 season, posting a 3.00 ERA over his first five outings.
Four other returning arms look for innings – senior
Kyle McPeak, junior
John Duffy, sophomore
Jack Stewart and redshirt freshman
Nat Nimmer.
Of the newcomers to the squad, four 2-way players look to make an immediate impact either in the rotation or out of the bullpen.
Transfer
Kirby Robertson had a dominant 2021 season at Columbia Basin CC, going 5-3 with a 2.91 ERA in 58 innings, striking out 52 batters in the difficult NWAC East
Three freshman are also in that group – lefty
Kris Kirkpatrick and right-handers
Ben Gaff and
Ryan Blokker. Kirkpatrick has top-end stuff and helped Rocky Mountain to the Idaho 5A state semifinals, going 5-0 with a 2.10 ERA, striking out 66 batters in just 42 innings. Gaff had a perfect 5-0 record and a 2.03 ERA at St. Mary's High in California, while the hard-throwing Blokker was 2-1 with a 3.67 ERA at Ballard High in Washington.
Five other freshman will compete for innings –
Kaden Lapp of Alta High in Utah,
Nick Burkett of Jesuit High in Oregon,
Riley Miller of Casa Grande Union in Arizona,
James Daudt of Bishop Kelly High and lefty
Hutton Stiles of Service High in Alaska. Lapp and Stiles lead the group – as Lapp was 5-3 with a 3.17 ERA with 38 strikeouts as a senior, while Stiles was the top arm for the Service American Legion team, going 3-1 with a 1.52 ERA and 52 strikeouts in 27 innings.
The group of 21 arms will make their season debut on Thursday, traveling to Arizona for the Coach Calderone Classic – beginning with a 10 a.m. match-up vs. Embry-Riddle.
