By Kory Scott
College of Southern Nevada’s baseball program continues to be a gold mine for minor-league drafts. Five players went pro last season.
The five players included the following: Jordan Hand, Taylor Hallead, Gabe Gonzalez, Brody Westmoreland and Mikey York.
Hand was drafted to the New York Mets—selected in round 39—and is currently a free agent. While at CSN last season he had a 60-percent slugging average and 39 runs batted in, according to CSN Coyotes website.
Hallead was drafted by the Philadelphia Phillies—selected in round 24—to play for its minor league New York-Penn League, according to MILB website.
Gonzalez was drafted to Arizona Diamondbacks—selected in round 27—to play for its minor league Pioneer League. While at CSN last season Gonzalez struck out 55 opponents, pitched 46 innings and had a 9-1 record as starter, according to CSN Coyotes website.
Westmoreland was drafted by Houston Astros—selected in round 30— to play for its minor league Gulf-Coast League. While at CSN last season Westmoreland had 40 home runs and hit an outstanding 73 percent at bat.
York was selected by Tampa Bay Rays—in round 5—playing for its minor league Gulf-Coast League. While at CSN York threw 46 strikeouts in 36 innings.
Coach Garritano
CSN Coyote Baseball ranked top 10 in the nation for junior colleges, four of the last five years, according to Head Coach Nick Garritano.
“There’s no doubt we are on the right track,” Garritano said.
Assistant Coach Sean Larimer described their accomplishments. “We’re a nationally-recognized program that also goes really far in the scouting circle. Professional scouts, especially with Coach Garritano, trust his opinion that we put a good product on the field.”
Assistant Coach for CSN Coyotes and former baseball scout Bryan Maloney praised last year’s players.
“All of them have tremendous upside you know,” Maloney said. “Talent scouts saw tools and skills the players possessed and the physical ability to account for it.”
Garritano added, more than 70 athletes from his program have been drafted to Division I and Division II schools. He is excited about their futures.
In addition, the athletes are good scholars.
“We’ve had three straight semesters with a team grade point average of over 3.0,” Garritano said. “We actually were up for an Academic All-American team. We had five Academic All-Americans last year.”
Our students graduate at a 95 percent rate, Maloney added.
Current players on the baseball team are inspired by past successors and have high hopes for their own futures.
Hunter Lasko, pitcher for the Coyotes, shared his dreams of MLB. “It was an inspiration to have the professional athletes go pro last year at CSN because as a freshman, personally, it kind of shows you a little hope of what could be and the possibilities you could have.”
Mikey York stands out to Lasko. York thinks he is a genuine human being and a great athlete.
When commenting on the program at CSN Lasko said, “We get a lot of scouts coming through. It’s definitely a big opportunity here.”
Antonio Rainone, middle infielder for the CSN Coyotes, is inspired by the excellence of the team.
“Being a sophomore last year, being able to see those guys first hand, was a real game changer for me. Seeing the way they were able to work, the things they did in practice, it’s almost little things they did that exceeded above everybody.”
Jordan Macias, second baseman for the Coyotes, enjoys the opportunities to play for CSN baseball.
“They have a lot of connections and every game there’s at least one scout over here; so it’s good,” Macias said. “I’m from Hawaii, so there’s not that much exposure [back home]. Over here you get a lot of exposure. It’s a good college.”
With intentions of excellence again this season, Garritano, his staff and players are motivated to go to the NJCAA World Series championship next year in May.
Coyote Student News at the College of Southern Nevada 