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Soquel High's 6-foot-9 Chris Viall warms up before practice Wednesday. Viall has... (Matthew Hintz)
 

 

There's a bullseye on those Soquel High baseball uniforms.

A senior-heavy Aptos team won its second straight Santa Cruz Coast Athletic League title last season -- catcher Bryan Bucher is the Mariners' only returning starter -- so most league coaches look to the Knights as the 2013 title favorite when play begins Tuesday.

Local coaches, of the belief that pitching and defense win games, are sold on the Knights. Soquel finished second in the SCCAL last season and returns 13 players.

Among its returners are a pair of NCAA Division-I arms: Chris Viall, a heavily scouted, 6-foot-9 senior right-hander, has already signed with Stanford, and junior left-hander Hunter Parkinson has committed to University of San Diego.

Viall, who had his fastball clocked at 98 mph over the summer, struck out 62 batters and posted a 2.66 ERA in 55 1/3 innings last season. Parkinson posted a 1.80 ERA in 35 innings, recording 46 strikeouts.

"They've got two aces," San Lorenzo Valley coach Shane Sutcliffe said. "It doesn't matter if they hit or not."

St. Francis coach Ken Nakagawa watched Viall pitch for him on the Watsonville Aggies Senior Babe Ruth team over the summer.

"He hit 98 on his first two pitches," Nakagawa said. "That's no joke. Then he came down to 92."

The Knights have plenty of other talent to help the cause, including senior shortstop Scott Akrop -- who is still playing basketball with the Knights -- second baseman Caleb Fidiam, third baseman Fabiano Hale, outfielder Andrew Schmidt and pitcher Troy Miller.

With Viall and Parkinson, the Knights are drawing heavy attention from college and pro scouts.

"It's huge for the league in general," Nakagawa said. "There are a lot of good players in the area who don't get a lot of attention."

Three other players have already committed to NCAA programs: Scotts Valley junior shortstop Joe Gillette has given a verbal commitment to Pac-12 power Oregon State and St. Francis pitcher and first baseman Dillon Houser has signed with Fresno State. Harbor's Riley James, a senior right-handed pitcher and shortstop, has given a verbal commitment to D-III Occidental.

"Joe Gillette is a bona fide position player in this county who has a chance to get drafted," said first-year Santa Cruz coach George Arnott, a former All-American at Cabrillo College and minor-leaguer. "That doesn't happen very often straight out of high school around here. It's always pitchers."

But there is plenty of uncommitted talent -- players who are going to help their team make a run at Soquel.

Harbor's Lucas Hewitt, a fourth-year left-handed pitcher and first baseman, St. Francis senior third baseman Calvin Nakagawa, Aptos' Bucher, and Scotts Valley's Brenny Hillan, a 6-5 right-handed pitcher and first baseman, are among players close to solidifying their college playing careers.

There's also plenty of chatter surrounding Soquel's Akrop and SLV shortstop Billy Mullins.

While the majority of coaches labeled Soquel as the favorite, the Knights weren't run-away winners. In fact, every team except Santa Cruz -- which starts two freshmen and five sophomores -- is figured to have a shot at the title.

"Don't count us out," Arnott said. "If we pitch and play defense, we'll be in every single one of these games."

Santa Cruz returns left-handed pitcher Chen Duffy and utlity player Wes Van Barter.

Soquel coach Robert Zuniga knows he has a good team and that the push for the title will take more than opposing coaches' endorsements.

"Harbor is going to be there, along with Scotts Valley," Zuniga said. "And SLV always competes."

In addition to Mullins, SLV returns junior infielder/pitcher Jordan Peabody and outfielders Nate Gentry and Lucas Trader. But Sutcliffe also has a young crop of pitchers that includes Ken Cella, a 6-3, 250-pound sophomore, and junior lefty Tian Mirande.

St. Francis returns seven starters, including Houser, Nakagawa, catcher Nick Ciandro, infielders Aidan Mathews and Digger Gugale and outfielder Mark Gugale. The Sharks also have a 6-7 right-handed pitcher in Josh Rodriguez and a talented freshman leadoff switch-hitter in Sihad Valenzuela.

Harbor returns seven starters and has 14 seniors. Both James and Hewitt are four-year starters and versatile Connor Plant has played three years, as have outfielder/pitcher Ben Moody and middle infielder Sam Pinheiro.

While Gillette and Hillen pace Scotts Valley, the Falcons have some solid talent among their five returning starters. Back is second baseman Abe Alvarez, pitcher/first baseman Sean VarenKamp and outfielder/pitcher Garrett Johnston. Second-year coach Rick Erlin is also excited about newcomers Bubba Rodgers, Riley Hilton and Jake Lobo.

Aptos may have a young team, but there's plenty of talent in the program, opposing coaches said, pointing to pitcher Steven Eichhorn, who escaped a base-loaded jam in CCS D-II final in a rare varsity appearance last season.

Talented catcher/designated hitter Houston Roberts and third baseman Ben Brenkwitz should also help the Mariners' repeat bid.