Rebuilding Rancho

sunrise region northeast division

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With only one school listed in the Las Vegas Review-Journal's Top 10 Class 4A baseball rankings, the Sunrise Region's Northeast Division may not be as deep as the other three divisions around the city, but the league is certainly not short on heart or determination.

One of Las Vegas' oldest high schools, Rancho, which is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year, has turned the reins over to Tom Pletsch, a Rancho graduate who was a member of the Rams' last state title team in 1976.

With eight state baseball championships and notable Major League Baseball players like Marty Barrett, Mike Morgan and Mike Maddux all having all played for Rancho, Pletsch, the Rams' fifth coach in the last four years, hopes to return the North Las Vegas school's program to the prominence it once enjoyed, and said he plans on staying skipper for a while.

But with a number of issues other teams have, like lack of experience and discipline problems, as well as other nuisances other schools don't have to face, like the lack of a home practice or playing field and the reality of having to be bussed to every game, Pletsch and his Rams (7-13 last year) have their work cut out for them.

The new coach talked about how hard it is to run a quality program when you don't even have a home field.

"You can't even begin to imagine," Pletsch said of some of the intricacies related to traveling everywhere. "You talk about practicing at a junior high school field and then you talk about taking a bus a hundred and some times a year just to and from practice and games. And then we're at the mercy of the bus schedule. We played Del Sol -- we only got to play Del Sol for four innings because the bus was 30 minutes late getting there."

The Rams, who play all their home games at Rafael Rivera Park, also had some issues outside the diamond that forced the coach to go to a very young starting lineup that included two freshman and two sophomores.

"The kids have to be accountable. They need to know there are consequences for what they do," Pletsch said. "One of the biggest things we need to change around here is attitude."

But the coach, whose team hopes to have its new field ready for next spring, thinks he and his players are up for it.

"We're building for the future. We're laying a foundation," Pletsch said of his team, which got off to a 2-8 start. "You've gotta take your lumps and growing pains. And it all starts in the those younger programs. And granted, our younger programs may not be winning a lot of games, but they're getting some experience that before they never even really cared about. Within a year or two, we'll hope to close the gap."

In trying to close that gap, Pletsch intends to field an American Legion team this summer to give his players the opportunity to play baseball year-round like some of the better programs in town.

"Baseball has become a year-round thing here," said Pletsch, who recently got out of the casino business after some 18 years.

"The programs that play year-round are real good."

Leading the way and trying to set the tone for his younger teammates is senior pitcher/ first baseman James Crockett, who was batting .500 to start the young season and whom Pletsch said "is our silent leader right now."

Pletsch believes that given a little time and realization, this squad can contend in the Northeast Division.

"The key for us is to get some senior leadership and have some of our young kids step up and realize they're not playing Little League anymore, they're playing high school baseball," he said. "And I think if we do that, as the season goes on, we'll mature a little, but more with the younger kids, and hopefully our seniors take charge and if they do, I think we'll be successful."

Proof that Pletsch may be on to something was a 6-4 win over Chaparral in the league opener on March 30, during which Crockett pitched a complete game, notching eight strikeouts and hitting a home run.

Also providing light for Rancho has been the play of Alex Deaver (.500), whom Pletsch said "is really coming into his own right now," senior Lucas Fleek (.471), Greg Moraza (.409), Abel Tunei (.471), Logan Sprague (.364) and catcher Tyler Moeller (.284), who all got off to hot starts at the plate. Freshmen James Cammack -- who took over the starting spot in center field -- and Justin Neubauer (.294), as well as sophomore Seth Turner, also impressed Pletsch with their play for such young athletes.

Despite not seeming to have the firepower or experience as other teams in the conference, Pletsch feels the postseason is within the realm of possibility.

"Our goal is to get into the playoffs, have a winning season and win a playoff game," he said.

Fighting the Rams for postseason possibilities will be Valley High School (9-16), coached by Gary Findley. Finishing fifth in the league last year, the school that gave us Greg Maddux returns two quality senior infielders in Reiner Hall (.347 last year) and Tim Parker (.311).

Pletsch said the Vikings "are getting good pitching and not making many errors" and will be in the thick of the divisional race.

Las Vegas High School, ranked No. 8 by the Las Vegas Review-Journal in its March 30 poll, appears again to be the class of the Northeast after a 9-3 start against some formidable foes.

Coached by Sam Thomas, the Wildcats (20-16 last year) return six starters and went an impressive 5-2 against Southeast Division foes to start the spring, losing only to top-ranked Silverado and No. 3 Basic.

Talented seniors Josh Chasse, Ryan Theobald and Junior Gonzalez along with juniors Alex Church, Chris Ortega and Felix Segovia give Thomas a solid core with which to work. Chasse, an All-Southern Nevada pick last season in the outfield, has signed to play with San Diego State and will help lead Las Vegas' offense.

Hopefully chasing the Wildcats in the Northeast is Chaparral High School (6-21), led by second-year coach Calvin Valvo. The Cowboys return seven players to their 11-man roster, including senior pitcher/catcher Alex Wooldridge, who also was the quarterback on Chaparral's football team.

Wooldridge started the season out with a vengeance, hitting .577 -- the third highest mark in Las Vegas -- with 11 RBIs, and fellow seniors K.C. Judge (.350, 17 RBI) and Logan Williams (.440) also were doing their part swinging a big stick.

Senior Robert Johnson and juniors Chris Juneman and Phil Lial give Valvo some experience on the diamond and hopes for a nice turnaround this campaign.

Eldorado High School (21-14), coached by Jessie Medellin, lost some talent when Sunrise Southeast MVP Anthony Griffin graduated last year, but the Sundevils do return a dynamic duo in seniors Josh Creveling and Ryan Keplinger, who begin their fourth year on the varsity roster.

Creveling and Keplinger hit and pitch well, as was reflected in early statistics. Creveling was batting .452 with 12 RBI, while Keplinger sported a .370 batting average with 12 RBI. On the mound, Creveling boasted a 1.57 ERA and had 27 strikeouts, the second-highest total in the valley, while Keplinger started out with a 2-1 record.

Danny Galvan (.368), Austin Roehr (.333, 10 RBI), Adrian Rosales and Manuel Estrada also provide pop in Eldorado's lineup.

Canyon Springs High School (2-25), coached by Cory Ash, returns eight starters in the Pioneers' second year of play and is also expected to be fighting for one of the four playoff berths in the Northeast.

Senior ace Andy Sadler whiffed 72 batters in just 51 innings last year, and fellow seniors Tony Carrillo (.355 this year), Darren Turner (.403 last year), Dennis Parker (.303 last year), Juan Garcia and Tyler Smith may give Canyon Springs enough offense to be able to contend this season. A 2-1 loss at Las Vegas in their league opener on March 30 shows that the Pioneers have come a long way in one year and may surprise in the division.

After losing coach Clint Huggins -- now an assistant at Las Vegas -- and its best player in Humberto Rodarte, Desert Pines High School (3-18) and coach Brian Moser have some rebuilding to do this spring. And a 25-1 loss to Green Valley on March 13 in which the Gators had two 10-run innings reveals that 2006 may be a rebuilding year for the Jaguars.

All in all, Rancho's Pletsch believes it will be tough for other teams in the division to compete with the perennially solid Wildcats.

"(Las) Vegas is going to win the league," he predicted. "And Eldorado is tough with Kepplinger and Creveling. Chaparral is hitting the heck out of the ball and Valley has opened a lot of people's eyes."

And Pletsch said something that all managers from Little League to the big leagues can perhaps relate to about the game of baseball.

"If you got pitching, you're going to win games," he said. "And if you don't have pitching, it's going to be a long season."

Northeast Division play continues Wednesday, when Pletsch's Rams host Valley at Rafael Rivera Park at 3:30 p.m., Desert Pines welcomes Chaparral at 3:30 p.m., and Las Vegas hosts Eldorado at 3:30 p.m.