College of Southern Nevada - Fall Scrimmage
September 24, 2018
College of Southern Nevada (CSN) Fall Notes
Currently, Nevada has but one junior college baseball program in Nick Garriatano’s College of Southern Nevada (CSN) Coyotes. After finishing third in the Scenic West Athletic Conference behind Champion and eventual Junior College World Series (JCWS) participant College of Southern Idaho (CSI), CSN is poised to make a run at the title this season. With a host of returning players as well as an influx of talented newcomers, they appear ready to compete at a high level. They will anxiously look forward to the return of recovering Isaiah Blaylock. Blaylock was sidelined last season due to Tommy John Surgery. The coyotes will also return talented outfielder Matt Wong, St. Louis HS, Mililani, Hawaii. Wong was a draft consideration a year ago and should be able to build on that. He is recovering from a knee injury but without setbacks will be ready for the spring season. He is a physical presence, even in a knee brace. Division 1 bounce backs, Chase Bauerle (Utah) and Steven Rivas (Long Beach State) look to be welcome additions.
Scrimmage Sneak Peak
Steven Rivas, OF, College of Southern Nevada (SO)
Long Beach State transfer. Uncommitted, 6-foot-1, 195, Rivas represents present strength in a proportional build with developed thighs and noticeable forearm strength. He displayed a solid approach with middle to opposite field orientation. He has tight and simple load stride sequence, providing a subtlety that should minimize inconsistency. There is some natural loft to a short swing with good extension and a nice combination of strength and bat speed. He made consistent hard contact driving the ball to LCF on two separate occasions for standup doubles. Although he was never provided an opportunity to reveal it today, he has sneaky above average runner. Limited looks leaves some question as to whether he will stay in CF at the next level, but he showed solid reads and caught what he got to. He was on target with game time throw to home with good ground ball footwork and a precise long hop.