Where Are They Now Series: 2011 Walla Walla Sweets
The second edition of the “where are they now?” series looks at the second season of Walla Walla Sweets baseball. From the newly formed traditions, to the first playoff appearance in team history, the Sweets put together plenty of memorable moments in the summer of 2011.
After an inaugural season that saw the Sweets finish last in the West Coast League, expectations were much higher in year two. Like the previous season, the Sweets didn’t get of to a hot start. They found themselves holding on to a spot in the playoff picture come mid-July. Down three games in the wild-card race and with their season hanging in the balance, the Sweets won 13 of their final 20 games to beat out the Bellingham Bells for the final spot in the WCL postseason.
After finishing the regular season 26-28, the Sweets were met with a tough draw in the division series against the heavily-favored Wenatchee Apple Sox. Led by league MVP Alex Stanford, the Sweets stunned the Apple Sox in a 2-0 sweep to win the club’s first ever postseason series. Despite bowing out to Corvallis in the league championship round, the Sweets made major progress from year one to two. They improved their win total by 10, had six players including Stanford earn all-star honors, and swept the third ranked collegiate summer baseball team in the country in the playoffs.
Pitchers
# | Player | B/T | Ht | Wt | College | Class | Hometown | Draft Status | Player Eligibility |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
3 | Trent Allianic | R/R | 6-0 | 185 | Hawaii | Koloa, Kauai | |||
36 | Kyle Anderson | R/L | 6-2 | 200 | Cal Poly | Senior | Aptos, CA | ||
23 | Simon Anderson | R/R | 6-5 | 215 | North Dakota State | Junior | Bemidju, Minn | ||
34 | Tyler Billen | L/L | 6-4 | 240 | Harding | Junior | Edmond, OK | ||
8 | Doug Christie | R/R | 6-0 | 200 | Lower Columbia CC | Sophomore | Black Diamond, Wash | ||
28 | Tim Culligan | R/R | 6-2 | 212 | Nevada | Senior | Hillsboro, OR | ||
10 | Aaron Hoverson | R/R | 5-11 | 175 | Winona St. | Junior | Maplewood, Minn | ||
30 | Daniel Jewett | L/L | 5-10 | 175 | Truman St. | Sophomore | Seattle, Wash | ||
46 | Jimmy Litchfield | L/L | 6-0 | 175 | UC Irvine | Sophomore | La Habra, Cali | ||
18 | Cory Mack | L/L | 5-8 | 175 | Seattle U | Sophomore | Spokane, Wash | ||
15 | Zach Nice | R/R | 6-1 | 190 | Portland | Sophomore | La Grande, OR | ||
19 | Jacob Overbay | R/R | 6-3 | 205 | Nevada | Senior | |||
16 | Derek Peterson | R/R | 6-0 | 185 | Gonzaga | Sophomore | Spokane, Wash | ||
55 | Ryan Richardson | R/R | 5-10 | 160 | Campbellsville | Senior | Spokane, Wash | ||
21 | Sean Santschi | R/R | 6-2 | 222 | Gonzaga | Senior | Vancouver, WA | ||
39 | Geoff Soja | R/R | 6-3 | 210 | Niagara | Sophomore | Fairport, NY | ||
27 | Brett Watson | L/L | 6-1 | 215 | Walla Walla CC | Junior | Lewiston, ID | ||
32 | Eric Yardley | R/R | 6-0 | 165 | Seattle U | Junior | Richland, WA | ||
35 | Kody Young | R/R |
Catchers
# | Player | B/T | Ht | Wt | College | Class | Hometown | Draft Status | Player Eligibility |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
25 | Kevin Hawk | L/R | 6-1 | 200 | Lewis-Clark State | Junior | Boise, ID | ||
2 | Elliot Stewart | R/R | 5-11 | 200 | Cal Poly | Senior | San Jose, CA |
Infielders
# | Player | B/T | Ht | Wt | College | Class | Hometown | Draft Status | Player Eligibility |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
6 | Kalani Brackenridge | R/R | 5-10 | 180 | Hawaii | Junior | Kapolei, Oahu Hawaii | ||
20 | James Campbell | R/R | 6-1 | 203 | Pomona-Pitzer | Senior | Lookout Mountain, TN | ||
1 | Denver Chavez | R/R | 5-8 | 165 | Cal Poly | Junior | Santa Barbara, CA | ||
29 | Austin Heaps | L/R | 6-2 | 220 | Utah Valley | Senior | Orem, UT | ||
33 | Goose Kallunki | R/R | 6-5 | 235 | Utah Valley | Senior | Orem, UT | ||
26 | Chance Kopacz | R/R | 6-0 | 195 | Walla Walla CC | Junior | Hermiston, OR | ||
24 | Alex Stanford | L/R | 5-10 | 180 | Gonzaga | Senior | Bothell, WA | ||
11 | Zach Wentz | R/R | 6-3 | 215 | North Dakokta St. | Senior | Bismarck, ND | ||
13 | Kevin Williams | L/R | 6-0 | 185 | UCLA | Sophomore | Van Nuys, CA |
Outfielders
# | Player | B/T | Ht | Wt | College | Class | Hometown | Draft Status | Player Eligibility |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
14 | Brenton Allen | L/L | 6-1 | 205 | UCLA | Sophomore | Cerritos, CA | ||
31 | Nick Gentili | L/L | 6-2 | 185 | Pomona-Pitzer | Junior | Glendale, CA | ||
12 | Scott Gottschling | R/R | 6-0 | 180 | UC-Irvine | Junior | Orange, CA | ||
4 | Brett Jacobs | R/R | 6-0 | 182 | Washington St. | Junior | Richland, WA | ||
9 | Andrew Mendenhall | R/R | 6-3 | 200 | Oregon | Junior | Kennewick, WA |
Staff
# | Name | |
---|---|---|
J.C. Biagi | Manager | |
Cesar Lopez | Assistant Coach | |
Dave Meliah | Manager | |
Mark Michaud | Pitching Coach |
East Division | W | L | PCT | GB | STREAK | LAST 10 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Wenatchee AppleSox | 39 | 15 | 0.722 | – | 2L | 5-5 |
Walla Walla Sweets | 26 | 28 | 0.481 | 13 | 2W | 7-3 |
Bellingham Bells | 21 | 32 | 0.396 | 17.5 | 2L | 2-8 |
Kelowna Falcons | 19 | 34 | 0.358 | 19.5 | 2W | 7-3 |
West Division | W | L | PCT | GB | STREAK | LAST 10 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Corvallis Knights | 37 | 17 | 0.685 | – | 1W | 8-2 |
Bend Elks | 29 | 25 | 0.537 | 8 | 1L | 4-6 |
Cowlitz Black Bears | 28 | 26 | 0.519 | 9 | 1L | 5-5 |
Kitsap BlueJackets | 24 | 30 | 0.444 | 13 | 2W | 6-4 |
Klamath Falls Gems | 19 | 35 | 0.352 | 18 | 2L | 3-7 |
The Sweets placed 6 players on the WCL East All-Star team. All of these players earned All-WCL honors as well.
- C Elliot Stewart
- 2B/SS Alex Stanford
- OF Andrew Mendenhall
- P Ryan Richardson
- P Tim Culligan
- P Brett Watson (Third in the league with a 1.62 ERA)
Stewart, who spent two seasons with the team, enjoyed every part of the 2011 season.
“Walla Walla was an awesome experience all around,” Stewart said. “We were a hard working and talented group on the field, my host family was excellent and I enjoyed the city of Walla Walla as well. It was great to be the first team to get to the playoffs and to win that first series.”
The Sweets led the league in attendance once again in 2011, drawing over 54,000 fans to rank in the top-20 nationally. Stanford set the single-season record in the WCL for most hits with 66, while Richardson led the league in ERA at 1.53 in 53 innings.
The Sweets off-field traditions brought just as much life to the ballpark as their play on it. In the eighth inning, the club would play “Love is Gone” by David Guetta over the sound system. Players would then emerge from the dugout and begin dancing, which brought the crowd to its feet every home game. This tradition seemed to give the team a boost as well, as they had the most come-from-behind victories after the seventh inning of any team in the league.
Broadcaster Tristan Hobbes also became a fan favorite in Walla Walla for some of his signature calls. For victories, Hobbes would close the game with the expression “The Sweets Win! How Sweet it is!“, while another common call was “Simon Says…Game Over!” call as closer Simon Anderson would wrap up a save.
2011 Season Notables:
- Kyle Anderson pitched for three seasons in the minor leagues, going as far as Double-A
- Drew Fittry is currently in his fifth season as the head baseball coach at Hilbert University
- Ryan Richardson enjoyed a seven-year career in independent ball from 2013-2019. He posted a 14-9 record with a 2.81 ERA.
- Stewart has been an assistant coach at Cal Poly for several years and also runs his own baseball training service in Paso Robles, California. He was also second in the WCL in home runs in 2011 with five. You can listen to his interview on his Walla Walla experience right here on the Sweets website.
- Denver Chavez played one season of minor league baseball in the Arizona Diamondbacks farm system.
- Eric Yardley, a reliever for the Milwaukee Brewers, made his postseason debut in the wildcard round against the eventual World Series champion Los Angeles Dodgers this past MLB season. The 30-year-old right-hander held his own against the best squad in baseball, facing seven batters and striking out two while pitching 2 1/3 innings of scoreless baseball. Yardley, a Seattle native, has enjoyed a successful start in his first two seasons in the big leagues. After posting 2.31 ERA in his rookie season with San Diego in 2019, Yardley took on a more prominent role in the Milwaukee bullpen and rose to the occasion. In 24 games this past season, he posted a 1.54 ERA with 19 strikeouts in 23 1/3 innings.
- Austin Heaps received third-team All-America honors from the American Baseball Coaches Association (ABCA) in his senior season at Utah Valley and was a career .345 hitter.
- Goose Kallunki played four seasons of professional baseball between the minor and independent leagues.
- Zach Wentz, the brother of NFL quarterback Carson Wentz, helped start the A01 foundation. In 2018, they announced a campaign to build an athletic complex in Haiti where Carson has done mission work. In May alone, the foundation brought in $520,000 towards the Haiti project. At the foundation’s first annual softball game, Wentz and company brought in $850,000 in donations. The foundation has helped numerous communities around the world. Zach hit .300 for his collegiate career prior to this and played a brief stint of professional baseball.
- Brenton Allen played two seasons of professional baseball in the minor leagues.
- After a successful baseball career at Pomona-Pitzer, Nicholas Gentili has gone on to become vice president at IDS Real Estate Group in Los Angeles.
By: Brandon Monty
Date: January 25, 2021