Where Are They Now? Series: 2018 Walla Walla Sweets

Lopez and Johnston Among 2018 Sweets Returning in 2021

With the 2021 Walla Walla Sweets season now less than a month away, we continue to look back at the last few season of Sweets baseball with the 2018 edition of the Sweets.

The Sweets put together another winning campaign in 2018, finishing their season 28-26. The Sweets finished just one game behind the Portland Pickles in the first half and ultimately missed the postseason.

One player from the 2018 squad, outfielder Cesar Lopez, is still on the team entering 2021. Lopez still has fond memories of his first season.

“A lot of my favorite memories are the friendships you make with the players and coaches on the team,” Lopez said. “I have a lot of great memories with the Sweets.”

West Coast League teams were not the only teams the Sweets squared off with in 2018. The Sweets played in the second annual Walla Walla Valley High School Showcase Game. The Sweets took on some of the most talented high school baseball players from the area in an exhibition style game to raise funds for the youth baseball and softball programs in the Valley. The high school squad was coached by Jeff Cirillo.

Another unique promotion the Sweets held was Adam West Night, which took place in late June. The Sweets wore Adam West themed jerseys which were autographed and auctioned off after the game with the proceeds benefitting the Little Theatre of Walla Walla. The Sweets also won the game on a walkoff, 5-4.

Promotional Adam West Statue given to Sweets fans on Adam West Night.

Mariner Moose also made another appearance at Borleske Stadium. In one on-field performance, members of  the Walla Walla county police department tried to put the Moose back in the wilderness. Team President Zach Fraser stopped the attempt, and the Moose smashed a pie in on-field emcee Sean McKillip’s face later on in the game.

Pitchers

# Player B/T Ht Wt College Class Hometown Draft Status Player Eligibility
45 Will Blackburn R/R 6-3 195 Santa Barbara CC Danville, CA
14 Patrick Collins R/R 5-10 150 San Francisco (U of) Calabasas, CA
41 Tanner Cunha L/L 5-10 175 Nevada Reno (U of) Sacramento, CA
36 Isaak Gutierrez R/R 5-10 210 Bethune-Cookman Col Norwalk, CA
17 Brayde Hirai L/L 6-0 180 Walla Walla CC Pasco, WA
20 Ty Hueckman R/R 6-1 180 Nevada Reno (U of) Burns, OR
33 Haydn King L/L 6-2 195 Nevada Las Vegas (U of) Aptos, CA
21 Bryce Moyle L/L 5-9 170 Washington St U Carson City, NV
55 Michael Peterson R/R 6-5 205 Walla Walla CC Pullman, WA
51 Tyson Quolas L/L 5-11 180 Cal St Monterey Bay Oxnard, CA
27 Samuel Reed L/L 6-0 175 Concordia U Denver, CO
26 Cole Schoepke R/L 6-3 180 South Mountain CC Albuquerque, NM
23 Trent Sellers R/R 5-11 160 Washington St U Kennewick, WA
30 Luke Short L/L 6-0 180 St Marys Col of Minnesota Los Gatos, CA
44 Sean Sullivan R/R 6-1 165 California Berkeley (U of) Woodland Hills, CA
7 Darius Vines R/R 6-1 170 Arizona St U Ventura, CA
12 Carson Woolery R/R 6-4 215 Montana St U Billings Caldwell, ID

Catchers

# Player B/T Ht Wt College Class Hometown Draft Status Player Eligibility
40 Willy Chang R/R 5-7 187 Taipei, TWN
16 Matt Elser R/R 6-3 220 Los Angeles Mission Col Santa Clarita, CA
5 Josh Prizina R/R 6-5 220 Nevada Reno (U of) Sparks, NV

Infielders

# Player B/T Ht Wt College Class Hometown Draft Status Player Eligibility
13 Jack Filby L/R 6-0 188 California Los Angeles (U of) Sacramento, CA
6 Jordan Hovey L/R 6-2 190 Creighton U Edwardsville, IL
32 Josh Kutzke R/R 5-10 225 South Dakota St U Kennewick, WA
1 Quentin LaFontaine R/R 5-10 180 Walla Walla CC Kennewick, WA
24 Nick Nyquist R/R 6-3 220 Gonzaga U CDA, ID
9 Tyler Pritchard L/R 6-0 170 Southern California (U of) Lake Elsinore, CA
19 Robert Teel R/R 6-1 195 Washington St U Tustin, CA
11 Matt Whitney R/R 6-1 190 Oxnard Col Camarillo, CA
4 Dimick Wood R/R 5-10 180 Walla Walla CC Boise, ID

Signed Nick Nyquist WCL All Star trading card.

Outfielders

# Player B/T Ht Wt College Class Hometown Draft Status Player Eligibility
18 Patrick Caulfield R/R 5-10 180 Santa Barbara CC Burlingame, CA
37 Ben Fariss R/R 6-0 195 California Santa Barbara (U of) Valencia, CA
10 Ryan Johnston R/R 5-10 165 California Irvine (U of) San Diego, CA
3 Cesar Lopez L/R 6-0 180 Cal Poly Pomona Downey, CA
2 Danny Sinatro L/R 5-11 175 Washington St U Sammamish, WA
15 Tate Soderstrom L/R 6-1 195 Arizona (U of) Turlock, CA

Staff

# Name
25 Raul Camacho Pitching Coach
39 Frank Mutz Head Coach
28 Justin Speer Bench Coach
22 Kyle Wilkerson Hitting Coach
North Division W L PCT GB STREAK LAST 10
Bellingham Bells  35 19 0.648 2W 5-5
Kelowna Falcons 28 26 0.519 7 2W 5-5
Victoria HarbourCats 27 27 0.500 8 1L 5-5
Yakima Valley Pippins 27 27 0.500 8 1W 4-6
Wenatchee AppleSox 26 28 0.481 9 2L 6-4
Port Angeles Lefties 21 33 0.389 14 3L 3-7
South Division W L PCT GB STREAK LAST 10
Portland Pickles  37 17 0.685 1W 8-2
Corvallis Knights  36 18 0.667 1 1L 8-2
Walla Walla Sweets 28 26 0.519 9 1L 5-5
Cowlitz Black Bears 20 34 0.370 17 1W 3-7
Bend Elks 12 42 0.222 25 3L 1-9

Where are they now?

Haydn King is a member of the AZL Giants Black.

Darius Vines is a member of the Augusta GreenJackets, the low-A affiliate of the Atlanta Braves.

Jordan Hovey spent the 2020 season in the United Shore League.

Cesar Lopez enters his third season for the Sweets in 2021.

Danny Sinatro spent the 2019 season with the AZL Dodgers.

Ryan Johnston returns to the Sweets in 2021, but as an assistant coach instead of as a player.

 

By: Cody Miller

Date: May 7, 2021