Coaching Staff
Colby Watilo
Head Coach
Alma Mater: George Fox, BS; Messiah University, MA
Experience: 4 years
Colby Watilo, current pitching coach at Whitman College, is the team’s new manager for the 2025 season. He becomes the second former Sweets player to be named head coach for the Sweets.
“I am extremely excited and feel honored to be named the next head coach of the Walla Walla Sweets,” Watilo said. “As a Walla Walla native, former Sweets host family member, and former Sweets player, this opportunity means a lot to me and I can’t wait to be back in a Sweets uniform.”
“I look forward to getting to work and to bringing tons of excitement and entertainment to Borleske Stadium and the Walla Walla Valley in the summer of 2025! Go Sweets!”
A Walla Walla High School graduate, Watilo spent two summers as a player for the Sweets, where he was a catcher on the 2016 and 2017 teams. He played his collegiate ball at George Fox University, appearing in 63 games during his four-year career. He joined the George Fox baseball coaching staff after graduating in 2019, and stayed on for two seasons before moving back home to coach for Whitman.
During his time at Whitman, Watilo has played a large role in the team’s recent success. Since he joined head coach Brian Kitamura’s staff in 2022, Whitman has advanced to two Northwest Conference tournaments, has appeared in one NWC tournament championship game, and won a NWC regular-season conference championship.
The 2024 season saw the greatest success, with two Whitman starting pitchers earning first-team All Conference Honors, and a third earning second-team honors. The trio led a dominant starting rotation that led the NWC in most major pitching categories, including strikeouts, earned runs allowed, and hits allowed.
Watilo also spent a summer as manager of the Xenia Scouts, a member of the Great Lakes Summer Collegiate League. In his one season, the Scouts went 21-17 and earned a playoff appearance for the first time since 2016. Watilo was named the South Division manager of the year, and the Scouts had six players named to the GLSCL All Star Game.
Raul Camacho
Pitching Coach
Alma Mater: Arizona State University BS; California State University, Northridge MA
Experience: 8 years
Camacho returns for his fifth season with the Sweets and served as the team’s pitching coach last year. He is also the athletic director at St. Bonaventure High School in Ventura, California, and has deep roots in the game.
“I started playing baseball at the age of six and have been on a field as a player or coach every summer since,” Camacho said. “When I finished playing, I knew I wanted to stay in the game, and coaching let me stay in the competition along with being able to share what I have learned from some pretty amazing coaches in my lifetime.”
Prior to joining the Sweets, Camacho coached in the California Collegiate League. He says his passion for baseball stems from the sport’s unpredictability and sensory experience.
“The outcome is not a given beforehand—David can slay Goliath every single day,” Camacho said. “The individual battle on every single pitch… the roar of the crowd, the sound of a bat squaring up a ball. The total atmosphere that tests all your senses—the home white uniforms versus the dark grays, the smell of fresh-cut grass and a hot dog and beer in the stands, the taste of sunflower seeds, the feel of a pearl in your hands.”
Leo Rivera
Assistant Coach
Alma Mater: Whitman College, Lewis-Clark State College BS; Seattle University MA
Experience: 2 years
Rivera joins the Sweets just a year removed from playing. He spent the past two seasons with Lewis-Clark State College and previously played four years at Borleske Stadium while attending Whitman College. The Seattle native also suited up for the Sweets for two seasons.
“What I am most looking forward to this summer is showing up to Borleske Stadium—it is one of the best fields in the Northwest, and we are lucky to call it our home,” Rivera said. “I’m excited to work with hitters in the indoor facility that I spent so many hours in as a player, and also get to use the brand new Edwards-Moore Clubhouse.”
This will be Rivera’s second year as a coach.
Elijah Maris
Assistant Coach
Alma Mater: Linfield University BS
Experience: 1 year
Maris, currently a senior at Linfield University, will begin his first coaching role with the Sweets this summer. The Atlanta native has had a well-traveled collegiate career, beginning at Ventura College, where he played for two seasons before the COVID-19 pandemic cut short his third. He went on to spend a year at Hawaii Pacific, followed by a stint at Corban University in the 2022–23 season, before transferring to Linfield, where he has played for the past two years.
This season, Maris has started all 34 games for the Wildcats, hitting .283. He also brings West Coast League experience, having played 47 games for the Springfield Drifters last summer and finishing with a .276 average.
