Beeville, Tx- LET'S PLAY BALL! Coastal Bend College baseball is here! The Cougars had a lot of success last season, making history with 35 wins. Head Coach Brian Bauerle has lead the Cougars to the semi-finals of the Regional Tournament for past two years. The Cougars are aiming to finally get over the hump and achieve more history.
For the first time in CBC history, the baseball program had two student-athletes win All-American Awards (Marco Becerril, First-Team, Pitcher and Jordan Gochenour, Second-Team, Infielder). CBC Baseball also had two players win National Player of the Week (Ruben Sepulveda, Kyler Bumstead) and two pitchers win National Pitcher of the Week for NJCAA Division III in Michael Dinsdale and Marco Becerril. Becerril finished 2nd in the NJCAA Division III Baseball with 10 Wins, which is a CBC Single Season Record. Relief Pitcher, Mason Foster recorded seven saves for CBC, which ranked as 2nd best in the nation and most in Coastal Bend baseball history for a season. The Cougars also finished 5th in the nation with 46 Home Runs.
Coach Brian Bauerle and staff are returning a wealth of pitching on Becerril, Sepulveda, Dinsdale and Foster. The "Core Four" accounted for 22 Win's and 7 Saves for Coastal Bend during the 2018 season. Hitting wise, Bo Gonzales, Bumstead and Sepulveda produced a combined hitting average of .311 along with 97 Runs Scored, 38 Doubles, four Triples, 17 Home Runs and 110 RBI's.
During December, First Baseman/Pitcher, Ruben Sepulveda and Pitcher Marco Becerril were invited to the Power Showcase All-Star Game at the Miami Marlins Park in Miami, Florida. Sepulveda and Becerril played for the American League in the College Select All-Stars. Both Cougars represented themselves and Coastal Bend College extremely well. Becerril, the First-Team All-American pitched four innings, collecting four strikeouts and giving up one run. Sepulveda picked up the win on the mound throwing three scoreless inning with three strikeouts, while going 1-3 from the plate including a late inning single that allowed him to be the winning run as the American League came back to the defeat the National League 8-5.
The only concern for the Cougars will be right through the middle of their defense with new student athletes filling in the void from last season's sophomores. The sophomores each received and accepted offers to play at the university level. Catcher, Cody Lee (LeTourneau University), Second Baseman, Jordan Gochenour (University of Houston) and Centerfielder, Joel Rodriguez (Our Lady of The Lake University in San Antonio).
Coastal Bend Baseball will open their season at Home with a 3 game series against Brookhaven College. The Cougars will play the Bears on Friday, January 25th at 7:00 PM.