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It’s been a roller coaster of results for Long Beach State Dirtbags baseball since coach Mike Weathers retired. Troy Buckley got the historic program back into the NCAA postseason, but also had losing seasons before he was unceremoniously replaced after a locker room altercation. Eric Valenzuela then had the Dirtbags in the Top 25 when COVID-19 shut that season down, and he too surprised everyone with a sudden departure last year.
Now coach TJ Bruce, who started his career on Weathers’ LBSU staff, is ready to right the ship with a familiar approach.
“Tradition is back,” Bruce said. “The Dirtbags style is back and you should see that daily. We see it on and off the field and I want the fans to come see it for themselves. We’re going to be a program that’s going to be tough and gritty. We’re going to bend and we’re not going to break. That to me is what a Dirtbag is.”
The Dirtbags start the season this weekend by hosting Northwestern on Bohl Diamond at Blair Field, and Bruce wants this team to start over.
“I haven’t looked at stats or anything (from last season),” Bruce said. “I didn’t want any preconceived notions about this team.”
Bruce played and coached for Weathers before going to have success at UCLA, Nevada and TCU. He used that experience and pedigree to re-recruit some of the remaining Dirtbags like starting pitcher Kellan Montgomery. The junior ace is ranked 96th on D1Baseball.com’s preseason Top 150 Starting Pitchers, and was named to the Big West’s preseason All-Conference. He has racked up 126 strikeouts in 131 innings with the Dirtbags.
“I’m glad he’s on our team,” Bruce said of his Friday night starter Montgomery. “He’s as hard a worker as I’ve been around. He knows what he’s doing.”
Local product Josh Donegan is back from injury and will take the ball Saturday in his first start since last March. He went 2-1 with a 3.63 ERA last season. The Sunday starter is yet to be determined, as are some other key positions like catcher.
Senior Conner Stewart, sophomore Dylan Jackson and freshman Efren Ortega could all see time behind the plate. Stewart will use his veteran experience to control the game, Jackson will be the more offensive option and Ortega will use his defensive prowess when in the starting lineup. Ortega was ranked No. 18 among California high school catchers by PerfectGame.org while at Birmingham High School.
Those catchers will have a variety of arms to work with as senior transfer Albert Roblez, junior Van Larson, sophomore Owen Geiss and redshirt freshman Jake Fields battle for the key roles out of the bullpen. Larson and Geiss ended last season as weekend starters for the Dirtbags while Roblez comes from UNLV where he struck out 27 in 24.1 innings last year. Sophomore lefty Nick Williams is also back to anchor the bullpen after 29 appearances as a freshman.
Returning senior starters Alex Champagne and Kyle Ashworth are back in the outfield and at the top of the lineup. The center fielder Champagne will be the lefty leadoff hitter to start the season after he led the Big West Conference with 19 stolen bases last year. He ranked 104th in Division I in sacrifice hits and 135th in sac bunts per game which will be key to the style Bruce wants his team to play. Ashworth was honorable mention All-Conference last season after leading the Dirtbags with 45 runs scored.
Senior Connor Charpiot and junior Dylan Lina will both see time at first base. Charpiot hit .314 and had an LBSU-high 16-game hitting streak last year. Lina hit .275 with nine home runs and 31 RBI as a sophomore at Golden West College before transferring.
Junior Armando Briseno finished strong last season to hit almost .300 over the last 22 games. He will play both middle infield positions while freshman second baseman Jake Evans works his way back from injury and freshman shortstop Trotter Enright gets his bearings at the collegiate level. Evans is a Long Beach native who ranked 18th among California high school shortstops by PerfectGame.org as a senior at Los Alamitos High. Enright hit .395 with a .613 on-base percentage as a senior who led his Camarillo High School team to a CIF Southern Section Division 4 championship.
Third base will also see a rotation of starters that will include senior Nathan Cadena and Lina. Cadena is a San Jose State transfer who started all 57 games as a junior while hitting six home runs and driving in 37 runs.
The schedule won’t give Bruce a lot of time to figure out the moving pieces of his new squad. LBSU will only have 12 games before the Big West schedule starts March 7 against UC Irvine. However, Bruce knows what he’s looking for in the early going.
“Will they have the ability to be really good at what they can control?” Bruce said. “Opening day is just a sugar high. You have to figure out that you wake up tomorrow and do it again.”
What Bruce can count on is that the baseball community he grew up with has his back.
“I feel the support, the alumni have been incredible, and we even had Jered Weaver at practice the other day,” Bruce said. “Long Beach State baseball has standards. That’s my job to uphold, to carry the torch that coach Snow and coach Weathers have passed on. In order to write your future you better know your past.”
The season opener is scheduled for Friday 6 p.m. on Bohl Diamond at Blair Field against Northwestern.
The Dirtbags haven’t won the Big West or reached the NCAA postseason since 2017.
