Former UR baseball star takes over at Occidental

A former University of Redlands Bulldog is now going to try and beat the Bulldogs.

Luke Wetmore has taken the head coaching job after serving as hitting coach for three years under jason Hawkins, also a former Redlands player who resigned to pursue a Division I position.

Wetmore, a 28-year-old from Santa Cruz, transitions to head coach with the responsibility of returning the Tigers to prominence.

“I’m excited to be apart of a program with such rich baseball tradition,” Wetmore said. “I’m expecting that we’re going to compete right away. You can’t put a number on wins for the next couple of years, but I do know we are going to get better every day and every game.”

Wetmore comes highly recommended by his predecessor, who sees Wetmore as a dynamic coach, capable of taking the team to the next level.

“We created climate conducive to winning. Luke is a part of that and he is going to carry that forward,” Hawkins said. “It’s an attractive job. I think if you were to pool it at the national level you would get great candidates, but I don’t think anyone will do a job like Luke will.”

Wetmore grew up in Santa Cruz and was a multi-sport standout in football, baseball and wrestling at Santa Cruz High School. Later, Wetmore played baseball and football at the University of Redlands from 2004-08.

During his tenure with the Bulldogs, Wetmore won three SCIAC championships, one as a baseball player and two as a football player. He finished his career as an outfielder with a .317 batting average, a .516 slugging percentage, a .412 on-base percentage and 13 home runs.

Wetmore’s only other professional coaching stint resulted in a 2010 Mountain Collegiate League Baseball championship as an assistant with the Cheyenne Grizzlies.

The Tigers are looking to improve on last year’s 13-26 overall record and 9-19 sixth-place finish in the SCIAC.

 

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SBVC catcher headed to Biola

Sophomore catcher Wes Cottier of San Bernardino Valley College is headed to NAIA Biola University in La Mirada.
 
Cottier, a Redlands High School greaduate, improved dramatically from his freshman year at SBVC to his sophomore year, in which he went from a .114 batting average in 2010 to a .336 batting average in 2011. He started 11 games in 2010 participating in 20 his freshman year, but in 2011, Cottier started 31 of 36 games and participated in 32. He was able to seamlessly move between catcher and first base throughout his sophomore year.
 
While he finished fourth on the team in batting average, Cottier finished first in slugging percentage with .573, led the team in home runs with 6, and led the team in defensive put outs with 217.
 
Biola went 38-22 overall and 25-11 in conference play last season. The Eagles got to the Golden State Athletic Conference tournament finals, but fell to Concordia. Then, the Eagles were invited to play in the NAIA Opening Round Tournament, but fell to Oklahoma Baptist University in double elimination.

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Cal Poly basketballer headed back to Germany to start pro career

When Tobias Jahn starts his first professional season this fall, he won’t be in an unfamiliar overseas atmosphere. In fact, he’ll be right at home.

A native of Germany, Jahn signed a professional contract this week with Erdgas Ehingen of the Basketball Bundesliga’s second league “Pro A.” The team is based out of Ehingen, a town in the southern state of Baden-Wrttemberg.

“Tobias has had a fantastic college career and now we want to help him get started in his professional basketball career,” Ehingen head coach Ralph Junge said. “He is a guy that is difficult to get out of the gym. With this attitude, he is exactly at the right place in Ehingen.”

Jahn completed his four-year career with Cal Poly Pomona in 2011 and helped the Broncos capture the 2010 NCAA Division II title with clutch performances in the March postseason push. In the Elite Eight semifinal win over Bentley, the 6-foot-9 forward scored 11 points off the bench and grabbed six rebounds in 20 minutes. Jahn collected 10 points including his second three-pointer of the season in the title game against Indiana (Pa.).

“I realized after my visit to Ehingen that this was the best place for me to develop,” Jahn said. “I am looking forward to working with Ralph Junge and Felix Czerny.”

Through his time with the Broncos, Jahn totaled 113 games played and 2,358 minutes. He also collected 478 rebounds to go along with a scoring average of 7.3 points per game.

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