San Francisco, CA -- It was only fitting that under a new head coach who stressed stealing bases, the Academy of Art University baseball team would take steps in the right direction in 2010. The Urban Knights finished 7-40 overall and posted a 3-28 record in their first Pacific West Conference season. After a tough first year in program history, Head Coach Brian Guinn helped usher in a new era for year two.
“I think speed helped us get through a lot of games because it gave us confidence that we could score runs and steal more bases,” Coach Guinn said. “It was hard for other teams to say they were going to shut us down. Nearly all of our guys had at least one steal at the end of the year so everyone was a threat.”
AAU opened up its 2010 campaign on Feb. 6 with a rainy three-game series against Cal State Stanislaus of the CCAA. Although the Knights lost their first eight non-conference contests of the season all on the road, Academy of Art did explode offensively with a seven-run burst against Fresno Pacific, the ninth-best NAIA team at the time, on Feb. 20. Junior catcher Chris Vargas led the charge with a 4-for-5 performance and three runs batted in.
When the Urban Knights finally returned home to kick off PacWest Conference play, they began with the league’s defending champion Dixie State. The Red Storm completed a four-game sweep of AAU, but the Academy of Art starting pitching turned in strong performances in the second day of action. Most notably, sophomore lefty Zach Mexicano (0-5) had his best start of the year, throwing a complete 7.0 innings on the mound while allowing three runs and striking out five.
On a high from nearly knocking off Dixie State, the Knights were then led by sophomore right-hander
Alex Rosenthal (1-9) to the program’s historic first victory, a 5-4 triumph over Grand Canyon. AAU was in Phoenix, AZ to begin a four-part series with the Antelopes on Mar. 12 and
Rosenthal pitched a solid 5.0 innings with two runs allowed and four strikeouts to get the win. Four different Academy of Art players had a pair of hits in the game led by sophomore infielder
Kallen Fletcher who produced two RBI singles after coming in to pinch hit.
“It was like a weight lifted off my shoulders and players’ shoulders,” Coach Guinn said. “I thought especially the guys from last year.
It was a good feeling to get first win under our belt because it built confidence.”
The Urban Knights were not satisfied with just one victory on this trip however. One day later, AAU put away GCU 8-6 with an all-around team effort. From every Academy of Art starter registering at least one hit in the contest to junior righty
Darnell Quinney (1-12) notching the first save of his career, all Knights made contributions in the win.
“The team was really inspired by their first victory and they were looking forward to doing it again,” Coach Guinn said. “The mindset after our first two victories was we can compete with anyone. I think our biggest competition was ourselves and doing the little things to help us win games.”
AAU Baseball next returned home for five games versus Hawaii Pacific who went on to eventually take the PacWest Conference title handily at the end of the season. The Urban Knights were close in nearly every contest beginning with an 8-7 loss fraught with drama. Academy of Art University had built a 7-2 advantage after rallying for four runs in the third, but with their backs against the wall, the Sea Warriors scored four of their own in the ninth for the victory.
“Highlights came not necessarily only in the games we won,” Coach Guinn said. “We took a lead into some last half innings and even though we lost, it showed that we were coming around as a baseball team. For example, the nine-inning ballgame when the guys stayed with Hawaii Pacific, the best team in the league. The kids felt like they could compete with anyone. Looking at even the first week of conference play, it was a battle every time we stepped on the field. Our goal as coaches was to change the landscape of what the athletes thought they could do.”
Following series with Dixie State and Hawaii-Hilo, the Knights defeated St. Joseph’s College from Brooklyn, NY in a pair of 10-6 results on Apr. 3. Sophomore outfielder Johnathan Robbins and freshman infielder Andy Caniezo were the heroes of the day as Robbins went 4-for-7 with five RBIs and Caniezo homered for the first time in 2010 to ignite a game-winning rally in the second contest.
AAU had a series rematch with Grand Canyon before history was made on back-to-back days against NAIA opponents. Freshman right-hander Jeff Smith (2-6) had his breakout pitching performance of the year in a 6-1 victory over Patten on Apr. 16. Smith threw a complete game on the mound with only one run allowed. The outing marked the first time any Academy of Art pitcher had ever thrown 9.0 complete innings and Smith’s four strikeouts were a season-high.
One day later, the Knights exploded for 23 runs against Bethany, shattering their previous team record of 14. Propelled by home runs from freshman infielder Stefen Henderson, sophomore infielder Jared DePatto, and Rosenthal, AAU scored 13 runs late in the contest to pull away. Quinney also set a new school strikeout record with nine punch-outs.
The 2010 Urban Knights baseball campaign wrapped up in Hawaii with rematches against Hawaii Pacific and Hawaii-Hilo. Rain in Honolulu shortened the stretch versus the Sea Warriors, but in four contests against the Vulcans, Academy of Art captured yet another conference win. The third game of the series was a rollercoaster ride for AAU who gained momentum from a steal of home by
Robbins, an RBI double by junior infielder/outfielder
Ryan Worley to take the lead, and an RBI hit by freshman catcher
Chris Holmes in extra innings to produce the 9-7 victory for the Knights.
At the end of the year, Worley and Robbins finished as the top two hitters for Academy of Art University. Worley, who captured the Urban Knights’ lone post-season honor, was named to the All-PacWest Second Team after posting a .316 batting average with 28 runs scored, 19 runs batted in, and 21 stolen bases.
“When you look at Ryan Worley from last year, he made a tremendous turnaround and it shows his focus was to get better,” Coach Guinn said. “He improved not only as a baseball player but also as a student. And that’s what we want all of our athletes to do.”
Robbins competed in three sports (baseball, basketball, football) while attending Providence Day School in Charlotte, NC prior to Academy of Art University. An impressive athletic talent added to AAU this year,
Robbins ended up leading the team with 36 runs scored and 25 steals in addition to 16 RBIs.
“I thought Ryan and Jonathan progressed really well,” Coach Guinn said. “From start to end, they retained a lot of information and they responded very well. Jonathan was a basketball player so we had to convert him to baseball guy. He had baseball skill but not as much baseball knowledge and now he has grasped a whole lot of knowledge. [Assistant Coach] Mike Felder and I were able to correct a lot of things on the field which helped them read pitchers better. They were running with a lot more confidence by the end of the season.”
Quinney and
Smith pitched the most innings for the Knights this season. Over 66.2 innings on the mound,
Quinney struck out 51 batters (more than twice the number he had in 2009) and ended with an 8.91 earned run average.
Smith’s season was highlighted by his nine-inning complete game along with 59.0 total innings pitched and 26 strikeouts for a 7.93 ERA.
“I thought the pitching got better as the season progressed,” Coach Guinn said. “We changed the attitudes in our pitchers. We were instilling things like locations, trying to throw strikes, and having confidence in the defense. When the guys bought into it, they really saw positive results. And it’s going to get better as time progresses.”
In his senior season with the Urban Knights, outfielder
Mike Gutierrez played in all 47 games and paced Academy of Art with three home runs as well as 22 RBIs.
Gutierrez finished with a .261 batting average and stole the first eight bases of his career under Coach Guinn. Arguably his best game of the season came the night of Apr. 18 when he had a career-high four hits, seven total bases, and one homer versus Patten University.
AAU Baseball made incredible progress from the program’s inaugural year as the Knights finished with a 7-40 overall record, 3-28 in PacWest Conference play. After breaking into the league this season, Academy of Art University is poised to build on its success in 2011.
“Next year we’re looking to get bigger, faster, stronger,” Coach Guinn said.
“Our pitching is going to improve a lot and we will be bringing in recruits in to fill up some holes," Coach Guinn said. "We’re going to be getting more confidence, experience, and just improving overall.”