2022 Season Preview: Clovis North Broncos

The Road to the California State Games begins with the 2022 California high school baseball season. With the season just around the corner, our Staff has begun putting out team previews from all around the state getting you prepare for another year of exciting coverage.

Today we focus on the Clovis North Broncos who have a good balance of veteran upperclassmen and talented underclassmen. They expect to compete for a title at the conference, section and state level. 

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Team:

Clovis North Broncos

Head Coach (years at school)

Jeff Prieto 5th at CN & 20th overall

Twitter Handle

@CNBroncoBSBL

CIF Section & Division

Central Section-Division 1

Conference/League Name

TRAC. Won every TRAC series and gave Buchanan their only TRAC loss.

Last Year’s Record

18-10, 2nd Place TRAC Finish. 

2021 Playoff Run

Lost to Redwood 

# of Returning Starters

6

# of Returning Pitchers

2

Team Expectations

We have a good mix of veterans with 6 returning starters and newcomers with 6 freshmen up competing for starting jobs. We finished 2nd in the TRAC last year. We always expect to compete towards the top of the conference, section, and state. It will be fun to see how our lineup shakes out with so many talented veterans and newcomers.  

Team Strengths

Offense and defense should be strengths. We have a solid group of starting position players back. We have 3 returning starters back in the infield. Starting SS Jayden Hertel, 2B Isaiah Munoz, and 1B Cooper Pomenville. We also have a lot of talented young guys in the infield with Fr Jack West, Wyatt Prieto, Nate Etchegoinberry, and Jr Caleb Cazares. Sr Columbia Commit Cole Fellows is a very good all around player and will be our CF. Sr Derrick Cruz led the team in avg, RBIs, runs last year and will be our catcher.  He caught every inning of every game last year.  

Areas of Improvement

Our depth on the mound has been our big strength for the past 4 years. This is the 1st year we have some question marks heading towards the season.  We return sophomore Jayden Hertel who was 7-1 last year as a freshman, Sr Nick Shows who threw out of the pen in long relief, and our closer SR Collin DeBorde who will be converted to a starter this year.  After that spots in the rotation and out of the pen are wide open. Sr. Dom Aliotti is a strike thrower and will be competitive. Jr. Nate logan has a lot of tilt and pounds the bottom of the strike zone. SR Cole Fellows could see some time on the mound. Fr Brody Skinner, Wyatt Prieto, and Wyatt Johnson are battling for time on the mound.  

College Commitments

Cole Fellows      OF       2022 6'2 195   L/R.
Collin DeBorde  RHP     2022 6'0 175  R/R 

Top 22s

Cole Fellows  CF  SR  6'2 195  L/R. Columbia Commit. Ran 6.7 60. Hit .318 in 2021 18RBI 15R.  Big, athletic, strong kid. Deadlifted 520 lbs this offseason and is the strongest guy on the team.  One of our leaders.

Isaiah Munoz SR INF 6'0 185 R/R. Hit .333 12R 12RBI.  Was Committed to St Mary's.  Good gap power and can play solid defense anywhere in the infield for us. 

Derrick Cruz   SR C 6'0 190 R/R Hit .378 28 RBI 23R.  Caught every inning last year.  Was our top hitter for the 2021 season.

Cooper Pommenville Sr 6'2 190 RR  Hit. .373 24RBI 10R 7 2B.  Had a lot of huge go ahead and game winning RBIs last year. Could end up playing at Air Force.

Collin DeBorde SR RHP 6'0 175. Dakota State Commit.  21 2/3 IP.  11APP.  5 SV.  22k's.  Hard nosed competitor with a closer mentality.  

Top 23s

Nate Logan 6'0 175 R/R. RHP with tilt. 

Caleb Cazares 6'0 170 R/R Can play anywhere in the infield or OF for us

Aeneas Vargas 5'10 165 R/R  Will challenge for time in infield and outfield

Top 24s

Jayden Hertel  6'1  R/R SS/RHP. 7-1. 40 1/3 IP. 2.40 ERA. Hit .333 in 88 AB with 18 R.  Being recruited by many top 25 teams. One of the top returning players in the conference. Dad played for UNLV and played AAA with the Mariners

Alex Velasquez 5'9 175 R/R  C/RHP  Tough, hard nosed, Coachable kid that will battle for time. 

Top 25s

Jack West  6'2 185  3B/C/RHP R/R. Lot of power potential. Grandpa Danny Boitano played in the big leagues. Will compete for a starting spot. Being recruited by top 25 type teams. 

Wyatt Prieto 6'1 175  MIF/RHP  R/R. Dad is head coach and his great grandfather was 34 year FSU Head Baseball Coach Bob Bennett. Athletic 7.1 60 runner that will push for a starting spot in the infield or OF. Being recruited by top 25 type teams.  

Nate Etchegoinberry 5'7 145 MIF R/R. Great hands and instincts in the field.  Finds a way to get the barrel on the ball.  

Wyatt Johnson 5'9 155 LHP R/L. Dad is 4 time All-American FSU Catcher Todd Johnson.  Wyatt is a strike throwing LHP that never seems to get hit hard.  He is competing for time on the mound as a freshman.  

Brody Skinner 6'0 155 RHP R/R. Brody has been a pleasant surprise getting better and better each time we see him.  Our pitching coach Mike Bumatay played AAA with the Red Sox and our Asst Pitching Coach/Bullpen Coach Cody Kendall made it too AAA with the Rangers and they are raving about him. Nothing he throws is straight and he has the Bulldog mentality that everybody wants in a pitcher.