A new era is upon the San Benito High baseball program – and
school administrators hope the new era has the same success as the
past.
To do that, the team will turn to an old and familiar face –
Billy Aviles.
Hollister
A new era is upon the San Benito High baseball program – and school administrators hope the new era has the same success as the past.
To do that, the team will turn to an old and familiar face – Billy Aviles.
It’s not a new position for Aviles, who served on the baseball staff the past two years and in May took over managing duties, on an interim basis, for the departing Jason Bugg. That experience, of course, played into his hiring.
“There are things you can’t get out of an interview,” Athletic Director Tod Thatcher said. “It’s always better with an on-the-job interview. We saw what he can do.”
What Aviles did last year after Bugg’s departure, who held the job for less than a year after taking over for the highly successful Michael Luna, was take an 18-7 team and lead them to the Central California Section championship game.
It was a remarkable feat because the season could have fallen apart after Bugg’s departure, Thatcher said.
“With the potential to go south, he was able to keep it all together,” Thatcher said. “He was able to take us to the end of the season.”
Aviles finished with a 5-2 record as the Balers’ manager but he led them to the CCS championship game where they lost on a walk-off base hit to Palo Alto.
“Basically we were a fly ball away from winning the CCS title,” Aviles said. “I want to continue that winning way.”
To do that, Aviles has already set out to hold the players responsible for their actions. During a short introductory meeting with players Friday, Aviles told them to cut their hair, remove their earrings and hide tattoos when they are on the field and in his presence.
“There has been a lot of controversy surrounding the program recently,” he said. “I don’t want anymore of that.”
Aviles has high expectations for his team and returning starters despite the loss of pitching stars Darin Gillies and Bryan Granger. The team will return six starting fielders – including the entire infield.
“You can’t replace two arms like that (Gillies and Granger) – those don’t come around too often – but we do have some great arms coming up and some returners from last year,” Aviles said. “We are returning six defensive starters from last year so I like our chances.”
Aviles said he will be an aggressive coach that uses team speed on the basepaths and focuses on defense, he said.
“Defense wins championships,” he said.
On the pitching side, Aviles will rely on former major league pitcher and Baler Daniel Barone to teach his young staff. Angelo Loomis and former Anzar High manager Andrew Barragan – who resigned as Anzar coach Monday – will also help coach the team.
Simply, Aviles expects to be faster and better.
“We are going to be a much better team,” he said.
And it’s that attitude – and familiarity – that made his hiring quick and easy.
“We are confident in Billy, especially with the way the team finished up,” Thatcher said.
The interview process lasted a week before the department made the decision to continue with Aviles after what transpired last year – including the interim manager receiving coach of year from the Tri-County Athletic League despite coaching only seven games.
Aviles lives in Hollister now, but is from Arizona where he played college baseball and helped coach at Central Arizona College from 1998 to 1999. Aviles was also an assistant coach at Trevecca Nazarene University in Nashville from 1997 to 1998.
Aviles was an assistant coach for the Balers during the past two seasons.
