Bengals welcome new pitching coach
(Dec. 4, 2007) – For anyone who's spent considerable time around Bonanza's baseball field, or 'Death Valley' as it has become known as, the last few weeks, they may have noticed a new face working with pitchers.
After the departure by former pitching coach Chris Martinez at the end of last spring, former Coronado head coach Mike O'Rourke has taken over the duties as the Bengals' pitching coach. A life-long Southern Nevadan, O'Rourke falls right into place as a long-time close friend of head coach Derek Stafford and head assistant Kevin Fiddler.
In joining the staff, O'Rourke brings a similar coaching style having played alongside Stafford when the two were in high school at Silverado and for one season while at Victor Valley (Calif.) Community College.
"Coach O'Rourke brings a lot of knowledge to the table," Stafford said. "I've know him for as long as anyone and we've played under the same coaches. Our school of thought is very similar, which makes it a seamless transition from Martinez, who was also an excellent pitching coach."
Martinez accepted a coaching position with Centennial, where he is acting as the pitching coach and right-hand man to Bulldogs' head coach, Charlie Cerone. He was with Bonanza for two years and was a member of the coaching staff during Bonanza's most recent Sunset Regional title game appearance in 2006.
After working as an assistant to Silverado head coach Brian Whitaker last spring and serving as the head coach for Coronado from 2004-06, O'Rourke was offered the Bonanza post the day Martinez informed Stafford of his departure.
"I came to Bonanza because I had the opportunity to coach with two of my best friends, but also to coach kids that appreciate the game of baseball and have a desire to learn and improve their game," O'Rourke said.
O'Rourke played three years of varsity baseball at Silverado (’97) where he was an All-Southern Nevada selection as a senior before playing collegiately at Victor Valley (Calif.) Community College in 1998, Taft (Calif.) College in 1999 before finally finishing at Clarke (Iowa) College from 2000-01, where he graduated with a degree in Kinesiology.
Coach 'O' teaches PE at Garside Middle School, one of Bonanza's feeder schools, which should help in locating future talent as it heads to Bonanza for high school.
"What Coronado gave up, we gain," Fiddler said. "We have basically added another head coach into our program, which will be great for the guys. Mike knows the game and has a passion for the game. He and I have known each other since my time at the newspaper, when I covered his Coronado teams.
"Mike is a no-nonsense guy who cares greatly about respecting this great game. I seriously couldn't be more happy to be coaching with my two best friends. They say a team takes on the personality of its coaching staff, so hopefully that translates to our guys as well because if they are as close as our coaching staff is, then there's no doubt our program will remain a very tight brotherhood."
O'Rourke has already begun working with the pitching staff, which has shown a lot of promise thus far in the off-season.
"There isn't another pitching coach I'd trust more with our guys," Stafford said. "We learned from the best at Silverado and now we get to pass the same on to our young men. Hopefully, it will translate into our return to the playoffs, the regional title game and, if it's meant to be, beyond."
