WV’s Greg Bradley has the goods

If you want to get a baseball scout’s full attention about a prospective pitcher, there are three things to mention:

First, that he’s left-handed; second, that he throws hard; and third, that he throws an outstanding curveball.

Then stand back and watch.

West Valley High School baseball coach Don O’Neal does just that as scouts discover his starting pitcher, Greg Bradley.

“Greg is the kind of kid who could have a future, and a few scouts have shown an interest,” O’Neal said.

The senior left-hander got a bit of a late start with baseball, helping the West Valley boys basketball team to a 21-5 record and an eighth-place trophy at the State 3A tournament.

Bradley turned some heads on the basketball floor with an impressive vertical jump.

“He’s just a good athlete,” O’Neal said. “But baseball is where he has the biggest upside. When you’re a left-hander who throws hard, the way he does, there are always opportunities to play.”

O’Neal predicted a year ago that Bradley would be selected this June, when professional baseball teams draft amateur high school and college players to fill their minor league programs.

The biggest problem facing each Spokane Valley baseball squad heading into the start of Greater Spokane League play next week has been Mother Nature.

Rain, snow and hail all have pelted area practice fields, and nights of freezing temperatures have prevented fields from drying out overnight. Central Valley and University have yet to play on their home infields because of standing water. West Valley and East Valley have managed to practice on actual dirt.

“If we could get a couple nights where it doesn’t get down below 35 or 40 degrees and a couple days of 50 degree temperatures with a little wind, we could be on the field in two days,” University coach Don Ressa said. “We’ve been through it before. That’s just part of what you have to deal with playing spring baseball in this part of the country.”

Central Valley Bears

The Bears are armed. Ready may be a few games off.

“The weather really has us behind,” second-year coach Barry Poffenroth said. “We may get outside one day and then have to be inside the next two. I still don’t know exactly what we have and where we are.”

On paper at least, Poffenroth has a solid pitching rotation. Jake Swantko, last year’s No. 1 starter, returns along with Dane Knudson and Dale Beach. Transfer Alex Banderas has worked his way into the rotation.

Poffenroth was without his starting third baseman at the start of turnout. Senior Brad Johnson was busy leading the school’s basketball team all the way to the state championship game.

“What we’re thinking about doing is moving Brad from third base to first,” Poffenroth said. “He was originally a first baseman and when we moved him to third, he was great. We had even thought about moving him to short, but I think we’re going to be okay there and we need someone solid at first.”

Zach Malone would move up from last year’s junior varsity to play third and Zach Evans would play shortstop. Ryan Simmelink returns at second base.

Josh Soltan, who was last year’s back-up behind the plate takes over catching duties full-time and Bryan Adams takes over in center field.

East Valley Knights

The Knights return most of their defensive lineup from last year’s playoff team, but none of their postseason pitchers.

“I looked it up: We had one pitcher throw almost half our innings last year,” coach John Phelan said. “A lot of that was in the playoffs.”

East Valley has 11 seniors on its varsity roster, led by shortstop Jye Lanphere, a three-year All-GSL selection with aspirations of playing college baseball. Arm trouble forced Lanphere into the outfield to play centerfield a year ago.

“The arm trouble is all gone, so he’s coming back to play short,” Phelan said.

Senior Brady Brunelle moved to center, with senior Jake LaBelle in left. Junior Ryan Campbell and sophomore Skyler Schiller figure in the outfield mix – at least for now.

“We have a pretty flexible bunch,” Phelan said. “We can move some players around to take advantage of some situations.”

Seniors Gerry Kelley and Mike Stewart, who each pitched during the regular season last year, should hold down two-thirds of the team’s three-man starting rotation.

University Titans

The Titans have a gem behind the plate in senior Kenny VanSickle.

“There’s no one better in the league and I don’t think there’s anyone better in the state,” Ressa said. “He’s worked hard on his individual skills and he does a great job handling our pitchers. He’s been catching our pitchers twice a week all winter long.”

Senior Mike Conrad is a speedy lead-off hitter who covers a lot of ground in centerfield.

“We have a saying here that ‘Speed kills.’ ” Ressa said. “Conrad can make a lot of things happen with his speed.”

Seniors Nick Burger, Adam Smith and Travis Lewis start the season as University’s starting rotation. Juniors Aaron LaPlante and Jake Baldwin, sophomores Danny Jordan and Tyler Olson and freshman Billy Moon make up the team’s bullpen.

With infielders Smith (third base), Jordan (shortstop), Burger (second base) and Olson (first base) all doubling as pitchers, one of Ressa’s most valuable assets is senior utility infielder Connor Brooks.

“We’re fortunate to have a player like Connor,” Ressa said. “He fills in all over the place. It’s tough to ask someone to play so many positions, but he does a nice job defensively for us.”

West Valley Eagles

The Eagles are all back from last season, with 11 of 17 roster spots going to seniors.

“We’re a veteran bunch,” O’Neal said. “We started working with this group of players when they were young through our summer baseball program and they’ve pretty much played together ever since. Over the summer a couple moved up to play for the Class AAA summer team, but the rest of them played together.

“We really concentrate during the summer on development. We’ve had some success and made the state tournament in the past, but we focus our efforts on teaching and developing players. That’s been a key to our success.”

Seniors Nate Nordby, Alex Stanley and Darrin VanBebber join Bradley to make up a veteran pitching staff.

Senior Michael Hauschild is a four-year varsity performer at shortstop and second base and Phillip Gannon is the same in the outfield. Senior Matt Peterson anchors the infield at third base while Bradley and Nordby share duties at first.

“We’ll get a chance to see where we are over the weekend,” O’Neal said. “We’re going down to play a doubleheader at Prosser Saturday – where it’s supposed to be about 60 degrees. We’ll get a chance to look at some of our pitchers and see where they are without having them throw too much.

“We have a first-game bye in league and I think that works to our benefit. We’ll be able to get into our rotation quickly and establish our roles.”