Kirt Brower, who was a team captain for three of his four years at Pacific Union College, is returning to the Angwin campus to lead the men’s basketball team as its head coach. The announcement of Brower’s hiring was made by Robert Castillo, Pacific Union’s athletic director.
“We are very happy to welcome Kirt back as our new men’s basketball coach,” said Castillo.
“Coach Brower’s energy and passion will help continue to push our program forward. He is a man of character who will make that a focal point in our program. We look forward to working with him in this new role.”
Brower takes over for Castillo, who resigned in March to focus his attention on being the Pioneers’ AD. Pacific Union is a small NAIA school that plays in the California Pacific Conference.
Brower becomes the fifth coach in the program’s history. He spent the last three years at the University of Redlands in Southern California. Brower joined the men’s basketball staff there as a graduate assistant from 2008-2010 while completing a master’s degree. This past year, he was hired on in the development office at Redlands while serving as an assistant with the women’s basketball program.
Brower graduated from PUC in 2004 and played basketball for Scott Blunt, who is now the head coach at Napa High School. Brower taught P.E. at Robert Louis Stevenson Middle School in St. Helena while also serving as a volunteer assistant for Blunt. During a three-year span, he also coached a variety of sports at St. Helena High School, including baseball, track and field, and basketball.
In 2007, Brower moved to Southern California where he taught P.E. in the Colton Unified School District in the Inland Empire while serving as a volunteer assistant with the University of Redlands men’s basketball team during the 2007-08 season.
“I am excited to be back at my alma mater as well as thankful to our administration for giving me the opportunity to work at such a beautiful and welcoming place,” Brower said. “I’m looking forward to continuing to build on the successes of my predecessors and working with everyone on campus to help provide a great education and experience for all of our athletes.
“It will be our goal to graduate young men with character who are prepared to make a difference as they move on.”
Brower will also be working in the school’s development office as an alumni relations officer.
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Justin-Siena didn’t play in any passing leagues or tournaments over the summer, but the Braves were still plenty busy as a football program.
“We had a very productive summer,” coach Rich Cotruvo said at Napa Valley Publishing’s annual media day at Memorial Stadium Wednesday. “It’s been a fun summer, more fun I think than we’ve had in the last couple of years. The kids have been showing up every day in full intensity and ready to go and have gotten better and better each week. That’s all you can ask as a coach.”
In past years, the Braves have been in a 7-on-7 passing league at Diablo Valley College in Pleasant Hill. But Cotruvo said they weren’t able to do that this summer. However, they still faced Vintage and St. Helena in passing competitions.
“We’re excited,” Cotruvo said. “I think we’re going to have a much improved season.”
Justin-Siena will scrimmage St. Patrick/St. Vincent of Vallejo on Aug. 26 at Dodd Stadium and the Braves start the 2011 regular season on Sept. 2 at home with a nonleague game against St. Mary’s-Albany.
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Mike Neu is leaving his job as the head baseball coach at Diablo Valley College in Pleasant Hill to join coach David Esquer’s staff at UC Berkeley as the Bears’ pitching coach. Cal announced Wednesday that Esquer, who led the Bears (38-23 overall) to their first appearance in the NCAA College World Series since 1992 this past spring, has agreed to a new five-year contract to remain with the school. Esquer was the 2011 National Coach of the Year.
“I grew up in the Bay Area, wanting to go to Cal when I was younger and when I was playing, so it’s definitely an exciting thing for me to be close and to be a local guy, to kind of be involved in that program, now,” Neu told BearTerritory.net
Neu is a Vintage High graduate who pitched in the major leagues for Oakland (2003) and Florida (2004). He appeared in 32 games for the Athletics in 2003 and had a 3.64 ERA.
He won a College World Series title at the University of Miami and was chosen in the 29th round of the Major League Baseball Draft in 1999 by Cincinnati. Neu spent four years in the Reds' organization, making his way up to Triple-A, before he was claimed in the 2002 Rule V Draft by Oakland.
He also pitched at Sacramento City College and in the Napa Valley Joe DiMaggio League. He was named to the All-CWS team at Miami and got the save in the championship game.
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In his first game since being optioned by Houston to Triple-A, first baseman Brett Wallace went 4 for 4 with three RBIs and a walk, leading Oklahoma City over host Las Vegas, 7-6, in a Pacific Coast League game Wednesday night.
Wallace, a Justin-Siena graduate, had the deciding RBIs for Oklahoma City in the ninth inning.
He batted .388 in April to start the 2011 major league season with Houston, but was hitting just .160 since June 18.
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