After leading the baseball team to a college-best record` of 30-7, coach Greg Bergeron decided, during the offseason, to take his coaching career to UC Irvine.
Bergeron was an assistant coach for the EC team for six seasons, and it wasn’t until last year that he became coach before being hired on short notice by UC Irvine.
“Greg received an offer to a university that he could not resist,” athletic director Dave Shannon said. “He wanted to have four-year experience on his resume, so he accepted that decision.”
Bergeron not only led the Warriors to its best season with a record of 30-7, but also led the team to the Southern California Regional Championships, where it lost 13-9 to Saddleback, falling one game short of advancing to the state championship.
“We were shocked to see Greg leave after such a good year,” pitcher Bobby Nunn said. “But we have the same staff and program coming back and we have a strong mentality of repeating.”
For next season, the Warriors will have to restructure their game plan under new coach Tom Bergeron, who is Greg’s father.
Last season, Tom was an assistant coach, helping his son develop the pitching staff on the team.
“Tom was retired; he has taught for about forty-one years and is a career baseball guy,” Shannon said. “We were fortunate to get an experienced coach and we’re happy to have him.”
Tom has more than 600 victories, 20 Suburban League titles and 10 league championships in the last 13 years, including four consecutive championships.
“He didn’t have to do this,” Shannon said. “All he needs to do is go play golf, but now he’s here, and he’ll be the new baseball coach this spring.”
Six of his players have moved on to become professional, and he has coached for seven different sports in his 41-year coaching span.
“Last year, I didn’t get to call the pitches during game time which is my strength,” Tom Bergeron said. “Now, I don’t think we’ll suffer there; our pitching should be better.”
Despite having its previous coach replaced, the team members find themselves with no time to stress over the situation and are confident of a better year since both father and son share similar coaching strategies.
“What makes them so alike is the fact that Greg got most of his coaching skills from his dad,” Kris Medlen, infielder/pitcher, said. “They have the same basic principles, but Tom is a lot more old school then Greg.”
Despite the setback that came with Greg leaving, there is confidence among the team that things will go well next season.
“It’s going to be really difficult replacing Greg, who did phenomenal job as coach,” Tom said. “But we’re all going to have to do our part to repeat the success.”
Throughout his career, Tom has accumulated a 70 percent winning average and plans on keeping the streak alive and if possible, extending it.
As for leaving EC to coach elswhere, Tom said he understands the reason behind his son’s choice.
“Greg wanted to be a Division I coach to gain the experience so he could move up the ladder,” Tom said.
“We’ll have a good year,” Tom said. “I’m never scared of a challenge.” we just have to take one day at a time.”
Fortunately for the team, the rest of the coaching staff is the same from last season.
“We were able to retain two assistants from last season; Ryan Kisner and Shane Schumaker,” Shannon said. “The staff is intact; we retained our recruits and we’ll be fine next year.”
There is more expected from Tom than just his deep baseball knowledge.
“Tom was here last year on a different assignment,” Shannon said. “He’s a great role model and mentor to the other coaches and players.”
“We want Tom to keep stability within the program,” Shannon said.
