Cal State San Bernardino's baseball team opens the 2010 season on the road this coming week, giving Head Coach Don Parnell a chance to see which veterans and newcomers will become key contributors to the season.
         The Coyotes are coming off a 23-23 season in 2009, finishing 17-18 in the CCAA conference thanks to a sweep of their four-game series with San Francisco State to close out the campaign.
         CSUSB is apparently flying under the conference radar as this season begins, picked for eighth place in the 11-team conference.
          The Coyotes will play all their home games this season at Fiscalini Field in Perris Hill Park, the team's practice facility for the past several years. First home game will be Feb. 19 against CCAA opponent Sonoma State, the first of a four-game series with the Seawolves.
          On Tuesday, the Coyotes play at Cal B aptist in Riverside, facing a team that was 27-23 in 2009, 16-20 in the Golden State Athletic Conference. The Lancers are 3-1 already in 2010. The Coyotes then travel to Compton to compete in the John Scolinos Memorial Tournament at the Major League Baseball Urban Academy ballpark. CSUSB will face Cal State L.A. on Thursday, Cal State Dominguez Hills on Friday and play both of those schools on Saturday in a doubleheader. All four games are non-conference games.
          The Coyotes return five position starters including shortstop Kyle Davis, a senior who batted .306 in 2009 with 13 stolen bases. Also back is outfielder Cody Madison, who batted .294 with 11 doubles.
          Parnell has three returning starting pitchers in all-CCAA honorable mention Daniel Stenavich (5-1, 2.99 ERA), Aaron Brooks (2-3, 4.70 ERA and the CCAA freshman of the year) and Andrew Schile, who pitched well in four starts with one complete game after joining the team late in the season.
          CSUSB has brought in three pitchers who could be valuable contributors -- Chris Mieszala, a right-hander from Long Beach City College; Lucas Sanford, a right-hander from Southwestern College and Brandon Cunniff, a transfer from Lee University who was 4-1 with three saves and 40 strikeouts in 43 innings for a team that was 53-14 and advanced to the NAIA Division I national championship tournament.
          Position players who could help the Coyotes cause on offense include Ryal Hulbert, a junior outfielder from Grossmont College who batted .352 in 40 games last season with nine home runs and 55 RBI and a .629 slugging percentage and Leland Sisco, who batted .307 at Palomar College in 2009 with four homers and 32 RBI.
         Other newcomers who could factor in the Coyotes season include Erik Ornelas, an infielder from Fullerton College; Bryant Veiga, a transfer from Colorado State-Pueblo who batted .375 for the Thunderwolves in 2009, and Ethan Chapman, a freshman outfielder from Upland Christian who was an All-CIF Southern Section choice.
          CCAA COACHES PRE-SEASON POLL
          1. UC San Diego; 2. Sonoma State; 3. Chico State; 4. Cal State L.A.; 5. Cal State Dominguez Hills; 6. Cal Poly Pomona; 7. Cal State Stanislaus; 8. COYOTES; 9. Cal State Monterey Bay; 10. San Francisco State; 11. Cal State East Bay.
          UCSD, which advanced to the NCAA Division II national championship tournament in 2009, was ranked No. 1 in the nation by the Ping/Baseball pre-season poll and No.3 in the Collegiate Baseball pre-season poll.