Thursday, Jan. 13, 2005 | 9:46 a.m.
Southern Nevada high school baseball players expected to become part of Western Nevada Community College's first recruiting class next Monday include:
D.J. Whittemore remembers his first thought when he heard that Tim Chambers was starting a baseball program at the Community College of Southern Nevada.
Something would be wrong, Whittemore said six years ago, if they didn't win a national championship in three years. In 2003, four seasons later, CCSN won the NJCAA title.
"I don't want to make Tim feel bad, but it took him four," Whittemore said with a laugh this week while recruiting in British Columbia. "That's awesome, it really is. Just speaking my mind."
Chambers produced another howl upon hearing Whittemore's tale.
"I don't care how much talent you have," Chambers said, "we could go another 40 years without doing that again."
Whittemore is the first baseball coach at Western Nevada Community Community College in Carson City, and he has found an invaluable ally, confidant and mentor in Chambers in every aspect of building his program.
When the Wildcats play their first season next fall, however, Chambers will have his first in-state rival and Whittemore will find himself scratching and clawing in the country's most challenging junior college baseball league, the Scenic West Athletic Conference.
Three of the last six NJCAA champions hailed from the SWAC.
"At this point, not to sound arrogant, but we're not worried that they'll get players we want," Chambers said. "But we know, once he builds the program and gets his facilities built, it'll be an option for locals. He has a tough road to hoe, but I think he'll do a good job."
Eight Northern Nevada high school players and their parents will attend a press conference at Western Nevada on Saturday, the start of the national signing period.
Monday, Whittemore moves his inaugural signing showcase to the Hard Rock Hotel to gather the written commitments from five prep players in the Las Vegas area.
Whittemore said Chambers has never sounded arrogant in any of their discussions and that Chambers has offered, and given, his complete support.
"The comfortable thing for me is he never felt threatened by our program," Whittemore said. "They have such a fabulous track record and a stranglehold on recruiting in Las Vegas that I just think he is very confident in his ability to keep his program rolling, even with the start of our program.
"It's my belief that Nevada has enough talent to have two nationally ranked teams in the state. He's six years ahead of where I'm at, and he's been willing to get me going at light speed."
The two men have strong ties to each other, which culminated in Whittemore pelting Chambers with questions about the Western Nevada gig in June at a party for sheriff Bill Young's son Chris, who had just graduated from Bishop Gorman High.
Andrew Patterson, the son of Whittemore's aunt -- prominent Nevada gaming attorney Ellen Whittemore -- played for Chambers at Gorman, and Ellen Whittemore owns Las Vegas Sports Consultants, Inc., with Kenny White.
White followed Chambers as Gorman's baseball coach and is one of his closest friends.
Andrew Patterson is now one of D.J. Whittemore's coaches and is responsible for recruiting in Las Vegas and Henderson.
"Nevada is a good-ol'-boy, network-type of state," Whittemore said. "It certainly helps when your family is good people. That way you have a lead-in with whomever you meet; they know your parents or grandparents or cousins, and they treat you well."
When Whittemore cornered Chambers at Chris Young's party, he had gone through the first of three lengthy interviews for the Western Nevada baseball job.
Chambers recalled being asked a lot of questions.
"So many questions," Chambers said. "I told him to be persistent and not to be afraid to ask, 'Can you donate bricks? Labor?' Good for him. He was very thankful. It looks like they'll start building their stadium shortly."
More than two months after that long talk, Whittemore, a left-handed pitcher at Wooster High in Reno who peaked as an athlete during a complete-game victory for Santa Barbara City College, accepted WNCC's offer.
At that moment, the school planned to have the Wildcats play on a parks and recreation field.
"The equivalent of a Babe Ruth field," Whittemore said. "I knew something had to be done."
Whittemore turned the school's 10-year facilities plan into a 10-month timetable by gathering nearly $1 million in private construction pledges through this week.
He plans to have the appropriate permits completed by the first week of February, when construction will kick into gear.
Phase I includes the playing field, dugouts, fences and a backstop. It will be a sunken diamond, a la Stanford's yard, as home plate will be 15 feet below normal ground level, and will be finished by June 1. Phase II will consist of an indoor hitting facility.
Northern Nevada weather demands a durable playing surface, so Whittemore has chosed Field Turf, which is used by the Tampa Bay Devil Rays at Tropicana Field and at Sam Boyd Stadium. The 2 1/2-inch artificial blades of grass cost $7 per square foot.
"It's safer than a natural playing field," Whittemore said, "with no maintenance costs."
Whittemore predicts no friction, either, in recruiting against Chambers in and around Vegas.
"There's almost 2 million people in the state, with two junior colleges," Whittemore said. "In California, there's a JC for every 330,000 people. That will allow us to be competitive out of the gate.
"We'll have to be at our best to compete in that league, but to start Northern Nevada's first junior college baseball team is definitely along the lines of a dream coming true."
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