STEVE KRUSE
PRESIDENT & GENERAL MANAGER
P: (949) 743-2335
E: steve@bluewavebaseball.com
Steve Kruse is founder and president of Blue Wave Baseball, having served as its general manager since inception. During his tenure, Blue Wave has become one of the largest and most respected club baseball organizations in California.
Besides growing Blue Wave, Kruse has an impressive background in management and growing companies as well, starting with the fact he is one of the pioneers in the PC Software industry with more than 25 years of successful executive-level experience as a President, CEO, COO, and CMO.
Kruse started his career as a successful Journalist, newspaper Editor and Publisher in the Pacific Northwest, where he garnered 16 national awards for writing, editing, and Journalist excellence from 1974 to 1982, when he became a founder and Vice President of Marketing and Sales for Cosmos, Inc., one of the original PC software industry success stories.
Cosmos, Inc. was the developer of the Revelation RDBMS, which was regarded as the best database software in the industry at the time. He became President and CEO of Cosmos, Inc. in 1984, helping bootstrap the company with only $500 in the bank to more than $20-million per year in sales by 1987, when the company was sold to a private investment group from New York.
Kruse was then named President of PICK Systems PC software division in Orange County, California, where he migrated to in 1987 to help PICK become the third-most installed RDBMS in the world and third-most installed Operating System at the time.
After leaving PICK in 1992, he became a founder of Versata (VATA) where he authored the company's Business & Operations plan and secured $12.5-million first-rounding funding from The Paul Allen Group, H&Q, Charles River, Bay Partners and other leading VC firms in Silicon Valley.
He retired in 2004 and started Blue Wave as a “hobby” and way to work with youth and “give back to the community.”
He is the founder and first Chairman of the Software Council of Southern California and the Washington Software Association in Bellevue, Washington. PC Magazine has also named him one of the "Top Marketing Executives" in the industry early in his career.
LOUIS BALTIERRA
VICE PRESIDENT, DIRECTOR OF JUNIORS PROGRAMS
P: (562) 652-0188
E: Louis@bluewavebaseball.com
Baltierra is co-founder of Blue Wave Baseball, vice president, and serves on the board of directors. He also serves as Director of Juniors Programs (10U through 14U).
He has more than 25 years of coaching youth baseball at all levels, from 10U through 18U Connie Mack teams. Baltierra currently coaches the 11U team, as well as assists in coaching several other Blue Wave “Juniors” teams (10U through 14U).
He is a well-known, highly-regarded fixture in the SoCal youth baseball community, having served as a member of the Irvine Pony Association Board of Directors for four-years and as league Commissioner as well.
Baltierra also coached the Irvine Thundercats and the Hurricanes Connie Mack team over the years as well as seven-years for Irvine Pony (winning multiple titles and championships). His 11U Blue Wave team won the 2006 Super Series American Division National Championship.
Baltierra graduated from California State University Dominquez Hills with a Bachelors degree in Theater Arts and is a supervisor for the California State Department of Rehabilitation for the past 26 years.
MATT SORENSEN
18U HEAD COACH & TRAINER
P: (714) 322-7093
E: mattsorensen002@gmail.com
Estancia High School head coach Matt Sorensen skippers Blue Wave’s 18U Connie Mack and various college showcase teams.
The highly popular coach typically fields one of the more competitive teams in the nation each year and has produced several college D1 players over the years that are now attending schools like UCI, Penn, University of Miami, Oregon, Santa Clara University, and many more.
Sorensen is a former college standout player at Cal State Fullerton, where he first demonstrated his leadership abilities as a team captain. At Cal State Fullerton, he compiled a perfect 17–0 record on the bump over two years, a team career record that still stands today.
Sorensen considers himself fortunate to learn the game from two of the most respected coaches in college baseball - George Horton (now the head coach for the Oregon Ducks) and Dave Serrano (Matt's former pitching coach and now head coach at CSUF).
Prior to attend CSUF, Sorensen posted a record of 12–1 at Cerritos College, which was good enough to earn him All-Conference, All-State, and All-American honors for the Mission Conference champion Falcons and showed enough potential for the Toronto Blue Jays to select him as their 26th round draft pick.
He decided to stay in school and forego his professional baseball career. The Blue Jays drafted Matt again in the 42nd round in the 2000 draft, but again he chose to stay in school and pursue his degree in Sociology.
Sorensen also had a very successful prep career at Warren High School in Downey and was the San Gabriel Valley League's co-Most Valuable Player and a first team All-C.I.F. utility player on Coach Steve Fullerton's championship squad in 1996.
Besides coaching high school baseball and for Blue Wave, Sorensen is a substitute teacher at Estancia High School. He also serves as Director of Outbound Recruiting for Blue Wave and works directly with college recruiters and professional baseball scouts to place Blue Wave players.
JASON SMITH
18U HEAD COACH & TRAINER
P: (714) 343-0110
E: jasjsmith@hotmail.com
Jason Smith skippers a Blue Wave 18U Connie Mack team as well as serves as assistant coach at Irvine Valley College.
Smith began his baseball career at Orange High School, where he was team captain, a two-year starter 1988-1990,and the "Coach's Award" winner his senior year.
He helped lead Orange Coast Community College to the state tournament in 1993 and received the "Most Inspirational" award before moving on to Chapman University, where he started, was team captain, and also received the "Most Inspirational" award both years he played (1994-1995).
His coaching career started in 1999, when he was named assistant baseball coach for Orange Coast Community College. And, as assistant coach at Chapman University in 2000-2002 (also 1995-1999), he was instrumental in helping the team reach the regional playoffs, as well as the College World Series in 1997. In 2005 he helped take Irvine Valley College to the Super Regional's as an assistant coach. His BlueWave Connie Mack teams have made state playoffs consistently the past four years as well as produced numerous collegiate players at all levels.
He has a bachelor's degree from Chapman University and a Masters of Physical Education for Azusa Pacific. He is an instructor at IVC and trainer.
RICH POHLE
14U-18U HEAD COACH & TRAINER
P: (714) 293-6642
E: rich_pohle@yahoo.com
Rich Pohle is one of the leading private baseball trainers and coaches in Orange County, as well as coach of Blue Wave 17U Don Mattingly Teams, which represent the elite players in the age group.
His baseball career started at Buena Park High School where he was first team All Conference and an All-Star for the Coyote's.
Pohle played college ball at Cypress College and also for Fullerton College where he was an outfielder. He also played for several years for the Phillies and Seattle Mariner minor league teams, besides the Orange County Flyers in the Golden Baseball League, where he was team MVP and a league All-Star.
He is the Junior Varsity coach for Beckman High School and trains athletes full-time in hitting, fielding, strength, and conditioning.
TOM NICK
16U HEAD COACH & TRAINER
P: (949) 981-9235
E: tom@bluewavebaseball.com
Tom Nick is a highly respected Orange County baseball professional with coaching and recruiting experience at every age level.
Besides playing high school and D1 college baseball (Long Beach State) at a highly competitive level, Nick managed and coached one of the top local travel teams to come out of Orange County in the last decade – the OC Stallions, winners of back-to-back AAU National Championships in 2000 and 2001, as well as the AABC Mickey Mantle 15U World Series in 2005.
As a coach with ABD Academy and the ABD Bulldogs, Nick has taken teams to the top player showcase events in the nation, including USA 16U Baseball Championships (Junior Olympics), Perfect Game World Wood Bat Association Championships in Georgia, Arizona, and Jupiter, FL.
He is also the former owner and founder of The YARD Baseball & Softball Training Center, a state-of-the-art batting cage and training facility in Irvine that he operated for a number years. Many of the top coaches and professional trainers in Southern California worked with Nick at The YARD over the years, including JSerra High School head coach Bret Kay and Lyle Yates, former pitching coach for the New York Mets, Texas Rangers, and Houston Astros.
Nick has not only gained valuable insight into the college recruiting and MLB scouting processes as both a player and a coach over the years, he has the unique perspective of going through the process as a “parent” as well.
His son, David, was a highly decorated (2007 USA Baseball Team & 2007 AFLAC All American) and highly recruited player (UCLA commit) that was taken in the 4th round out of high school in the MLB 2009 draft by the Arizona Diamondbacks, where he is now plays in their minor league organization.
ARON GARCIA
14U-16U HEAD COACH & TRAINER
P: (562) 301-6516
E: None
Aron Garcia is head coach of Blue Wave 14U and specializes in preparing players for high school baseball.
Garcia's 14U teams are consistently competitive and highly ranked every year, he has numerous tournament and league titles to his credit, as well as a 14U national championship in 2009.
Garcia is well experienced in playing in national tournaments; he was a member of the 1987 Northwood Little League team that played Taiwan in the Little League World Series.
He was also a four-year varsity starter at Irvine High School, where he played short stop. After high school he attended Saddle Back College, where he played baseball and football. He has coached baseball and football since 1996 at Irvine High School, Mater Dei and, currently, Northwood High School.
CHARLIE PHILLIPS
13U HEAD COACH & TRAINER
P: (949) 697-2378
E: iteachbaseball@yahoo.com
Charlie “Old School” Phillips is one of the top private baseball trainers in Orange County with a long history of local success as a player and coach.
Phillips grew up in Garden Grove, where he was on the first team from Orange County to go to the Little League World Series, where he pitched two shutouts and struck out 29 batters in 12 innings.
He attended La Quinta High School, where he was “Player of the Year” in the Garden Grove, “All County 1st Team,” and “All CIF 1st Team” two consecutive years.
Phillips was drafted out of high school in the 13th round by the Atlanta Braves, but chose to accept from USC, where he was a member of a National Championship team and a member of the USA Baseball All-Star team.
He was drafted out of college in the 9th round by the Los Angeles Dodgers and spend two years in their minor league organization until going to the Angels, where he spent three years and played in AA and AAA-level teams that earned two championships and he led the Texas league in winning percentage.
A teacher for the Santa Ana Unified School District for more than 25 years, Phillips has served as a head coach at the high school, junior college and 4-year level at various schools in Orange County, including: Orange Coast College, Saddleback College, and Vanguard University.
While at Vanguard he coached the 1st female pitcher to win a college game and a complete game at that in her debut. She went on to play pro ball as well. Phillips has had more than 55 players sign pro contracts under his tutelage.
BRET LEVIER
DIRECTOR OF MID-WEST STATES
12U HEAD COACH, JONESBORO, AR
P: (870) 378-9501
E: bret@bluewavebaseball.com
LeVier served as a head coach for several Blue Wave teams (14U, 15U, 16U and 18U) the past four years and is now establishing a Blue Wave program in Arkansas, where he recently moved with his wife and baby daughter to finish his college education.
He comes from a well-known Southern California baseball family - his father coached high school and college baseball, his brother is with the Oakland A's.
LeVier’s baseball career took off in 2000, when he helped California High School win the Southern Section C.I.F. championship as their starting short stop. He then played four years of college ball at California State University Sacramento as an infielder and was also the place kicker for the CSS football team.
LeVier signed as an undrafted free agent with the Boston Red Sox in 2004 and was able to reach AA Portland. In June 2005, he was named Red Sox minor league defensive player of the month. LeVier has also played for several years in the independent leagues, including as a standout short stop for the Fullerton Flyers and Victoria Seals.
Besides coaching for Blue Wave Blue Wave, LeVier has also severed as an assistant high school coach and has trained several players that are now playing D1 college baseball.
He is now located in Jonesboro, Arkansas, where he is coaching a Blue Wave 12U team and establishing the organization’s first remote operation.
DARRIC MERRELL
12U HEAD COACH & TRAINER
P: (909) 241-6101
E: peterguns25@hotmail.com
Drafted in the 8th round by the Colorado Rockies in 2003, Darric Merrell played five years in the Rockies organization prior to his release and joining Blue Wave as head coach in 2008.
Merrell attend Cal State Fullerton University, where he was a standout pitcher under George Horton and Dave Serrano.
He was a freshman All-American and runner-up for the 2001 Freshman of the Year award. During his stint at Cal State Fullerton (2001-2003), he participated in two NCAA College World Series.
Prior to his standout college career, Darric was a four-year letterman at Temecula Valley High School, where he was named CIF Division 1 Player of the Year in 2000 and was drafted in the 20th round by the New York Yankees as a senior in high school.
MIKE FUCHS
11U HEAD COACH & TRAINER
P: (949) 294-9672
E: asudevils4@live.com
Mike Fuchs is one of the top youth baseball coaches in Orange County and has won numerous league and tournament titles coaching 10U to 14U teams for Blue Wave for the past four years.
Fuchs is well-regarded for his work with younger players in the 10U through 14U age brackets and has coached or helped coach two Blue Wave teams that have won national championships.
He attended Kofa High School in Yuma, Arizona, where he was a four-year starting catcher.
Fuchs then played at the community college level in Arizona, where he started his coaching career with a Little League and All-Star teams that his son played on.
He then attended Arizona State University, where he received a Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science.
Fuchs is self-employed and runs a successful baseball collectables business from his home. Besides coaching for Blue Wave, he serves on the organization’s board of directors.
P.J. PILITTERE
12U ASSISTANT COACH & TRAINER
Pilittere is a currently a member of the New York Yankees (AA & AAA) and assists as a coach and trainer for Blue Wave baseball during his off season.
Drafted by the Yanks in 13th round in 2004, he is now playing for New York's AA team based in Trenton, New Jersey; though he has been called up to AAA and the MLB team on several occasions.
He hit .277 with 101 hits and three homeruns for the Trenton Thunder in 2008, where he serves as the team's starting catcher.
Pilittere played high school baseball for the La Puente, CA, Lancers and later played for Cal State Fullerton.
DAVID NICK
ASSISTANT COACH & TRAINER
David Nick, a 2nd baseman for the Arizona Diamondbacks, and coaches with Blue Wave during his off seasons.
Nick was selected in the 4th Round of the 2009 Major League Baseball Draft by the Arizona Diamondbacks after graduating with Academic Honors from Cypress High School in Cypress, CA, where he was named to several national High School All-America Teams including Baseball America, Perfect Game USA, Rawlings, Louisville Slugger, and Under Armor.
He signed a letter of intent with UCLA, but, opted to begin his pro baseball career early and signed out of high school with the Arizona Diamondbacks.
In his first season of professional baseball as a 19-year-old, Nick was assigned to the Missoula, MT, Osprey minor league affiliate of the Diamondbacks, where he hit .286 with six homeruns, 35 RBIs, scored 46 runs, and a team-leading 16 stolen bases.
He was recently named by Baseball America as one of the Top 20 Prospects in the Pioneer League and was selected to the league’s All Star team as a 2nd Baseman.
In 2008, he played for Team USA 18U and in the AFLAC All-American High School All-Star Baseball Game. He played in the Area Code Games in 2007 and 2008 and was a recipient of the Rawlings High School Gold Glove Award in 2009. Nick was named to the California All-State Team after his senior season and he was selected All-CIF in 2007, 2008, and 2009.
