YUMJA, Ariz. - The Arizona Western baseball team will begin their season on Tuesday, January 27th, hosting a doubleheader with South Mountain. For the first time since 2012, the Matadors will have a new leader in the dugout. Jon Wente joined the Matador baseball program in late August and is the 8th head coach in program history, taking over for Drew Keehn. 

"Coach Keehn and Coach Zeke Mitchem did a good job of putting the roster together," Arizona Western head baseball coach Jon Wente said. "We didn't have to scramble to find good players. It's obviously a learning experience for me and the players. I'm trying to learn them, and they are trying to figure out who this new guy is."

Wente has spent 12 years as a head coach in the NJCAA tallying over 500 wins and totaling over 1,000 in his college coaching career. While Wente has spent a majority of his coaching career in the ACCAC, he spent the last several years shaping pitchers at Division I schools like Sacramento State University and Grand Canyon University. Wente says his Matadors went through some growing pains early on.

"I think the players have now bought in," Wente said. "They trust us as a staff that we have their best interest in mind and do what we can to put the best team we can on the field."

Wente played college ball at Central Arizona, Arizona State, McNeese State, then played one year of professional baseball in Canada. Wente returned to Central Arizona as an assistant coach, where he helped lead the team to win the NJCAA National Championship. While Wente's resume is impressive, the players react more to what they see on the diamond. 

"Ultimately I feel any coach would rather come in during the beginning of summer," Wente said. "It helps with recruiting and the players knowing who their coach is going to be. It builds better relationships. I think that was part of it in the fall, trying to build some relationships with guys. Figuring out what type of players they are, how they click on and off the field and their work ethic. Meanwhile, they are trying to figure me out. Is this guy crazy or is he trying to help us get better."

Wente says he and coach Mitchem are sticking with the players they have instead of bringing in a bunch of new ones.

"We decided not to do that," Wente said. "We trusted our guys and believe they bought in. We're sticking with these guys and we like them."

Wente says he likes the makeup of his squad but says they will be young.

"We have a lot of freshman and newcomers," Wente said. "I think we're a balanced team and have some arms that throw a ton of strikes. We've got some pop and some left-handed bats. We have some speed, can play defense. So, we'll throw it over the plate and catch it and find ways to score runs."

Wente says his pitching rotation is pretty much set with other arms ready to showcase what they can contribute. 

"The goal was to build six or seven guys up to be starters," Wente said. "Use the preseason games to figure out who our best guys are and what role they fit in. We have an idea but want to see it happen. We'd like to have six solid starters because injuries happen and players get tired throughout the year."

The Matadors will be led on the mound by sophomore Gregorys Mateo, transfer Thijs Helms, who pitched in the NJCAA College World Series last year, will also start on the bump for Coach Wente along with freshman southpaw Diego Alcala. 

"I feel comfortable with those three guys," Wente said. "I feel comfortable with a bunch of other guys, I'm just trying to figure out what's best for them."

The Matadors haven't won a Region I Championship since 2018 but did reach the final in 2023. The Matadors are coming off a 35-20 season and finished fifth in the ACCAC, just missing out on the postseason. Wente knows it will be a process to get the Matadors where he wants them.

"We're not going to earn ourselves into a regional by how we play at the beginning of the year," Wente said. "We're trying to gauge it by how good we can become when April, May and beyond show up. We still have to figure out our best line up, some guys are banged up, some guys will get early season opportunities, it may make us a deeper team. Really we just want to get out there and play for real."

Arizona Western will begin the season on Tuesday, January 27th versus South Mountain. First pitch is scheduled for 12:00 pm at Walt Kammann Field. The game will also be broadcast on the Matadors Sports Stream.