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- Title:
- Assistant Coach
Bio
Preston is back in his 11th year as the pitching coach for the Beavers. Preston has made a name for himself as one of the most respected pitching coaches in the Sacramento area. The staff has improved in most statistical areas under his tutelage. This year’s staff should be one of the best and deepest that A.R.C. has had in years. Last year’s staff was going to be deep as well until a mass amount of non-throwing related injuries gutted the staff.
After prepping at West Campus High School he played two years for the Beavers but it was after A.R.C. where he really started to mature. After transferring to Abilene Christian University on scholarship, Vancil led the Wildcats to two straight regional appearances and was named All-Region as well as All-Lone Star Conference in 2009. Preston was the pitching coach this past summer for the Southern Illinois Miners, a professional team in the Frontier League where he made the all-star team as a starting pitcher in 2013. His team in Southern Illinois won their division for the third straight year and boasted the 3rd best team ERA in the league. In 2015 his staff led the league in strikeouts by more than 60 over the next closest team and for the second straight season boasted the league pitcher of the year. Several of his pitchers ended up signing contracts with affiliated ball clubs. He has been offered several pitching coach jobs at four-year schools but so far he is content helping out his alma mater here at A.R.C. Preston has really taken on a leadership role in helping the players with their physical training as well as helping with placing players to four year schools. He was instrumental in the development of many of the pitchers who have gone on to recent success after A.R.C. such as Dylan Chavez, who pitched in the Boston Red Sox and Chicago White Sox organizations, Pete Perez who was a Division 2 all-region pitcher at Tarleton State, Austin Palmer who was a pitcher of the week at Abilene Christian in 2013, and Max Everingham who improved greatly in his sophomore year to be one of the Beavers most consistent starters in 2012. Perez also signed with the Atlanta Braves in 2014 after playing with Preston in Southern Illinois. He was instrumental in the development of all-conference pitcher Nick Dermenjian in 2012 &13, who came to the Beavers having thrown only 7 innings in high school. Dermenjian went on to pitch at Division 1 Cal State Bakersfield on scholarship. He also helped Patrick Upchurch go from little used middle reliever to a recruited Division 1 prospect who is now at San Diego State. He helped reliever Mike Marlar lead the state in saves in 2015 with 9, and helped Matt Gunter earn the most wins (7) for a Beaver pitcher since 2006. Gunter was drafted by the Toronto Blue Jays in 2018 after being the Western Region Pitcher of the Year at Hawaii Pacific University. Preston graduated with a degree in Business Management from Abilene Christian, is currently finishing coursework for his Master’s Degree from Concordia University, and lives in Rancho Cordova with his wife Lotty and their two children, Eve and River.