Rewind a decade and Don Amaral faced a major rebuilding project as he took over a Whittell High School baseball program that had accepted losing and was misclassified in the 3A ranks.

After a one-year leave from high school coaching, Amaral has returned to the dugout across town at South Tahoe High School, another school unaccustomed to winning and a program that has gone 15 years without making the postseason.

The same enthusiasm and fire that Amaral breathed into a once-fledgling Whittell program, he is now channeling into South Tahoe’s.

“It’s good to be back coaching,” said Amaral, who replaces Matt Tillson, who was released from his position after five seasons with the Vikings.

Amaral isn’t a patient man. Like he did at Whittell, Amaral is looking for quick answers and immediate victories. He doesn’t want to hear the players’ parents tell him that the freshman class is loaded with talent.

“What I’m telling everyone here is that yeah, I want to build a program, but I want to win now,” Amaral said. “It’s like Major League Baseball. You can’t have five years. You have to win now, because these kids are going to be gone.

“My seniors deserve to win now. They take a lot of crap. I’ve seen a lot. A lot of guys running up scores against them. The biggest thing is making them believe that they can win.”

In his first season at Whittell, the Warriors made the 3A state tournament and a year later were 2A state champions. Seven of his nine Whittell teams qualified for the regional tournament and five made state appearances. In addition to the 2001 state title, his Warriors finished third in the state three times and runner-up once.

“A lot of us already knew him, so it was pretty easy to embrace him and take him in as our new head coach,” said South Tahoe senior pitcher Max DeLallo.

Even though the Vikings’ time on the field has been limited to scrimmages prior to its season opener as usual, Amaral’s players say they are more prepared to play than in past years.

“As a team we should have a better season. I don’t know if we have more talent, but our starters and players from last year are more refined and we’re already a lot more prepared this season than last season,” DeLallo said.

DeLallo leads an experienced pitching staff that will also include senior Ricky Braun, senior Matt Blank and junior Jamie Yelles.

“We have a lot of good pitching,” Yelles said. “We started throwing pretty early this year so our arms are pretty strong. We could last a whole game if we needed to.”

Amaral is counting on his veteran hurlers to keep games close, so that his club’s projected solid defense and ability to manufacture runs decide the outcomes.

“We are gonna play little ball,” Amaral said. “We only have one guy who can hit the ball out of the ballpark, so we have to hit the ball into the gaps and (down the) lines and we have to execute.”Amaral may even ask one of his players to do something out of ordinary baseball strategy to bring home a runner from third base.

“I told like seven kids if I give them the drag bunt sign with two strikes and a runner on third, do it,” Amaral said. “We just have to find a way to use our speed and defense.”

The 6-foot-3 DeLallo should be one of the most imposing pitchers South Tahoe has ever sent to the mound. His fastball has climbed into the high 80s, and he’s learning a changeup to further confound hitters.

“With some more training, there’s no doubt in my mind that in two or three more years, Max could hit 95 on the (radar) gun,” Amaral said.

DeLallo will play first base and bat cleanup when he’s not pitching. The rest of the Vikings’ infield will include Tanner Braun at third base, Ricky Braun at second base Yelles at shortstop and Connor Casey at catcher. Amaral said that Yelles could also wind up at catcher and Casey at short.

The only certainty in the outfield is that fleet-footed junior Andrew Contaxis will play center field. Blank, Tanner Braun, Rigel Garman, Cody Blakeman and Joebacci Zanetell are also vying for outfield positions.

To signify a new beginning, Amaral purchased $12,000 of new equipment (not with school district money) and is planning to rework the infield at Todd Fields with four tons of dirt prior to the Vikings’ home opener on April 8.

Amaral’s players are starting to believe that a new era for STHS baseball has begun.

“I think we’re good enough, we just have to believe in ourselves,” Ricky Braun said.

And one of them even mentioned the postseason.

“It’s always a goal when you’re playing a sport is to get to the second season, so we’ll see what we can do this year,” Tanner Braun said.

2010 STHS baseball schedule

Date Opponent Time

March 11 Lassen at Carson 11:30 a.m.

Fallon at Carson 2 p.m.

March 12 Sparks at Carson 7 pm.

March 13 At Carson tourney TBA

March 18 At Damonte Ranch 3:45 p.m.

March 20 At Damonte Ranch (2) 11 a.m.

March 23 At Dayton 4 p.m

March 25 At Douglas 3:45 p.m.

March 27 At Douglas (2) 11 a.m.

April 1 At Fallon 3:45 p.m.

April 3 At Fallon (2) 11 a.m.

April 8 GALENA 3:45 p.m.

April 10 At Galena (2) 11 a.m.

April 13 At Sp. Springs tourney TBA

April 14 At McQueen 4 p.m.

April 15 Elko at Sp. Springs 10 a.m.

Cent. Valley at McQ ueen 4 p.m.

April 16 Sp. Springs tourney TBA

April 20 TRUCKEE 3:30 p.m.

April 22 MANOGUE 3:45 p.m.

April 24 MANOGUE (2) 11 a.m.

April 29 NORTH VALLEYS 3:45 p.m.

May 1 N. VALLEYS (2) 11 a.m.

May 5 CARSON 3:45 p.m.

May 6 CARSON 3:45 p.m.

May 7 CARSON 3:45 p.m.

May 12-15 Regionals TBA

May 20-22 State TBA

Note: Home games are in ALL CAPS.