San Bernardino Valley College Baseball head coach Bill Mierzwik, now in his 21st season, claimed victory number 499 Tuesday afternoon, getting him closer to the inevitable 500th career victory. SBVC (4-5-1; 1-0) opened up Foothill Conference play at home, by defeating the Mt. San Jacinto Eagles (3-5; 0-1), 6-4.

Coach Mierzwik, who has coached 869 games for SBVC, boasts a 499-368-2 career record, a .574 winning percentage and 131 games above .500. SBVC will be on the road at Mt. San Jacinto on Thursday, February 23rd first pitch at 2 p.m. and at home against these same Eagles on Saturday, February 25th first pitch at 12 p.m.

Starting sophomore right handed pitcher Kevin Verdeja (Riverside Poly) pitched eight and a third innings, allowing only four hits and four walks, while striking out six to get his second win of the year. Sophomore right handed relief pitcher Adam Quintana (San Bernardino San Gorgonio) started in center field, but was moved to the mound to toss the final two thirds of the ninth for his fourth save of the year.

SBVC led off the bottom of the first with a walk by freshman first baseman Joseph Szczepanski (Bloomington Christian), but was tossed out at second after being caught stealing. After a strike out, Quintana walked and freshman designated hitter Adam Turpin (Redlands H.S.) pounded a single to right moving Quintana to third. Quintana then scored on a balk, giving SBVC an early 1-0 lead.

Mt. San Jacinto added a couple of runs in the top of the third, tossed on a run in the top of the sixth and a run in the top of the eighth to go up 4-1, then SBVC decided to do some yard work in the bottom of the eighth. Leadoff batter, sophomore short stop Rafael Romo (Riverside John Wesley North), walked, after a pop out, sophomore left fielder Ryan Boeger (Redlands East Valley) reached on an error by the short stop, moving Romo to second. Freshman catcher Ryan Miller (Hemet Tahquitz) laid down a perfect sacrifice bunt to the pitcher, moving Boeger to second and Romo to third and freshman second baseman Mike Trevino (San Bernardino Cajon) walked to load the bases with two outs. Then the comeback was on as Szczepanski clobbered a single to center and advanced to second on an error by the center fielder, Trevino moved to third, and Boger and Romo scored, getting SBVC within one, 4-3.

The Eagles head coach had seen enough and he brought in a hard throwing, gigantic left hand reliever to shut the door. Freshman pinch hitter Brett Torrence (Redlands East Valley) seized on the opportunity and blasted a three run home run to deep left center, giving SBVC a two run lead, 6-4. That two run cushion was all SBVC would need to secure their first Conference win on the 2012 season.

As head coach, Mierzwik emphasizes: good baseball fundamentals, the importance of education, self-discipline and playing the game with enthusiasm.

He stresses education and wants his players to leave SBVC with more than just baseball skills to compete at the four-year level. He wants each player to have an academic background to compete and excel academically.

In twenty-one seasons, Mierzwik has led his teams to 4 conference titles and 3 conference division titles and have played in the postseason 10 times. And while his impressive accomplishment is unmatched at SBVC, he feels his greatest success is getting his sophomores placed at the university level or professional level.