Boise State cut its baseball team, but former manager Gary Van Tol hasn’t left yet
Baseball was one of two programs Boise State cut last July in an effort to trim the athletic department budget, but former manager Gary Van Tol hasn’t gone anywhere.
He’s been on campus training the few remaining players still in town, including freshman Matt Fung, who recently committed to UC Davis. Van Tol said he worked with seven players this past fall and winter.
Once attempts to save the program were exhausted last summer, he quickly helped 14 of his former players land at other college programs. That number has since grown to at least 26, including catcher Chase Adkinson, who signed with Oklahoma State in November, and pitcher Hunter Omlid, who chose Grand Canyon University.
Infielder Torin Montgomery landed at Missouri, where his four home runs are tied for the most on the team this spring.
“I’ve been really pleased to be able to take care of those guys and help them through this,” Van Tol told the Idaho Statesman on Monday. “That was my No. 1 priority.”
Van Tol was hired in 2017 to resurrect the Broncos’ baseball program, which had been dormant since 1980. He and the first 12 players he signed spent almost two years on campus preparing to take the field in 2020, but they only made it through 14 games before the season was canceled because of COVID-19.
Van Tol’s contract at Boise State expires on May 1, and he plans to dive headfirst into his next endeavor on May 2. The Boise Hawks announced in January that he was returning to manage the team this year during its inaugural season as an independent club in the Pioneer League.
He also managed the Hawks in 2013 and 2014 when the club was affiliated with the Chicago Cubs.
“I feel blessed to be able to stay in the community because I wasn’t sure if I was going to go back to the pro game or find another college job, which would have meant leaving Boise,” Van Tol said.
He was offered an opportunity to manage the Cowlitz Black Bears this summer in the West Coast League, but Van Tol said the Hawks reached out to him in January, and the more he learned about the club’s options as an independent team, the more excited he got.
“I think it’s going to be a blessing in disguise for the community for the Hawks to be able to control their own brand,” he said.
The Hawks lost their affiliation in December when Major League Baseball decided to reduce its number of low-level minor league clubs. The move left the team without the same level of funding it had in the past or a direct pipeline to an MLB club, but Van Tol said being independent gives the Hawks the freedom to hire their own coaching staff and sign their own players.
He also pointed out that the 96-game season the Hawks will play as part of the Pioneer League will give players more chances to show pro scouts what they can do and give fans more opportunities to feel connected with the players on the roster.
“A lot of people in the community were disappointed when the Hawks lost their affiliation, but having been here when they were affiliated, I know it’s going to be different,” Van Tol said.
With Van Tol running the show, the Hawks came within one win of capturing the Northwest League title in 2013 and reached the semifinals in 2014. The club’s 2021 season is scheduled to begin May 22 in Utah against the Ogden Raptors.
Van Tol said he’s confident the season will be played as scheduled, despite the looming threat of COVID-19, and he’s hopeful the Hawks will be able to have fans in the stands for their home opener May 26 against the Grand Junction Rockies — though he said conversations with local and state health officials are ongoing.
The Pioneer League has been re-branded this year as a “partner league,” with MLB providing some funding for operating expenses and installing scouting technology in stadiums. The other eight cities in the league are Idaho Falls; Ogden, Utah; Billings, Missoula and Great Falls in Montana; and Colorado Springs, Grand Junction and Windsor in Colorado.
“I’m really looking forward to getting things rolling,” Van Tol said. “I’m excited to be back with such a great organization, and I’m having fun putting this roster together. It’s definitely different than recruiting a college roster, and it’s different from being with a Major League club because your scouting department does that.”
The Hawks have announced three players they’ve signed every Wednesday since mid-March, including a pair of pitchers with local ties in Matt Dallas and Zach Penrod.
Penrod is from Nampa. He began his college career at Corban University in Oregon before transferring to Northwest Nazarene, where he earned All-Great Northwest Athletic Conference honors as a position player and did a little pitching.
He went on to sign with the Texas Rangers and his pitches were hitting 94 mph, according to Van Tol, but he blew out his arm in his first spring outing. He was released by the Rangers last June.
The Hawks acquired Dallas in a trade with the New Jersey Jackals of the Frontier League for future considerations, Van Tol said.
Dallas is a Boise native who didn’t make the varsity team at Capital High. He went on to make the team at Blue Mountain Community College, though, and transferred to University of Minnesota-Crookston — a Division II program. In 2016, he appeared in eight games for the Golden Eagles out of the bullpen.
Dallas spent the 2017 season in the Frontier League with the River City Rascals and the past two years with the Jackals. Now, he’ll finally get to take the mound in front of his family, which Van Tol said has maybe seen him play three times in his career.
“It’s great to be able to sign some local talent,” Van Tol said. “But all the guys we’ve signed have great stories, and I can’t wait to get them on the field and get to work.”
Hawks to hold open tryout
The Hawks will hold an open tryout for players with no more than three years of professional experience April 30-May 1 at Memorial Stadium. Tryouts will begin at 5 p.m. on April 30 and 1 p.m. on May 1.
All interested players must fill out the form at this link and must provide proof of COVID-10 vaccination or a negative COVID-19 test completed within 72 hours of the tryout. For more information, check out BoiseHawks.com.
