He’s a tall, sandy-haired 19 year-old self-effacing young man with a disarmingly calm demeanor. However, as the ace of the Moorpark College baseball pitching staff, Wyatt Birg’s performance on the mound exudes poise, determination and the will to win.
Furthermore, it’s always a family affair in the bleachers behind home plate at Raiders Stadium on the days Birg is pitching. Parents, grandparents and friends all show up to cheer and support their favorite son.
“He’s a competitor, and he works his tail off every single day,” said teammate Riley Conlan. “He’s the center of our pitching staff. He’s a workhorse and gives it 110 percent. The game gets in his head sometimes when things are not going his way, but that’s Wyatt Birg for you.”
Birg said he became interested in baseball growing up because his dad played, and they watched games together on TV. He likes watching the Angels, especially pitcher Jered Weaver, because they both attended Simi Valley High School. Perhaps he sees Weaver as a role model and someone to emulate in his own baseball career.
“I always looked up to my dad,” Birg said with pride. “I like Jered Weaver and the Angels. I’ve seen him around, but I didn’t really know him personally.”
Birg credits his coaches, Ryan Geisler and Adrian Glenn, at Thousand Oaks High School for persuading him to return to baseball after he decided to quit the game in his sophomore year at Simi. He said pitching coach Glenn spoke to him about switching positions.
“If it wasn’t for him, I probably wouldn’t be here today,” Birg said. “I was burnt out and tired of baseball. My coach talked me into being a pitcher and helped me out a lot.”
Mary Birg said that her son, Wyatt, played first and second base before he became a pitcher, and was nicknamed the Hoover Vacuum for his efficiency around the infield.
“He made the team in Simi High, but he didn’t play much,” Wyatt’s mom said. “He only played his freshman year at Simi. It was not a good fit for him there, and he didn’t want to play anymore. When we moved to Thousand Oaks, he met Adrian Glenn, and the boys there welcomed him with open arms.”
In his candid style, Birg said he decided on Moorpark College simply because it was close to home and he could save money on gas. He heard good reports about the Raiders head coach, Mario Porto, and toured the campus before making a decision.
“Pitching is the name of the game in baseball,” Porto said. “The more good pitchers you get the better off you are. My pitching coach, Curt Scott is good friends with the Birg family. That helps,” he added, with a smile.
With a record of 5-2, and an ERA of 2.72 over 43.0 innings, Birg’s numbers speak for themselves. If a career in baseball doesn’t work out, however, Birg said he would be happy to follow in his father’s footsteps.
“His dad’s a captain with the fire department,” Mary Birg said. “He coached Little League, and is Wyatt’s mentor and someone he looks up to.”
Dalton Duarte, Birg’s teammate and friend, said that he’d always known him as an outstanding pitcher, and takes some credit for persuading him to come to Moorpark.
“He played for Thousand Oaks and I played for Newbury Park, and I didn’t get any hits off him,” Duarte said. “We met over the summer and played in the all-star game together. Ever since then we have hit it off.”
Even though he plays baseball every day, Birg said he is taking four courses, and manages to cope with the academic workload. He hopes to move on to a four year college when he graduates from Moorpark.
“I’m a freshman, so I don’t know about the future,” Birg said. “But, I’d love to continue to pitch and play baseball.”
