Former Woodside pitcher Max Moreno enjoying a rare sense of normalcy at William Jessup University

Oh, how things could have been different if Moreno would have chosen to play at Menlo College, another NAIA program that recruited him. The Golden State Athletic Conference in which Menlo College plays has canceled all competition until March 25.

Suffice it to say, baseball life in Rocklin is looking pretty darn good to Moreno right now.

“We’re ecstatic,” Moreno said. “This is the best. Because some guys … they decided not to play. We could easily be doing that. So, we’re lucky we get to play.”

It was clear to Moreno from that opening weekend William Jessup was breathing rare air. As the opening-day starter, the 5-foot-9 left-hander noticed six professional scouts during the doubleheader. As a returning freshman — Moreno played in 2020, but the midseason cancelation due to the coronavirus pandemic allowed him to replay his freshman year — he didn’t see as many scouts all of last year.

That fits right into Moreno’s trajectory as a starting pitcher. He cracked the starting rotation last season, but grinded through work as a weekday starter.

“I guess I did a pretty good job, they left me in there,” Moreno said. “They moved me to the Game 4 starter, and I just kept doing what I was doing.”

This year, he has served as the Warriors’ No. 2 starter, which technically makes him a Friday starter as the program opens most of its series with a Friday doubleheader. He touts a 2-2 record with a 5.23 ERA and is coming off 5 1/3 inning effort last Friday in which gave up four runs on five hits.

With a lineup batting .319 as a team, though, Moreno said he always felt like he was in the driver’s seat.

“I was trusting my guys,” Moreno said. “We do a good job of picking each other up. I knew if I just kept busting my butt, they’d pick me up.”

A two-way standout at Woodside, Moreno was recruited by former William Jessup manager Jake McKinley, now the director of player development with the Milwaukee Brewers. McKinley said he liked Moreno’s arm and composure on the mound, and with a chance to contribute at the plate, thought he was worth a baseball scholarship.

“When I saw him, he was one of those guys, he threw a ton of strikes, he was left-handed and he just had a good feel,” McKinley said.

Formerly the head coach as Menlo College, McKinley served as William Jessup’s manager for one year in 2018, when he led the team to program record 41 wins. But when he called Moreno — then a junior at Woodside — to tell him he was leaving to take a job with the Brewers, Moreno was immediately terrified, worried his scholarship offer might be in jeopardy.

“At that point my heart sank,” Moreno said.

But McKinley immediately reassured him his scholarship would remain in place. In fact, every scholarship offer McKinley made was honored by the William Jessup baseball program, and his former assistant coach Trevor Paine was promoted to head coach.

And the Warriors have continued their winning ways. In 2019, Paine’s first year at the helm, they posted a 39-14 record. And last year, Moreno’s first year in Rocklin, William Jessup was off to an 18-11 start before the season was canceled. This year, after a four-game sweep of San Diego Christian over the weekend, the Warriors stand at 12-6.

“This year we have a lot of good team chemistry, morale is good, so it makes it easy to pick other guys up,” Moreno said. “We were just kind of swinging the bats well … and pitching was just doing good at filling up the zone and trying to attack.”