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D.J. Whittemore

D.J. Whittemore is Western Nevada College's head baseball coach. Whittemore, who was hired in August 2004, just finished his fourth full season as the team's skipper. Before beginning his tenure in Carson City, Whittemore was head assistant coach and associate faculty member at Feather River College.

Whittemore's overall record at Western stands at 164-76-2 (68%) after last season's strong finish in which they went 46-8 down the home stretch. Whittemore has coached the Wildcats to six championships in just the last four years. Winning the Scenic West title in 2006 and 2009, while winning both the Region XVIII and the Western District Championships in 2007 and 2009. Whittemore has won four coach of the year awards in four seasons at the helm of the Wildcat program. Twice he was named Scenic West Conference Coach of the year including the last two seasons in a row and twice named Western District Coach of the year in 2007 and again in 2009.

The 2009 Wildcats set school records for victories in a season (48) in which they eclipsed the old mark of 41 set in 2007. They also set school records for winning percentage by winning 77 percent of their games. The Wildcats hosted their first super regional tournament after hosting the regional tournament for the second time in their four-year history. Western Nevada won a total of three championships during the season including the Scenic West Conference Championship, the Region XVIII Championship, and the Western District Championship. The team eventually finished third in the nation after falling twice in the World Series to eventual champion Howard College of Texas.
While the 2009 team had many outstanding performances by freshman players, especially on the mound, the team will forever be remembered for the outstanding leadership of its sophomore class. Included in their accomplishments were most wins in career (86) and highest winning percentage (72). But more impressive were their collective academic accomplishments. The entire sophomore class of 11 inked scholarships to four-year schools including a WNC record eight to NCAA Division I schools. The total value of the scholarships exceed $175,000 which equates to more than $16,000 per player. Ten of the 11 sophomores graduated in two years, and eight did so with cumulative GPA's well over a 3.0.
The 2008 Wildcats finished 38-20 overall and 29-19 in Scenic West Conference play. The Wildcats finished second in the always tough Scenic West Conference just one game back after 40 scheduled contests. In the Region XVIII tournament the Wildcats battled back after losing the first game - winning three straight games by a combined score of 36-12 before falling in the championship game 6-5. The Wildcats held a 5-2 lead with two outs in the bottom of the ninth before faltering. All this was accomplished despite the fact the pitching staff returned just 36 innings from the year before.

The 2007 Wildcats finished with a then-school record 41 victories and a fifth place national finish. The Road Warrior Wildcats battled their way to eight straight post-season victories to earn a Region XVIII Championship, a Western District Championship, and a berth in the NJCAA World Series. There, they won two straight games, including a victory over No. 1-ranked New Mexico Junior College, the 2005 NJCAA national champions.

In their inaugural season, Whittemore and his assistant coaches helped guide the Wildcats to the Scenic West Conference Championship. The Wildcats finished conference play with a 30-10 record, including season sweeps over three conference opponents. This was accomplished despite the fact that during the year four Scenic West teams were ranked in the NJCAA Top 20 AND the Wildcats were a first-year program that included only two sophomores.

Whittemore was raised in Reno, where he played baseball and football at Wooster High School. Whittemore played baseball for coach Ron Malcolm, the school's all-time winningest coach, and was named First Team All-Conference as a utility player. As a collegian, Whittemore pitched, played outfield, and served as designated hitter. In total, he played three years of college baseball, two in the California junior college system and one at George Washington University in Washington, D.C.

During his second year of collegiate baseball, he earned All-Conference Honorable Mention honors at Santa Barbara City College in 1995 as a pitcher. That same year, he was selected to play in the Southern California All-Star game and helped his team to a 3-0 shutout. His final season of baseball was with the Reno Diamonds, a semi-pro team.

Coach Whittemore's educational background includes an Associate of Arts degree from SBCC, a Bachelor of Science degree from Oregon State University, a Nevada Teacher Certificate from Sierra Nevada College, and a Master's Equivalence in Baseball Theory from Feather River College. He believes his training to be a high school teacher helped him immensely with interpersonal relationships that are so important in the coaching profession.

Whittemore's coaching career began in 1998 at Western Oregon University, where he was an undergraduate assistant to head coach Terry Baumgartner. Whittemore assisted with the team's pitchers and conditioning. In 1999, he was hired as the head assistant at Central Catholic High School in Portland, Ore., by Jeremy Beard, before returning to Reno to marry the love of his life, Alicia Paganetti, in 2000.

After returning to Reno, Whittemore continued his coaching career by joining Ron Malcolm's staff at his former high school. Whittemore spent three seasons at Wooster High School where he was a social studies teacher and assistant baseball coach, leading the team's outfielders and pitchers. In addition, he served as the base-running coach and conditioning coach. In 2002, he helped the team win the Nevada AAAA State Championship, marking the first time in 19 years a team from Reno had won the state title. The 2002 championship team finished 30-9 and was ranked ninth on the West Coast according to USA Today. The pitching staff finished the season with a 2.54 earned run average, which was one-tenth away from the school record.

In 2003, Reed Peters hired Whittemore to coach for Feather River College in Quincy, Calif. He served as the recruiting coordinator, head fund-raiser, and pitching coach. FRC finished the 2004 season 22-16 after qualifying for the state playoffs and eventually losing to Sierra College.

The pitching staff at FRC was top to bottom one of the best California had to offer. FRC pitchers finished the year fourth in earned run average (3.01), second in opponents' batting average (.249), and fourth (271) in strikeouts. The top five pitchers from the 2004 FRC staff signed Division I scholarships. Included in the group were freshman Anton Maxwell who signed at Oregon State of the Pac-10 conference, Robby Apo (South Dakota State), and Marco Grifiantini (University of California, Davis), along with sophomores Joel Fountain (St. Mary's) and Corey Madden (St. Mary's). Feather River pitchers were also well represented on the Golden Valley all-conference team. Fountain and Grifantini were named to the first team, while Maxwell and Madden were selected to the second team.

Whittemore extends his appreciation to all the outstanding coaches he has played for and coached with, and the opportunity to be northern Nevada's first-ever junior college head coach. Whittemore specifically acknowledges Rob Willson at Sierra College, Ron Malcolm and Nick Kuster at Wooster High School, Jeremy Beard at Columbia Basin, and Reed Peters from Feather River as the men who have most influenced his baseball life.

Whittemore and his wife have four young children.