The Cupertino Courier

Sports

Nick Pereira the ace of the SJ Giants staff

Local boy makes good on San José diamond

By MIKE BARNHART

San José Giants players and their fans had to be excused if their minds or eyes wandered from a late April game against High Desert. After all, each at-bat of 2005 team co-MVP Kevin Frandsen's Major League debut was being shown on Municipal Stadium's new video board beyond center field.

As they watched Frandsen swinging a bat for the San Francisco Giants after just one full season in the minor leagues, players could not help but be distracted by their own Big League dreams.

One of the dreamers was 23-year-old pitcher Nick Pereira, a former Cupertino schoolboy who played college ball near home and his tight-knit family. The 6-foot-1, 190-pounder quickly has become the ace of San José's starting rotation and a fan favorite this spring.

More importantly, he impressed the Giants' minor league brass with a sensational start. After going 4-0 during his five April outings and allowing just three runs in 30 innings, Pereira was one of five players named Minor League Players of the Month by the Giants organization.

"The thing that got to me was looking at the reactions of his parents," admitted Pereira, referring to the elder Frandsens' excitement and joy shown on the big screen during their son's debut. "As bad as I want to get to the Major Leagues for myself, I would love even more to do it for my mom, who has played a big part in my life."

Denise Baughman, for the most part a single parent while raising Nick and younger sister Ashley, remembers Nick's first ball games as an 8-year-old playing on a 10-year-old team in upstate New York. Since moving to Cupertino in 1994, Nick's mother, sister and grandmother, Pat Baughman, have supported him. Starting with his Tri-Cities Little League days, through four years at Cupertino High School, two at De Anza College and two more at the University of San Francisco, Pereira always has had a family following.

"We haven't missed any games," Denise Baughman proudly declares, "and through all the ups and downs of life we have grown very close and have become best friends."

And, after touring Oregon and Washington last summer to watch Nick in his first pro assignment with the Salem-Keizer Volcanoes of the short-season Northwest League, all are back comfortably at Grandma Baughman's in Cupertino.

And the home cooking only has made life in the California League easier for Pereira.

In his San José Giants debut, Pereira had a no-hitter for five innings against the Visalia Oaks, before finishing with a 1-hitter and six strikeouts in six innings. At Lake Elsinore on April 21, Pereira did not allow a runner to reach second base in seven innings of shutout ball. He continued to pitch well in May, and his consistency every fifth day has helped the Giants to a six-game lead atop the North Division standings with just 15 games left in the first half.

"In our organization, there are many pitchers that throw the same pitches at the same speeds," explained Pereira, who says his fastball typically clocks 89 to 91 miles per hour, his slider 78 to 80 and his change-up a work in progress with the help of San José pitching coach Jim Bennett. "How hard we work and what we do off the field is what separates us."

Pereira remained unbeaten until May 28, when the Modesto Nuts scored four times in the first inning to beat him, 4-0. That still was the lone blemish on his record as of June 6. After 11 starts, he had a 6-1 record with a 2.33 ERA to go along with 60 strikeouts and just 12 walks and two hit batsmen. Of the 58 hits he yielded in 65 2/3 innings, only one was a home run. He did not allow any homers in 50 1/3 Northwest League innings last summer.

"Nick will make it to the Big Leagues," predicted De Anza coach Scott Hertler, who coached Pereira for two seasons and helped get him a scholarship to USF. "His work ethic is unparalleled for a guy his age."

"Nick is a very disciplined person, dedicated and humbled; he doesn't brag or boast," his mom has observed over the years. "He will do whatever it takes to make it."

Pereira was a shortstop when he received all-league recognition during two of his three varsity seasons at Cupertino High. But after playing "only about half of the time" for De Anza as a freshman shortstop in 2002, Pereira knew he was not making it. "I was not a very good hitter at the college level," he reflected at the time. He was open to change.

After watching Pereira throw in the bullpen in the fall of 2002, Hertler and De Anza pitching coach Dave Sick also were open. Hertler vividly remembers their reaction after finally putting Pereira into a scrimmage. "His first two pitches were over 90 (miles per hour) and we said, 'Wow! What do we have here?' "

Pereira showed enough potential in the fall that Hertler was able to convince USF coach Nino Giarrantano to offer the hard worker a scholarship during the early-signing period. By the end of the season, Pereira had earned it. He led De Anza to second place in its conference with a 6-6 record and a 3.20 ERA. He had 86 strikeouts and 24 walks in 104 innings.

At USF, Pereira worked primarily as a relief pitcher in 2004, logging just 37 innings in 19 games. But Pereira enjoyed a breakthrough season in 2005 under the tutelage of pitching coach Greg Moore. A dazzling senior year in the West Coast Conference (10-3 record, 2.21 ERA, 93 strikeouts in 106 innings) convinced the Giants to draft Pereira in the 10th round. Soon thereafter he accepted a $7,500 bonus and packed his bags for central Oregon.

In 14 games for Salem-Keizer, including nine starts, Pereira struck out 41 batters and gave up just 17 earned runs and 54 hits, while putting together a 5-3 record, a 3.04 ERA and "two or three hours of fishing each morning."

Late last November, after about a one-month break from baseball, Pereira started off-season workouts at San Francisco's AT&T Park with some of the Giants' athletic trainers and other minor leaguers. A player who impressed Pereira was Frandsen, who grew up in Willow Glen and starred at Bellarmine Prep and San José State University, before playing at three different minor league levels and helping San José to the Cal League championship last season.

Only time will tell how long it will take Pereira to climb the baseball ladder. For now, like Frandsen a year ago, Pereira is a local boy making good.