Assistant Coach-Baseball

Ryan Ruiz 
Assistant Baseball Coach

Ryan.Ruiz@centralaz.edu

520-494-5301

Ryan Ruiz enters his third full year as assistant coach for Central Arizona Baseball. Coach Ruiz is in charge of handling the hitters, outfielders and field maintenance. He also is in charge of the strength and conditioning of the players and assists Coach Gilich and Coach Wente in the recruiting process.

Coach Ruiz spent the summer of 2008 as the assistant coach for the Santa Maria Indians where he was named best next managerial prospect.  In the summer of 2009, Ryan will be the assistant coach for the Achorage Glacier Pilots.

Coach Ruiz brings a tremendous amount of experience as a player. Ruiz spent the last eight years in the highly competitive Northern and American Association of the Independent leagues. The St. Paul saints signed Ryan to a contract in 1999 where he played for the Saints for four years. After a successful career in St. Paul, Mn. Ruiz moved on to the Sioux City Explorers of Iowa and completed his playing career in 2006. Coach Ruiz has a professional .288 career batting average. Ryan had his best year in 2004 where he hit .310 with 22 doubles and 35 stolen bases, earning him a part of the North All-Star team.

Ryan started his college career at Saddleback College in Mission Viejo, CA of the competitive Orange Empire Conference. A two-time all conference player at SaddlebackCollege, earned him the right to play in the Junior College All-Star game. From there, Ryan signed at Texas Tech University. Outfielder Ryan Ruiz was one of the cornerstones of the Red Raider offense in 1998 and 1999 and helped lead Tech to the NCAA Tournament both seasons. Ruiz finished his career with 150 total hits, 19 doubles, three triples and 37 RBI. In 1999, he helped guide a potent Tech offense with a team-leading .363 batting average and was successful in stealing 35 bases in 37 attempts. Junior year, Ruiz led the team with a .388 batting average. Ruiz was honored by the Big XII as a second-team all-conference pick both seasons at Texas Tech. Coach Ruiz was also nominated for Easton’s defensive player of the year award in 1999.

Coach Ruiz holds an AA degree from Saddleback College and a Bachelor of Arts from Texas Tech University in Sports Psychology. Coach Ruiz is a native of Lake Forest, CA and is married to Carissa Cooper of Moville, IA. The two currently have no children and reside in Phoenix, AZ.

Anthony Gilich
Assistant Baseball Coach

Anthony.Gilich@centralaz.edu

520-494-5404 

Anthony Gilich begins his third season as assistant coach with Central Arizona Baseball.  Coach Gilich is in charge of working with infielders and hitters and will be in charge of recruiting.  In 2008, under the direction of Coach Gilich, CAC broke the all-time fielding percentage record in NJCAA history with a fielding percentage of .977.

Gilich coached from 2003-2007 at the University of Puget Sound in Tacoma, Washington where he was the Associate Head Coach and Recruiting Coordinator.  Gilich was responsible for managing the third base box and coaching the Logger infielders.  In 2004, UPS led the Northwest Conference in stolen bases and percentage swiping 90-115 bags. In addition, the Loggers had a higher fielding percentage and fewer errors in every season since his arrival in 2003.  Also, 5 infielders were named All-Northwest Conference during his tenure.  Prior to his arrival, Gilich coached at Ellensburg High School in 2002, leading the JV Bulldogs to a 14-6 record and assisting the varsity to their first playoff win in school history.  Gilich has also been the Head Coach of the highly recognized Triple Play Hornets from 2004-2007.  In 2007, he guided the Hornets to a 47-16 record as well as winning their second consecutive USABF World Series Championship in San Diego, California.  During his tenure with Triple Play, every player has been placed at the college level including former Vaqueros Cade Thompson, Joe Anson and Tim Steggall.

Gilich had an outstanding prep career at Gig Harbor High School where he earned 1st team All-State honors as a shortstop and also won a state championship in 1997.  Gilich still holds the school record for most saves in a season with 5, and most career saves with 12.  Collegiately, he finished his playing career at Santa Barbara City College.

In 2003, Gilich graduated Cum Laude from Central Washington University with a degree in Speech Communication and a minor in Sociology.

Mike Orchard
Assistant Baseball Coach

Michael.Orchard@centralaz.edu

520-494-5574

Mike Orchard enters his second year as pitching coach at Central Arizona College.  During the 2009 season, the Vaquero pitching staff led the league in strikeouts, while setting a conference and school record for ERA.  Three Vaquero pitchers were chosen in the 2009 MLB Draft.

During the 2009 summer, Orchard managed the 1st half champion Mankato Moondogs of the Northwoods League.  Currently, Orchard works as an associate scout for the Atlanta Braves.  Before arriving at CAC, Orchard spent the previous year working at USC with the RDRBI (Rod Dedeaux Research and Baseaball Institute).  At the RDRBI, Orchard worked with various pitchers ranging from little leaguers to major leaguers.  He also helped develop the first two pitchers from India as part of the "Million Dollar Arm" reality show with the RDRBI International program.

Prior to working at the RDRBI, Orchard coached 10 years at the high school and college level.  Most recently, he was the pitching coach at cross-town rival Chandler-Gilbert for the 2006 and 2007 seasons.  The Coyote pitching staff had the lowest ERA in school history and the ACCAC during the 2007 season.  In his two years at Chandler-Gilbert, Orchard had 10 pitchers go on to pitch at the Division 1 level and had 5 pitchers sign professional contracts.  During 2007, Orchard was an associate scout for the Chicago White Sox and spent his summer coaching in the Cape Cod League as pitching coach for the Hyannis Mets.

Previous to his Arizona coaching stint, Orchard spent two summers in the Northwoods League coaching for the Thunder Bay Bordercats and Lacrosse Loggers.

Orchard spent four years coaching for the state-ranked Osceola Kowboys in Kissimmee, Florida.  The last two seasons there, Orchard developed back-to-back pitchers of the year for Osceola County.  Orchard also coached two years of high school baseball in Davenport, Iowa and two years in Charleston, SC.

As a prep, Orchard was named 1st team All-State at Davenport Assumption.  After that, he went on to play at Black Hawk Community College in Moline, Illinois where he received 1st team All Conference and All Region honors as a freshman.  Injuries prevented Orchard from continuing his baseball career after junior college.

In 2001, Orchard graduated from College of Charleston with a degree in Media Communications.

Pitchers drafted under Mike Orchard
2009 (Central Arizona College)
Jimmy Patterson                  34th Round          Boston Red Sox
Kevin Gelinas                       45th Round         Pittsburgh Pirates
Zach Cleveland                    50th Round         Chicago Cubs
2007 (Chandler-Gilbert Community College)
Steve Salas                        24th Round         Anaheim Angels
2006 (Chandler-Gilbert Community College)
Brandon Thompson               23rd Round         New York Yankees
Tim Dennehy                       26th Round         New York Yankees
Dan Hoben                          29th Round         Texas Rangers
2005 (Osceola High School)
Bo O'dell                             23rd Round         Atlanta Braves