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Kelly Nicholson, Field Manager
Loyola High School of Los Angeles
Hometown: Playa del Rey, CA

You may have noticed the always-gracious #21 after each game during the summer of 2005. If the dozen or so gray hairs weren’t peeking from beneath that Cardinals hat, you’d have thought he was a player. Each autograph seeker was greeted with a smile, a friendly greeting, and some pleasant banter about the game. Wasn’t the field manager supposed to be the guy with veins sticking out further than his ears while he tossed a verbal Molotov cocktail at the rock who masqueraded as an umpire all game long?

Kelly (or Coach K as he's known in the pitching fraternity) is a native of Corona, California where he won numerous scholar-athlete awards in both baseball and basketball while in high school. He was a four-year letterwinner and two-time all-conference pick during his pitching career at Loyola Marymount University. After earning his bachelor's degree in business administration from LMU, he began his career teaching mathematics at Loyola High School of Los Angeles, while completing his master's degree in education from LMU. He was the head coach of the Loyola HS Cubs for eleven seasons, where he led the team to seven playoff appearances and a league title. Kelly then spent three seasons as Loyola Marymount's pitching coach, and each year the Lions won the WCC title and went to the NCAA regionals. In the summer of 2000, Kelly worked with the Team USA pitching staff in its early preparation for international play. Kelly joined the Cardinals as their pitching coach in 2001. In 2002, Coach K’s staff had a 2.11 ERA (the best ever by Cardinals pitchers) and in 2004 it led the CCBL with a 2.37. His 2003 championship pitching staff was lights out, with a 2.36 ERA and a league-leading 397 Ks in 401 IP.

But now Coach K is the head man. If you’ve got a question about the pitchers, he’ll tell you to “…check with Coach Beck–he’s the pitching coach around here and he’s as good as they come.” Co-winner of the Hossfeld Spirit Award with Coach Steve DeBlasi in 2004, Kelly was the unanimous choice of his fellow managers in 2005 for the CCBL Mike Curran Manager of the Year Award after leading the Cardinals to a record-setting 30-win season and the championship. Orleans welcomes a true gentleman and a terrific leader back for his sixth summer.

Chris Beck, Assistant Coach
Loyola High School of Los Angeles
Hometown: Playa del Rey, CA

Chris grew up in Whittier, California and was an outstanding pitcher in high school with a career ERA of 0.85. He won an athletic scholarship to Loyola Marymount and during his career the Lions won back-to-back West Coast Conference championships. After completing his degree in history, Chris joined the staff at Loyola High School, where he teaches world history and coached Cub baseball for six years, the last two as head coach. After a summer of coaching in the Great Lakes League, Coach Beck became the pitching coach of the Brewster Whitecaps in 2004. He returned to the CCBL in 2005 to take charge of the Cardinals highly successful moundsmen, who ended the season with a league-leading 2.22 ERA. Chris is completing a master’s degree in a combined history/education program at Loyola Marymount. The Orleans franchise is fortunate to welcome this gifted pitching coach back for another summer.

Robb Gorr, Assistant Coach
Loyola High School of Los Angeles
Hometown: West Hollywood, CA

Robb played three seasons with the USC Trojans, including the 1998 team, which won the College World Series. The prior year, after his sophomore season, he played for the Brewster Whitecaps. Robb was drafted by the Los Angeles Dodgers and reached AA level before injury ended his pro career. He completed his degree in education while serving as an assistant coach at Loyola Marymount, and then began a teaching and coaching career at Loyola High School. Now that Coach Gorr’s academic year is fuller than Fat Albert’s candy basket at Halloween as he completes a master’s degree in education at St. Mary’s College and a master’s degree in geosciences at Mississippi State, he’s concentrating his coaching on the Cardinals as they pursue another championship. We welcome Robb and his wife Kate, a third grade teacher, for a second summer in Orleans.

Scott Walter, Assistant Coach

Loyola High School of Los Angeles

Scott Walter comes to Orleans from Loyola High School of Los Angeles, where he was an assistant this past year for Cardinals assistant Brian Felton.  Walter also played his high school ball at Loyola High School for Orleans manager Kelly Nicholson.  After high school, Walter caught for three years at Loyola Marymount, before being drafted in the third round by the Kansas City Royals.  Walter played in the KC organization (making it all the way to AAA Omaha) from 2000 through 2005.  Since his retirement from playing, Walter has returned to LMU and earned his degree in Business Administration and Marketing.

Brian Felten, Defensive Coach
Loyola High School of Los Angeles
Hometown: Mission Hills, CA

Brian grew up in Mission Hills, and starred on the Crespi High School baseball team in the mid-90s. By graduation, he was among the Top 10 in numerous pitching and batting categories. Brian played his college baseball at Loyola Marymount where he was a 4-year letterwinner and where his pitching coach was Kelly Nicholson. During those four years, LMU won three WCC championships, and during the summers Brian fought the big mosquitoes while playing for the Alaska Goldpanners.  Today, Coach Felton is the head coach at Loyola High School, where he jsut completed his second season with a CIF Southern Section Division III Title.  Felton had previously been an assistant at Loyola under Cardinals pitching coach Chris Beck.