Hawks 13/14U Program

Pleasant Hill Hawks are proud and excited to announce the following additions to our coaching program:
Kyle Gross and Justin Hughes are the new lead instructors for our 13/14u program. Our new 14u manager is Tommy Beritzhoff and 13u manager is Anthony Cecaci.

Kyle Gross
After moving on from professional baseball in 2006, Kyle began working with players of all ages in the Bay Area. In 2008, he was hired as the Pitching Coach at Diablo Valley College in Pleasant Hill. DVC went to the State Championship in Kyle’s first year of work, while having three pitchers drafted in the top 15 rounds. After 4 years at DVC, Kyle accepted the Varsity Pitching Coach job at local College Park High School. College Park went on to win back to back NCS championships and has transferred 14 players into D1 baseball programs. Kyle owns and manages the West Coast Kings Baseball Organization which develops and mentors high school and collegiate baseball players in Northern California. The Kings have a storied history of tremendous success in preparing student athletes for their high school programs and collegiate baseball at all levels. In addition, Kyle has worked as the Pitching Development Instructor for the Pleasant Hill Hawks since 2015.

Justin Santich-Hughes
Justin Santich-Hughes, a native of Castro Valley, is a 2003 graduate of Castro Valley High School, where he lettered three years in baseball and was an all-league selection during his senior year helping his team to the North Coast Section semifinals with a school-record 26 wins. After graduating Castro Valley High School, Santich-Hughes was recruited to play baseball at then a top 10 baseball program in the country and recent College World Series participant, San Jose State University. After one season as pitching coach at Cal State Monterey Bay, Santich-Hughes decided to go to graduate school and at the same time applied for the Head Varsity Coach job at Acalanes High School for the 2010 season. In his first year at Acalanes, the Dons returned to the NCS playoffs for the first time since 2007 and went on to win four North Coast Section Championships in 9 seasons (2010-2018), while posting a record of 160-79-1 (.667 winning percentage). Over that span, the Dons had over 30 players go on to and play collegiately with 18 of those being at the Division 1 level.

Tommy Beritzhoff
Tommy is a graduate of Acalanes High School class of 2011. During his time there, he played under Coach Justin Hughes and was a 3-year starter behind the plate. He was a member of the 2011 NCS Championship team which was the first of 3 straight that the Dons would win. After graduating, he went to Chabot College where he gray shirted and came on as a coach for Acalanes High School for 2 seasons, winning 2 more NCS titles as a coach. Continuing his playing career, Tommy went on to play at College of Marin under legendary Coach Steve Berringer. While at College of Marin, Tommy won back-to-back Conference champions and advanced to the super regionals in 2014.

Anthony Cecaci.
Oakland native, Anthony Cecaci, is the nephew of DVC Hall of Fame coach Ernie Cecaci. Cecaci attended Skyline HS from 96′-99′. After high school, Cecaci pitched for coach Rob Wilson at Laney College. In January 2000, Cecaci sustained a career ending elbow injury while pitching in an exhibition game against the University of Hawaii at Les Kuriakami Stadium in Honolulu, HI. During the spring of 2021, he was hired as the Head JV Baseball Coach at Bishop O’Dowd High School in Oakland where he still coaches.
We welcome you all to the Hawks family!