Drakes assistant general manager Jerry Bettencourt speaks to the crowd at the Marysville Drakes meet and greet on Wednesday, December 6. Photo by Steven Bryla

YUBA CITY, CA (MPG) - The Marysville Drakes held a meet and greet on Wednesday, December 6, with fans and supporters from the community where they shared plans for the upcoming 2024 season.

The Drakes were represented by players from the 2023 roster (Jalen Gordon, Joe Starick, Tim Nichols, Earl Johnson, John Smith and Calloway Miller), manager Bill Rogan and assistant general manager/press box manager Jerry Bettencourt.

Bettencourt opened the event with a welcome speech that showed excitement and gracefulness for the attendees.

Bettencourt expressed to the Dispatch that they are focused on getting ahead of the curve this year compared to last season, which was the first one for the Drakes in Marysville.

New events that Bettencourt mentioned debuting during the 2024 Drakes season include four nights of post-game fireworks. Dates for all special events have not been determined as the Pecos League schedule is not completely finalized.

Bettencourt added that they are in the works of having an intern program for the local high school students in the area who want to pursue athletic training/medicine.

The biggest outfit award of the meet and greet went to Marysville manager Bill Rogan when he debuted the look of the 2024 Drakes with the uniform that he designed himself.

Marysville manager Bill Rogan shows of the Drakes 2024 uniform he designed at Bryant Field on Thursday, December 7. Photo by Dan Flores

In previous conversations with the Dispatch and at the event, Rogan made the point of how much he didn’t like the inaugural jerseys the Drakes wore in 2023.

Rogan told the Dispatch the old school look is great, and the jerseys are lightweight and feature a collar in the neck for players to have the option to “pop it” whenever they need.

“They’ll be the most talked about baseball uniform,” Rogan said to the Dispatch in November.

Rogan said he loves the community, and it is one of the main reasons he decided to come back and manage for another season.

Rogan added that he and some of the players last season weren’t happy being one game out of the final playoff spot and this is their redemption year.

Rogan said there is no excuse to miss out on the postseason this year as the format for the playoffs from last season will stay intact as the top four teams from the Pacific and Midwest division will make the eight-team playoff field and it went from a 50-game season to 54.

The Pacific division went from eight teams in 2023 to six for 2024 as Monterey and Lancaster didn’t reconvene. The Midwest division expanded from eight to 10 teams from last season with the addition of North Platte, Nebraska and Pecos, Texas.

Rogan told the Dispatch the travel would have been difficult to manage for the Drakes adding any of the other teams from the Midwest division to the Pacific, so that’s how it is going to be for this season.

Gordon, Nichols and Johnson told the Dispatch they are excited to be returning to the roster and have all been working hard in the offseason.

Nichols is transitioning from a closing role last season to the starting rotation as he said. Nichols added that he is currently focusing on his off speed stuff and will have it dialed in by spring training in May.

Johnson experienced a broken wrist last summer and went from being on the injury reserve (IR) for a few weeks looking on from dugout to the pitcher’s mound as Rogan said that Johnson told him he can pitch.

Rogan commented that Johnson was a key piece in the rotation later in the year that brought success for Marysville and is excited to see what a full season brings.

For Gordon, Rogan had joked in his speech during the meet and greet that Gordon’s arms were bulging out too much as it gave the crowd a good laugh.

Gordon told the Dispatch he has a lot to prove and is going to show a tougher side to him this season.

Bettencourt said he loves being a part of the Drakes family and can’t wait for the season to be here.

Spring training for the Drakes begins on Monday, May 13 and they will open the season at Bryant Field on Wednesday, May 22 versus Vallejo.