First Pitch Banquet / Mustang Dugout Club

In early February 2018 and 2019, the Cal Poly baseball team held a First Pitch Banquet featuring players from past Mustang teams, a dinner and an auction.

The 2018 event was held in the Multi Activity Center and was headlined by former Mustangs Bud Norris and Mitch Haniger, with Logan Schafer on hand as well.

Kevin Correia and former Righetti High School, Oklahoma State and 16-year Major Leaguer Robin Ventura, who also managed the Chicago White Sox for five seasons, fielded questions from the audience at the 2019 banquet inside Mott Athletics Center.

The annual baseball alumni game is played at Baggett Stadium during the afternoon prior to the First Pitch Banquet, though the 2019 game was rained out.

The First Pitch Banquet is co-sponsored by Firestone Grill and Slime and is a fund-raising event for the Mustang baseball program.

Norris pitched in the Major Leagues for 10 seasons with the Houston Astros, Baltimore Orioles, San Diego Padres, Atlanta Braves, Los Angeles Dodgers, California Angels and, during the 2018 season, the St. Louis Cardinals. He had 28 saves in 33 opportunities with the Cardinals, a 3-6 record and 3.59 ERA with 67 strikeouts and just 21 walks over 57 2/3 innings.

Norris was drafted in the sixth round in 2006 by the Astros. He pitched at Cal Poly from 2004-06, compiling a career 14-6 record and 4.47 ERA.

Haniger enjoyed a solid season in the Majors in 2018, hitting .285 for the Seattle Mariners with 38 doubles, 26 home runs and 93 RBI. His 38 doubles were 20th in the Majors, his 26 home runs No. 39 and his 93 RBI 22nd. He produced a 17-game hitting streak in late August and early September, and compiled 44 multiple-hit games. Haniger hit .219 in 64 games in 2019 before sitting out the final four months as well as the entire 2020 season due to a ruptured testicle which required surgery.

Haniger bounced back with a Cinderella season in 2021, producing career highs of 39 home runs, 100 RBIs and 110 runs scored. He tied his career high with 157 games played and his 157 hits were 13 shy of the 170 he produced in 2018.

Haniger hit .282 with 16 home runs and 47 RBI in his first full season with the Mariners (2017). He was traded to Seattle from Arizona following the 2016 campaign and was drafted by the Milwaukee Brewers in the first round (38th selection overall) in 2012. At Cal Poly from 201012, the Archbishop Mitty High graduate earned Big West Player of the Year and second-team All-America honors as a junior.

Drafted in the third round in 2008, Schafer played for the Brewers from 2011-15 and for the Minnesota Twins in 2016 before he was acquired by Baltimore prior to the 2017 season. Schafer played center field at Cal Poly in 2007 and 2008 after one year at Cuesta College. He earned first-team All-Big West Conference honors as a junior in 2008 after hitting .365 with 17 doubles, five triples, nine home runs and 49 RBI and did not commit an error in 140 chances.

Correia enjoyed a 13-year Major League career with the San Francisco Giants, San Diego Padres, Pittsburgh Pirates, Minnesota Twins, Los Angeles Dodgers and Philadelphia Phillies, compiling a 7698 record, including a trio of 12-win seasons, and 4.67 ERA. At Cal Poly from 2000-02, Correia compiled a 17-10 win-loss record with four saves and a 5.15 ERA, striking out 180 batters in 227.1 innings. His 11 wins in 2002 is tied for No. 4 all-time at Cal Poly for victories in a season.

A Righetti High School graduate, Ventura was the 10th overall pick in the 1988 MLB Draft after setting the NCAA Division I record with a 58-game hitting streak at Oklahoma State and played 16 Major League seasons with the Chicago White Sox, New York Mets, New York Yankees and Los Angeles Dodgers. He also managed the White Sox for five seasons.

To sign up for the Mustang Dugout Club, click here.