Aptos High has hired a new baseball coach and the name is a familiar one for Mariner fans.
He’s Jason Biancardi, 32, twin brother of former Aptos baseball and football player Jeremy Biancardi and older brother to Ryan Biancardi who competed in football and track for Aptos and youngest brother Andrew Biancardi, who starred in baseball for the Mariners and at Santa Clara University. Andrew also played on the Aptos Little League team that won the Western Regionals in San Bernardino and made it to the Little League World Series in Williamsport, Pennsylvania.
“I’m excited,” Jason said. “We’re going to be a young team and we have to rebuild a little, but at the same time I want to compete right away."
Biancardi played football and baseball at Aptos after moving with his family from Santa Maria before his sophomore year. He also played two seasons at Cabrillo College and has assisted at Aptos and has coached with the Rawhide youth program.
“We’re not going to rely on home runs, but I also don’t believe in wasting outs,” Biancardi said. “So I’m not a big fan of the bunt although there’s a time for it. We just need to battle every pitch and make things tough on the (opposing) defense. If you can execute fundamentally and play catch, you can win a lot of games.”
Biancardi replaces Dave Heinevetter who resigned after six years as coach of the Mariners and 11 overall with the program. Heinevetter led the program to SCCAL titles in 2011 and 2012, was three times named league coach of the year and had an overall record of 87-80. Aptos went 6-20 last season and 3-9 in league play, but had four freshmen on varsity which figures to bode well for future Mariner teams.
