Dan Molieri, a pitcher for the Skyline Trojans, grew up in a baseball family, close to many people who have had successful careers in baseball.

“Barry Bonds is my godfather,” Molieri said. “I know a lot of people who have been successful in the game.”

Having the all-time homerun leader as his godfather has been a big inspiration for Molieri in the pursuit of his baseball career.

“(Bonds) has inspired me to be the best I possibly can be,” Molieri said. “The bar is set pretty high when you have someone to look up to as great as he was.”

Molieri, who has been pitching since he was a sophomore in high school, decided to come to Skyline away from his hometown of Sonora.

“I knew people that had spoken very highly of Skyline (College),” Molieri said, “not just of the program itself but the coaching staff, how successful they had been in the past as well as the track record that Coach Dino Nomicos had in sending players to four-year schools.” Nomicos has sent over 100 baseball players to four-year schools in his 10 years coaching at Skyline.

Molieri has applied to several four-year colleges and is waiting to hear back. Spring 2012 is Molieri’s last semester at Skyline playing for Nomicos.

“My experience playing for Nomicos and the rest of the Skyline staff was unreal,” Molieri said. “My intelligence of the game of baseball and life has expanded so much playing under the wing of Dino. Between the work of Coach Dino and Coach Quintell, the two of them opened up my career and talent to new levels from what they had taught me.”

This year Molieri was able to set the Skyline baseball record for entering into the most game appearances at 26. He also led all California community college pitchers in appearances with 26, and led the team with a 3.21 ERA.

“He was able to both improve his velocity and his ‘stuff’ (the quality of his pitches),” Assistant Baseball Coach Lucas Borgo said. “He came in this year in the best shape of his life and worked hard to maintain his fitness level so he could compete every day. Really, over the course of the off-season, he was able to improve on every facet of his game to become a better player.”

For freshman teammate Cory Fauble, Molieri was a strong captain. He was vocal and willing to help others who were struggling and do anything for any of his teammates.

“Without Dan, we will lack having a pitcher who can just come in the game at any time and have a real good chance of shutting the other team out,” Fauble said. “I’m pretty sure he led the state in appearances, so we went to him a lot and he was that one consistent pitcher who you knew what you were going to get from him.”

Molieri’s short-term goals are to receive a scholarship, prepare himself to play baseball for two more years and then receive his Master’s degree in kinesiology and special education.

“What motivates me is that I am never satisfied with average and always want to play at the best ability I can,” Molieri said. When he finishes playing baseball, Molieri wants to become a graduate assistant and eventually come back to coach with Nomicos at Skyline.

“His strengths as a leader were also his strengths as a playe,” Borgo said. “He is a workhorse, the hardest worker on the team both mentally and physically. He dedicated himself to learning pitching and poured himself wholeheartedly into Skyline baseball.”