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2019 Eagle Baseball Coaching Staff

Coach Chris Malec - Head Coach

Former Alumni Chris Malec once again returns to the varsity coaching staff at Santa Margarita. While playing for the Eagles, Chris earned All Serra League honors three straight seasons, as well as being selected to the All-Orange County Team. Chris then attended UC Santa Barbara where he was selected as a Freshman All-American. By the time Chris finished his college career he added three All Big West Selections to his resume.

Chris began his professional career in 2005 when he was drafted by the New York Yankees. Playing AA ball, he was a three time league champion and a 2008 All-Star. Chris retired from professional baseball after reaching the AAA level. During his playing days Chris was recognized by Baseball America as the player with “The Best Plate Discipline”.

Following his successful playing days, Chris jumped into coaching where he taught countless youths the art of fielding, catching and hitting. He managed at the travel ball level for three years and one year with the Mission Viejo High School’s fall/winter program. Additionally, he spent two years as an assistant coach for Saddleback College where he helped six infielders transfer to four- year universities. Chris now runs the Saddleback Cowboys, an organization that has prided itself on development and exposure for their players. They have quickly established themselves as a nationally recognized organization that has competed at the highest level.

Coach Peter Mitchell - Varsity Assistant

Coach Peter Mitchell is a native of Bakersfield, CA where he played football, soccer, and baseball at Bakersfield High School. He was a four year varsity lettermen for the Drillers and started 3 years at the catcher position where he received the Jim Tyack (Bakersfield Athlete of the Year) award, the Mayor’s Trophy, First Team All-Area recognition, and All-State recognition. Coach Mitchell earned a scholarship to play both football and baseball for Whittier College, where he played four years of both sports. At Whittier College, Pete became a utility player starting at catcher, second base, left field, and third base during his college career.

This will Coach Mitchell’s third year with the Eagles program. He previously coached at Whittier College as the third base and pitching coach before being hired on as a Mathematics Teacher for Santa Margarita. Peter now teaches math at Northwood HS and serves as offensive coordinator for the football team under his father and Head Coach Pete Mitchell.

Coach Oscar Barreras - Varsity Assistant

Coach Oscar Barreras is entering his 1st season as Varsity assistant coach at Santa Margarita Catholic High School. For the past 10 years he has been coaching, mentoring, guiding, and motivating players of all levels. Preparing them in their youth while enhancing their physical and mental capabilities in their high school and college careers. Before becoming a coach, Oscar attended Chaffey Community College where he received his AA. He then furthered his education at Cal State University of San Bernardino where he earned his BA in Business. As an amateur player, Oscar had the opportunity of traveling the United States, Mexico, and Canada. Starting at Chaffey College, then moving on to CSUSB, and finally making stops in British Columbia, Canada and Ensenada, Mexico before ending his playing career.

Coach Jason “JJ” Navarro - Varsity Assistant

Coach Jason “JJ” Navarro is entering his first year as the varsity pitching coach for the Eagles. Jason played for the travel ball organization ABD under the late Mike Speirs. In 2007, Jason was chosen to play for a national travel organization where he had the opportunity to play in Puerto Rico against some of the best young talent on the island.

He went on to play college baseball at Lon Morris College in east Texas. When Jason was fifteen years old he met Tom House and the National Pitching Association, which is a research based training facility for rotational athletes. Over the last 12 years Jason has assisted in working with and next to many elite Major League pitchers and a number of NFL quarterbacks, such as Ian Kennedy, Cole Hamels, Barry Zito, Tim Tebow, Matt Barkley and many more, as well as the “Million Dollar Arm” competition winners Rinku Singh and Dinesh Patel. Jason is also in his third year of coaching with the Saddleback Cowboys who have gained national recognition after being established only five years ago.

Coach Seth Melton - Assistant Junior Varsity Coach

Coach Seth Melton is in his first season as a coach at Santa Margarita Catholic High School. Coach Melton has been coaching for 18 years, spending 9 of those years as the Head Varsity Coach at Mingus Union High School and Thunderbird High School. Coach Melton spent the previous 5 seasons coaching at Greenway High School (Phoenix, AZ) and Mountain Pointe High School (Phoenix, AZ) as an assistant to Head Coach Matt Denny.

From 2004 to 2012 Melton served as a Head Varsity Coach at Mingus Union HS and Thunderbird HS. While at Mingus Union Melton's team won the Conference Championship in 2004 and 2005 and in both years his teams played in the Final Four during the state playoffs. From 2006 to 2012 Melton was Head Varsity Coach at Thunderbird High School. In his 7 years as the Head Coach at Thunderbird his teams qualified for the playoffs in 5 of 7 seasons and his 2011 team came up just short in state championship game and finished as runner-up. Additionally, Thunderbird won 2 Conference championships under Melton in 2010 and 2011. Coach Melton has been named Region Coach of the Year 4 times (2004, 2005, 2008, and 2010) and Arizona Coach of the Year once (2011).

Melton has coached 8 players who were drafted and many others who earned scholarships to play college baseball and over a 5 year stretch at Thunderbird the senior class valedictorian was a member of the baseball team. Melton's teams set numerous season school records at Thunderbird including: wins, overall team batting average, homeruns, doubles, and hits in a season. From 2013 to 2016 Melton served as an assistant at Greenway HS. Melton was part of 2 State Championship teams at Greenway in 2014 and 2016. In 2013 Greenway set a new state record for most consecutive wins in a season (29) and in 2014 Greenway finished the season ranked in the top 10 in multiple national polls. Melton has also coached with USA Baseball from 2002 to 2010. His duties while with USA Baseball included field level scout for the 16U Junior Olympics and in 2009 Melton coached the 16U Mountain West team in Cary, NC.

Melton played football, soccer, and baseball at Mingus Union High School. He was a 2 time First Team All-Conference and as a senior he was honored as a 2nd Team All State midfielder in soccer. In baseball, he was also a 2 time First Team All-Conference infielder and as a senior he was named as the conference Player of the Year, as well as First Team All-State and named to the North/South All Star team. After Mingus, Melton attended Glendale Community College where he was part of team that made its first ever appearance in the JUCO World Series. After 2 years at GCC Melton attended New Mexico Highlands University. In his last year at New Mexico Highlands Melton earned First Team All-Conference, First Team All-West Region and Honorable Mention All-American honors as an infielder. Melton went undrafted after his senior season at NMHU, but was offered an opportunity to play with the Chico Heat of the Great West Independent League. He declined the opportunity to continue his career as play to pursue a future as a history teacher and baseball coach.

He has a degree in Secondary Education - History from NMHU. In addition to coaching, Melton will serve as a World History teacher at Santa Margarita.

Coach Melton has been married to Brande for 18 years and together they have two children: Tyler (16) and Paige (12). Coach Melton and his family currently reside in San Clemente, CA. In his spare time Melton enjoys archery hunting, going to the beach, and watching his children play sports.

Coach Mike Willett - Head Frosh | Frosh/Soph Coach

Coach Mike Willett is entering his 9th year coaching baseball at SMCHS, where he has multiple league championships to his credit at the programs various lower levels. Mike’s leadership has been instrumental in preparing the younger players for successful careers at the varsity level.

Mike and his wife Beth have been a part of the Santa Margarita Eagle Family for many years. All three of their children are SMCHS graduates (Megan '03, Kyle '07, and Troy '10). Mike has been coaching youth, club and high school baseball teams in Orange County for over twenty years. Several of Coach Willett's former players, including his son Kyle, have played at the college level. Coach Willett played college baseball at Mount San Antonio College, as well as football and baseball at Pomona HS. Throughout his career in law enforcement, he continued playing the game with the Huntington Beach Police Department Team. He also played for sixteen seasons in the Men's Senior Baseball League, including two MSBL World Series Championships.

Coach Nick Cappuccilli - Frosh | Frosh/Soph Pitching Coordinator

Coach Nick Cappuccilli is an Orange County native who played four successful seasons for Edison High School, where he was named team captain for three different seasons. Nick went on to play collegiate ball at the University of Northern Colorado, Golden West College, and Dakota Wesleyan University, again being honored as team captain in two of his college seasons. Additionally he played in multiple collegiate summer leagues in the U.S. and Canada.

Coach Cappuccilli studied Spanish and Psychology on his way to a Bachelor’s Degree and received his Master’s Degree in 2012. Coach Cappuccilli traveled to Europe to compete in the European Professional baseball league, as well as coach youth players and coaches to introduce and expand baseball in various European countries. In 2014, he traveled to Vladivostok, Russia and Santiago, Dominican Republic where he conducted clinics for local coaches and players. In 2015 he travelled to Shanghai, China to work with Major League Baseball in their player development department in order to promote Chinese, Taiwanese, and Korean baseball players to the Major Leagues. Upon completion in China, he returned to Russia as part of a baseball development and expansion project, where he conducted clinics and demonstrations for over 250 youth athletes and coaches. Coach Cappuccilli joins the Eagles program after spending the 2012 season assisting at Costa Mesa High School and the 2013 season as the pitching coach for Newport Harbor. Baseball runs in his family as his brother is a hitting coach in the Los Angeles Dodgers organization and his brother in law is former major league baseball player, Dale Thayer.

Coach Cap recently moved to Rancho Santa Margarita with his wife Ornela and their daughter Reya. He brings with him a natural and an infectious enthusiasm as he is welcomed back for his 4th year as a valuable member of the Eagles coaching staff.

2017 | Under Armour All-American | Chandler Champlain

Congratulations to senior Chandler Champlain for being selected to the 2017 Under Armour All-American team. The game, which will be played at iconic Wrigley Field on Saturday, July 29th, is the 10th annual event, bringing together the top 40 high school players in the United States, Canada and Puerto Rico. The game will be broadcast on MLB Network.

Champlain, a 6’5” 220 right handed pitcher verbally committed to the University of Southern California in his freshman year at Santa Margarita. Chandler is the first Eagle baseball player to be named an Under Armour All-American in the history of the school. By the end of his junior year, Champlain had created a new school record for number of career strikeouts at 303, and will look to add to that number during his senior year. His fastball has been clocked at 95mph, surpassing Griffin Canning’s school record of 93.