As spring draws near, that means one thing for many people at Ralston Valley — baseball.

With spring and baseball fast approaching, Ralston Valley has hired a new baseball coach, Mr. Steve Falconi.

Robbie Bales, who coached RV last season, resigned his position last semester and is now serving as an assistant coach at Colorado School of Mines.

Falconi comes to Ralston Valley as a first-time head coach. However, he has plenty of baseball experience.

Falconi played college ball for Regis University as a starting pitcher. During his time at Regis, Falconi won 20 games, which is tied for 11th in school history.

During his final year at Regis, Falconi was named to the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference All-Academic Team, where he achieved first-team honors, the only starting pitcher that year to do so.

Falconi also has coaching experience with Wheat Ridge and D’evelyn High School, working as an assistant at both schools.

With him, Falconi brings an organized, hardworking and professional coaching philosophy.

He believes in the (New York) ‘Yankee Way’ of doing things, and players are expected to look and acting like a professional, on the field, in the classroom and as part of the community.

Falconi will not only be joining RV as a baseball coach, but also as a teacher in the English department teaching English 10 and English 12.

“The reason I chose to coach at RV, is that here at RV academics are just as important as athletics and that is important to me,” Falconi said. “For me, teaching is just as important as coaching.”