Because one was a Salles and the other a Rohm, it was a given they would play baseball, be groomed by fathers who had succeeded in the game and, some day, likely contribute to high school programs in the Fresno-Clovis area.
What couldn't have been predicted was this:
When Clovis West junior J.D. Salles and Clovis senior David Rohm face off as pitchers tonight at Lloyd Merriman Field, it will be a match of the top Player of the Year candidates in the Central Section's top league, the Tri-River Athletic Conference.
Salles is 11-0 with an 0.61 earned-run average, and is batting .409 for a 21-7 team ranked fourth.
Rohm is 8-1 with a 2.11 ERA, and is batting .443 for a 22-6 team ranked second.
Salles, like dad John Salles, is a bulldog who will stare you down, zip a fastball under your chin and then stare you down again as you crawl back to the dugout, another K in his book.
Rohm, like dad Dave Rohm, is a mild-mannered athlete who takes care of business with little emotion and lets the scoreboard tell the story.
Bottom line, Fernie Garcia says: "J.D. and David are well-disciplined guys with good work ethic, and it shows."
The commitment is largely about inheritance, passed down from the fathers, both of whom played for a coach big on dedication, Fresno State's Bob Bennett.
Garcia is qualified to assess the family combinations and the sons' development, having played with Dave Rohm at Fresno State and coached John and J.D. Salles and David Rohm on Greater Fresno boys baseball teams, which play international competition every summer.
Garcia says of J.D.: "He's so much like John, it's unbelievable. J.D.'s mechanics are exactly what John was taught when he was at Fresno State. They pitch alike and think alike."
And he says of David Rohm: "Similar, but not so similar. David has a different type of delivery, and he doesn't throw as hard as Dave Sr. But, you know what, he lives by that changeup. And even though he's not like that Ferguson Jenkins and Bob Gibson type of guy like J.D., it's not like he doesn't have it in him to back a guy off."
The dominance of Salles and Rohm this season, Garcia says, is no surprise.
From question to answerJonathan David Salles' statistics today suggest he's automatic, but it wasn't always that way.
"We weren't sure," Clovis West coach Kevin Patrick says, questioning in February not the player's talent but his role.
The season began as a utility infielder and No. 3 or No. 4 pitcher.
"We figured he'd fit in the lineup somewhere," Patrick says, "but I don't know that we expected 11-0 out of a junior."
But this isn't any junior.
The pedigree was established in the '60s, when John Salles Sr. -- the grandfather commonly referred to as "Big John" -- pitched for Roosevelt and then signed with the Pittsburgh Pirates.
"He taught me to compete at home," John Jr. says. "And I've taught J.D. We insist on that. We compete at home if we're playing cards."
J.D. was born in 1991 in Charlotte, N.C., where his father was playing Double-A baseball.
"Born at the ballpark," dad says. "He was at the game smelling popcorn at 8 years old."
Soon after, John began planting seeds of the pitching mechanics that earned him national attention at Fresno State: Balance at the beginning of the windup, low back leg drive, balance at the end of the windup and fire.
"We've got pictures of him in diapers picking that leg up and holding it there," his father says, laughing.
J.D. was asked when it all began: "Organized pitching since 7, living room pitching since 2. I love it. And it's not like, 'You're playing because you're my son.' I've wanted to do it forever."
Catcher, pitcher, MVP?Rohm, who should be named the Tri-River Athletic Conference's Most Valuable Player, catches on Tuesdays, pitches on Fridays and bats first in the lineup for a reason -- more opportunities.
Take Tuesday night at Clovis West.
Clovis, needing a win to clinch the league title outright, trails 1-0 in the fourth. Bases are loaded and reliever Christian Fetters has little choice but to challenge Rohm with a 3-1 fastball.
Bam!
"That's the guy we want up in that situation," Cougars coach James Patrick said after the grand slam.
Rohm, a three-year fixture with the bat -- and a player who returns home at lunch for 15 minutes of cuts in a batting cage on every game day -- figured to carry the team's offense. But, although he pitched when he was younger, his mound contribution is startling, considering he threw only one game as a junior.
"I thought I would close [as a reliever]," he said. "But we know how things panned out."
Dave Rohm's strategy, as opposed to that of John Salles, placed more emphasis on versatility for an athlete who has played every position but middle infield.
"My thinking," Dave Rohm says, "was, say, if he advances to college ball, he's got more options, he could fill any spot."
The Rohms have been contacted by Mike Batesole and his staff at Fresno State. And the younger Rohm makes his intentions clear: "I want to be a Bulldog."
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