Pitching has been the cornerstone of recent success for the Oregon State baseball team.

It has come from good recruiting, quality coaching and players with the inner drive to be the best.

That formula helped the Beavers reach the College World Series three consecutive seasons and win two national titles. However, the core group of pitchers behind that success has moved on to the pros.

OSU is rebuilding the staff this season, starting with new pitching coach David Wong.

His job is to develop arms that can carry the Beavers now and in the future. There are 19 pitchers to work with, which is why he describes what he does like assembling a jigsaw puzzle.

“It’s a great challenge and a fun challenge,” Wong said. “You need to have guys who are willing to listen and try new things. A lot of guys are at this level because they are successful and have talent. They know what to do, and they like to do it their way.

“Unless something goes wrong, it’s hard to change them. You let it play out and when they are ready to start working, they ask for help.”

Wong brings different philosophies and training styles than previous pitching coach, Dan Spencer.

However, they both follow the basic outline coach Pat Casey put in place when he arrived at OSU from George Fox College14 years ago.

Casey keeps it simple with four principles for someone on the mound:

• Be in good condition;

• Throw strikes on both sides of the plate early;

• Command the offspeed pitches for strikes on any count;

• Have an aggressive attitude.

“Those are basic things we talked about when we started doing this a long time ago,” Casey said. “You need the right guys to do it. We can’t change the system. If we believe that, we have to stay with it and get the right people.”

So far Wong is meeting Casey’s expectations.

Bonding with the players was easy since he was a volunteer coach the last two years. Wong brought impressive credentials into the program, having pitched in the minor leagues for five years.

His coaching resume includes being the head coach of Willamette for 12 years and an assistant there and at Portland for four.

“He helps them mechanically, and that’s what we need with so many freshmen,” Casey said. “That’s what he does best; he’s a natural. It’s going to be different with someone new, but the system of how we want to do things is in place and we coach to that system.”

Wong had to learn each pitcher’s tendencies before the season. They are different in how they approach the game and how they pitch. Motions and release points vary.

He has to see what’s there, and find the best way to get the most out of them. Drastic changes are done in the offseason. He’s tinkering to make them better at this point.

“It has been a pretty smooth transition between coaches,” senior pitcher Mike Stutes said. “Wong is an easy guy to talk to, and that makes it easy. No one is intimidated.”

The most noticeable difference between Wong and Spencer’s approach to pitching is how long pitchers will be left out on the mound.

Spencer was a catcher with the forte of calling pitches. If a pitcher — with certain exceptions — couldn’t throw strikes or was hit, he pulled him for the next guy.

Wong looks at the game as a pitcher, and tries to work with who is in the game. He’ll visit the pitcher in the middle of the inning to correct mechanical flaws and refocus him to get out of troubled.

Dealing with a pitcher’s mental state takes up much of Wong’s time, so he’s an amateur psychologist. By the time they reach this level, the difference between success and failure is about confidence.

“That’s a daily process,” Wong said. “You have to get in their heads every day. They have to be talked into certain things, and work through tough situations.”

Some pitchers are afraid to throw inside because they don’t want to hit the batter. Others can’t throw the ball over the plate because they are afraid of it being hit.

If there’s a day when a pitcher is hit all over the park, he can’t crawl into a dark corner of the dugout and hope the embarrassment goes away. A reliever must be ready to go out the next day. Starters must pitch the next time it’s their turn.

That’s where short memories must come into play in this game. If not, a long-term slump is on the horizon.

“We have 19 arms, and 10-12 throw 88-98 mph,” Wong said. “To me that’s all plus arms. What’s going to separate those guys? It’s going to be what’s between their ears. They need to have the courage to step up and not be afraid to throw the ball over the plate and where they want to.”

Making them believe in themselves is done in different ways. It begins by figuring out the individual personalities on the staff.

Some guys need to be scared into working hard and performing, so Wong pushes them with drill sergeant intensity. Others need to be treated like delicate flowers.

It may sound like a daunting task to put together a top-level pitching staff, but Wong believes his job is relatively easy with all the live arms at his disposal.

Having talent is the first step. Now he’s molding it.

“The main thing that makes a good pitching staff is balance,” Stutes said. “We have five or six guys who can start and five or six guys who can relieve. We’ve had that good mixture. There’s no dropoff when a starter comes out of the game. That’s the key; you keep hitting them with fresh arms and there’s no dropoff in talent.”

DAVID WONG

WHO: Oregon State baseball team’s pitching coach

EDUCATION: Physical education degree from Willamette University

COLLEGE BASEBALL: Willamette (1977-80)

PRO BASEBALL: Kansas City Royals farm system (1980-84)

COACHING: Oregon State, volunteer assistant (2006-present); Willamette, head coach (1991-2003); Portland assistant (1987-88); Willamette assistant (1985-86)

ETC: Pitched for Willamette and played defensive end for the football team. ... NAIA All-American football player in 1979. ... In the halls of fame at Honolulu’s Damien High, Willamette and NAIA District 2. ... Was the MVP of the 1988 National Baseball Congress World Series.

EDITOR’S NOTE: The Oregon State baseball team is known for its pitching. New pitching coach David Wong and several freshmen are on the spot this season to continue the legacy. Today’s story on Wong and what he does begins a five-part weekly series on the pitching staff. Starting, relieving and other aspects of pitching will be highlighted.