State of SMC Baseball: Part 2
By Simon Tryzna
Saint Mary’s Athletics and Recreation Corridor
Potential.
If there is any word to describe Saint Mary’s baseball, it is potential.
In the coming days, construction is finally set to begin on the new Athletics Recreation Corridor, the bigger part of a two-part project that will see a new recreation center build for students, new locker rooms, meeting rooms, and coaches offices for the athletics department, as well as permanent stands and more of a “stadium” feel for the new diamond the Gaels have been playing on for the last two years. That alone should help Saint Mary’s recruitment.
According to Baseball America writer Aaron Fitt, former Saint Mary’s Assistant and Pepperdine alumn Eric Valenzuela will take the job. If Fitt is correct, then Valenzuela brings in a wealth of knowledge to Saint Mary’s. Not only is he a respected pitching coach, but he is familiar with both Northern and Southern California, and he was in charge of recruiting for USD and San Diego State, where he was most recently at as a pitching coach. Using the knowldge from working alongside MLB legend Tony Gwynn at SDSU can’t hurt either.
In 2013-2014 the Gaels will be led by Collin Ferguson (ranked by Baseball America as Saint Mary’s top prospect BEFORE last season), Anthony Villa, and Ricky Boas. Pitcher Thomas Cortese and infielder Nikko Saenz are having good summers in the Far West League (summer ball for college athletes) and will be playing for the Far West All-Star Team.
It will take a strong recruiting class to get the Gaels to the next level, but with a stadium finally being built, and with a right coach in place, the potential is there for Saint Mary’s baseball.