PG/WWBA is Making an Impact in Recruiting for Club Teams in California
California has always been an island of sorts culturally and geographically. It’s something the state has always seemed to take a great measure of pride in, whether it applies to food, tax laws or ethnic and social tolerance.
That sense of independence from the rest of the country certainly exists when it comes to high school and college level baseball.
California has always had enough young talent not only to provide a steady stream of high draft choices to the professional ranks but to put numerous in-state programs among the traditional elite of college baseball: USC, UCLA, Stanford, Cal State Fullerton, Fresno State, Long Beach State….the list is extensive and consistent.
With the exception of Stanford, it has been and continues to be very rare for California college programs to recruit extensively out of state. There hasn’t been a reason or motivation. All one needs to do is look down the National Letter of Intent lists to confirm this.
The Perfect Game/World Wood Bat Association web sites list 70 current seniors committed to the following schools: UCLA, USC, UC Santa Barbara, UC Irvine, Long Beach State, Santa Clara, California, Fresno State, San Diego, San Diego State, Cal State Northridge and UC Riverside. 62 of those players come from California, plus 5 more from Arizona and Nevada. Missouri, Kansas and Oklahoma claim the final 3 players. Not a single signee to those schools lives east of the Mississippi.
With so much young talent in California, there has always been a sprinkling of talent spread across the country. Much of that talent has taken the form of former California coaches such as Augie Garrido or Larry Cochell recruiting from their former home base, or players leaving the rich California JC ranks for immediate playing time at non-West Coast colleges, especially in the Midwest.
During the past few years, there has been a different trend developing, though. A number of elite level California high school talents of been committing to schools in the South and East that have had no previous presence among the top California prospects.
Two of the most prominent elite level club coaches in California feel there is no question what the reason for the increased national recruiting influence on top California prospects.
Rob Bruno, head of the NorCal summer and fall program, has 3 of his top senior players, OF Diallo Fon (Vanderbilt), SS James Darnell (South Carolina) and C/IF Jameson Smith (Clemson) committed to SEC or ACC schools. Bruno notes that a number of his other top players signed with California schools after seriously considering and visiting ACC/SEC schools, especially Georgia Tech.
Mike Spiers, director of the ABD Bulldogs program, also has 3 of his top seniors, 1B Alan Dykstra (Wake Forest), RHP David Bumstead (Penn State) and RHP Tyler Light (Liberty) heading out east.
“We want to maximize our players exposure to as many college coaches and recruiters as possible,” says Spiers. “At the same time, we want them to be playing against the best players around the country so they and their parents know where they stand. There is absolutely no organization in the country that can do this like Perfect Game and the World Wood Bat Association. The Jupiter event (the WWBA World championship in late October in Florida) alone has many hundreds of recruiters and scouts.”
Says Bruno, “I feel that the multiple WWBA national championship events in Marietta, Georgia during July (in 15 Under thru 18U age groups) has been a real key for our players. The young men and their families are exposed to facilities, coaches and groups of people that they wouldn’t otherwise see. It’s a real eye opener for many of them.”
“I think another factor is that California baseball is very professional, as opposed to college, oriented for the fans. Even the top programs here might only get 1,000 fans for a big game. The kids see that the major colleges in other parts of the country are putting 4,000 to 6,000 people in their ballparks every game. It’s exciting for them.”
Although Perfect Game and the WWBA are working hard to develop their programs in California and across the West Coast, there is still a hesitance among California summer and fall programs to travel to far away destinations such as Georgia or Florida. As coaches, directors and parents realize the benefits of exposing their talented players to a much larger group of college coaches and professional scouts, this, too, could start to change.
Both NorCal and ABD enter teams in multiple WWBA age groups (NorCal was the National 15U WWBA champion) and different tournaments throughout the summer and fall. Other California based programs that traveled outside the region for WWBA events in 2004 included the California Diamond Kings, the San Diego Show, Davis Sports Academy, All Star Baseball Academy and the Inland Bulldogs.
Perfect Game/WWBA are looking to adding more talented California programs looking for national exposure in 2005.
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