JUCOs in Northern California

Butte College supposedly has a strong baseball program. Chico is beautiful but has its reputation as a party town (Thank you, I contributed to that ). I believe that many of its players later transfer to 4 year colleges. Good Luck!

What are you looking for in the way of a juco program? There are many quality Jr. Colleges with good to excellent baseball in Northern CA. Just about any school in the Big 7 conference plays very good baseball and the Bay Valley Conference also has some quality baseball played there.

In follow-up to BBfam's comments, yes, Butte College has a good baseball program with a nice facility. Anthony Ferro, their Head Coach, is a true gentleman and a very good baseball coach. As far as Chico State is concerned, all I'll say is they are a national powerhouse at the D-2 level, and Chico is a nice town away from the major metropolitan areas.

If you'd narrow down what you want to know, I'll try and help with some additional information.

If I remember correctly, your are from San Francisco. If so, I would check CSM. Coach Williams recruits high quality players and does as well as anyone in getting those players placed in 4 year programs, with more than a few drafted along the way. They also compete for a final 4 position in the State tournament every year. If you check the CSM baseball website, you will see the success of the program baseball wise and in giving the players opportunities beyond the JC level. Good luck

Thanks for input. I'm posting this query after reading some other posts in another thread about pitching and JUCOs. My son is an 07 pitcher playing in the WCAL currently. He's had some experience in tournaments. Not much. His summer league is okay. We're looking for a more competitive summer league for this year. After reading a post that brings up the question of playing time, player development and maturity in pitchers, it makes me think that a JUCO might be a good thing for him. What is he looking for in a school/baseball program? I think, in all honesty, right now he's looking for a bit more freedom. Maybe a residential JUCO (Feather River College is the only college I've found that has dorms.) A quality baseball program so that he can develop, have fun, play a lot, meet some different baseball people, etc. As far as school, he's okay academically. I think he could use some low pressure guidance. However, I think that if he ended up a local JUCO (like CSM, Skyline) he might not be happy...i.e. some former teammates are at these schools and not doing much. One thing I know...if he doesn't play everyday, he'll be unhappy.

Would echo the quality of the CSM program. Hartnell in Salinas is a very good program. Siskiyous has dorms, while it is in snow country it offers many of the things you mention.

44

Newcomer, I think it is great you are exploring all the various options that might suit your son best. One suggestion would be to reconsider the importance of his "need to play everyday." For the most part, it just doesn't work that way after high school. At the next level, your son will be surrounded by 25-30 players who were all league, MVP and who are really talented. And he will be one of the youngest. Most of those players will be more experienced, be stronger, and be better adjusted to college life and how it integrates with the demands of baseball. This is likely to be true in JC and 4 year programs. In terms of importance, the quality of the education, your son's response to a visit to the school, relationship with the coach and how he feels with the team are far more important criteria in choosing a "best fit". I would watch a lot of the games of those schools where there is solid interest and try and candidly estimate where yours fits talentwise. When you talk with coaches, you will hear that your son "can play." If that is the main focus, the rest of the coaches comments on playing time might not be heard. In college, your son will compete for playing time as he never has before and will find all the areas that he needs to improve in order to play. Just my view, but if the criteria for his being happy/very unhappy in college is whether he plays immediately and a lot, he is risking being very disappointed.
Please know these are very personal views and I hope my candid opinions of how tough college/college baseball and the difficulty of each provides some helpful difference of views.. I am not meaning to be critical in any way.

Infielddad;
Great insight, we are going threw this right now with our 06.
Getting interest from D1 and below. Just waiting for the dead period to end. He was such a late Bloomer. Always could play well, just size wise was alittle lite. But Projects well Now.
Juco might be the best fit, But just don't Know yet.
Ultimately it has to come down to the Player and were he thinks he fits in best.
I would think that that he would get much more playing time at the JUCO, then the D1. In his Freshman Year. The EH

theEH, am very familiar with late bloomer types. That was our son also. Smallest player on his JV football team as a freshman. Got his DI offer about July 30... after his senior graduation. Had committed to a TX DIII and followed through on that. Played nearly every inning for 4 years and got placed in great summer leagues all of which, with his performance, got him chance to continue playing professionally. Fully understand the view that options are DI vs JC. Can assure you that DIII's in the SCIAC and especially in the South and East present vastly different opportunities than those we see in Northen CA. Just a thought for you. Fully understand the DI but that isn't the entire picture when you finally get to college baseball. Good luck to your son. I love the late bloomers and all they encounter to finally get viewed based on performance, not size.

Sacramento CC is in the top ten every year

Newcomer -
Here is the 2005 Directory of CA Juco Baseball Teams. You can find stats on each team here: SpincoStats

Is the Northern Conference any better than the Southern Conference? Or vice versa? Or is there one league better than another in California Community College Baseball? THanks

Based on the State Championship Records it seems to be pretty balanced ... a few more Southern champions in the recent years.