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Goags20172
162UCD baseball's Twitter site released the names of 7 recruits (so far) that have signed letters of intent. Just some highlights I gained from maxpreps.com
Nate Freeman, RHP, Benecia.
Great junior year in 2018. Averaged less than an earned run per nine innings and more than a strikeout per inning.
Nick Iverson, IF, Marantha
Looks like a top- of the order hitter with speed who runs the bases very well. He was only caught stealing once in 2018.
Kai Janowicz, RHP, Mission Prep HS
Interestingly Maxpreps lists him as a sophomore but says he graduates in 2019. If all of this is correct he must be skipping a year of HS. Probably a great academic fit for UCD. Unfortunately has a losing record to show for very good pitching so far, but that's more a factor of run support.
Joe Lampe, IF, Casa Grande (Petaluma)
What really impresses me is he's been promoted (from Freshman to JV and JV to varsity) mid- season each of his first 2 years. Looks to be another speedy basestealer like Iverson.
Zach Carrell, LHP Davis
The aggies did well recruiting in their backyard. Good numbers,. Can always use another lefty pitcher. Just guessing, but I think he probably doesn't aspire to work at a paper company.
Jonah Henrickson, 1B, Davis
From his fielding stats I would gather he's an excellent defensive first baseman. Even outstanding defensive players at the hs level still make errors, but he didn't make any in 2018. Interestingly he is a goalkeeper for the soccer team as well. The skills of a goalkeeper (quick hands and footwork), are very transferible to the corner infield spots, so perhaps UCD will give him some time at third base too. Has some pop with the bat as well.
Kaden Riccomini, IF/P, Mt. Shasta
UCD has recruited a few high school pitcher/shortstops in recent seasons (Hannah, Briggs, Van Blake, Meredith), but they eventually settle in at one or the other. Van Blake hasn't pitched since his freshman year. Briggs gets the odd pitching appearance here and there (maybe not in 2019). Hannah has pitched exclusively. It will be interesting to see how Riccomini does. He hit over .500 as a junior (I don't care what level of competition you're at- extremely impressive)and didn't allow an earned run in 30- plus innings of work.
On a somewhat related note I have to wonder if Jalen Smith won't play some in the outfield corners this year. With Murray and Van Blake in the middle infield (and Arenado + Meredith in line for playing time too) there's not a lot of playing time for him there in 2019. He could redshirt, but I got the impression from fall games that the Aggies are a bit short- handed when it comes to healthy outfielders this fall. The probable starters are good, but some of the reserves may be recovering from injuries. I mentioned Alejandro Lara standing in the box each half inning and taking pitches. Well, if I recall correctly he had a sleeve on his left forearm and was only really taking abbreviated half- swings. Maybe range- of- motion exercises ? I'm thinking his 2018 season must've ended due to being hit by a pitch on the forearm or elbow. -
SoCalDavisFan
6It's interesting that the Aggies primarily recruit players from Northern Ca rather than So Cal. There is a large talent pool down here. LBSU, CSFU, and UCI, Ca Poly and the rest of the Big West recruit primarily in the South. No reason in my mind why UCD cannot get these players, given the education and setting. -
Goags20172
162I could probably write a book on this, but to put it simply I think it's at least partially money- related. I've long thought UCD baseball was a labor of love for the coaches, players, fans,and alumni donors, but that the university wasn't financially supporting it adequately. Case in point- I don't think the coaching staff is getting the budget to travel to see these players. I thought I had read an article written by Jared Sasaki saying Vaughn had flown out to see him pitch during the recruiting process. I wonder how many flights, hotels, and rental cars they can squeeze into the budget though. Sometimes the coaches probably have to pay their own way.
I've already heard the reason they rarely have an out- of- state recruit is that the university doesn't want to be on the hook for financial aid dollars helping a student- athlete not pay what is supposed to be extra revenue in the UC coffers. Now basketball has out- of- state (and foreign) recruits but the team is smaller + bring back a higher percentage of the program costs back in ticket revenue + merchandise. I imagine the actual ticket revenue from a UCD baseball game probably covers the cost of the baseballs used and the concession stand workers' wages. Just a guess -
Goags20172
162I believe that UCD is fully funded for baseball scholarships, but that's just speculation on my part. Seems like every time I read an online newspaper article about a recruit they're mentioning him getting a baseball scholarship. Also every year they seem to have a couple of players who are on the roster but don't play. You don't have to be on the roster to redshirt (Gedestad as an example), but you do if you're on a baseball scholarship. So if you're not on scholarship + you're not going to play (due to injury or whatever) it makes no sense to give you a roster spot for the year. Yet in 2016 UCD had 3 pitchers on the roster who never threw a pitch that year (Austin Amante, Jed Moscot, and Orlando Razo) + they knew in advance wouldn't play. All 3 were likely on scholarship as three mediocre walk- ons would have better than nothing if money wasn't a factor. Just speculating though.
The NCAA has some screwy rules for baseball scholarships. The minimum you can get if you get anything at all is 25%. Well, that doesn't go equally into 11.7. Why 11.7 and not 12 ? How much is 30 percent of the tuition + books @UCD ? Not much unless you're the parent of a UCD student. So to reach 11.7 you have to have 1 or 2 odd ones at least that aren't a multiple of 25.
Other things that are screwy. You can have 35 players but only 27 scholarship players. And because UCD is right around the roster limit it means at least 6- 8 players each year aren't even getting so much as textbook assistance unless it's on a separate academic scholarship. Makes me wonder if perhaps this is part of the reason Sac State usually features a small roster around 26 or 27. To keep costs down perhaps they limit the roster to scholarship players only. Surely they have 7- 8 good players in the fall that they could use, even just as reserves.
Also strange is the way NCAA baseball scholarships aren't guaranteed for all 4 years. You may enter getting a full ride but by your junior or senior year you might be getting less or nothing. My understanding is that with basketball it's usually a full and stays a full unless you don't keep your grades at a satisfactory level or you get put on some sort of disciplinary action. -
FullertonBaseballFan
11It's 11.7 because in 1991 there was a 10% cut by the NCAA from a max of 13 scholarships for Title IX reasons and the number has never budged since then. I had heard in the past that UC Davis was underfunded with scholarships for baseball. I don't know if that has changed. The Big West mandates for all priority sports (such as baseball) that schools have a minimum of 80% of the scholarship limit used so in baseball that number is just under 9.4 scholarships.
Overall budget for baseball would be a factor in why UC Davis doesn't recruit much in SoCal (or not handing out all 11.7 scholarships or not traveling much by plane for a non-conference series). Another reason is there are less teams to compete against in recruiting for players in NoCal, especially public schools, compared to down here. More players down here and a lot more competition for them. North of Fresno, the only D1 public schools in CA are Cal, UC Davis and Sac State. That's why Fullerton likes to recruit in the Sac metro area and has had quite a bit of success finding players up there.
With hoops (M and W) and FBS football there is no splitting up of scholarships so if somebody screws up, they don't lose 1/2 of the scholarship, they get run off. In FCS football and all other sports, the scholarships can be partials. Almost nobody in baseball is on a full ride with baseball-only scholarship money. It's too hard to do that with 27 guys splitting up 11.7 scholarships. -
SochorField
169My daughter's softball team had a clinic this weekend. Nate Freeman was one of the coaches at the facility (several Benicia High kids working there). Nice kid! We talked Davis a little. -
ProAggieGuy
10UC Davis recently rec’d the 11.7 scholarships allowed. I think last year... Before that, they were at 9.something... About time! This is the work of the A.D. Dr. Kevin Blue.. Probably one of the best things to happen to UCD baseball.. The future is bright!!! -
Goags20172
162It occurs to me that competition for roster spots will be unusually tough next year. With Trautner, Torres, and Spezia not making the team there are three roster spots that won't be vacated by graduating seniors. If I'm correct the only seniors this year are Brown, Hannah, Briggs, Van Blake, Kelly, and Lyford (depending on which roster you believe). The game program had Lyford as a redshirt junior, but the online roster listed him as a senior. If he graduated HS in '14 he'd be a 5th year senior unless he did something to stop the eligibility clock, like taking a year off before enrolling in college or getting a 6th year from the NCAA. 5 or 6 roster spots opening and 7 recruits listed here + there will be more. Competition is good, but so far no one has played poorly to make those roster decisions easier. The BW games will help some.
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