NorCal Select Baseball Upcoming Events   

NORCAL SB 4TH OF JULY WOOD BAT CLASSIC
July 4-8
ages - 14U - 16U 4 GAMES GUARANTEED

14U - 16U GAMES @ COLLEGE OF ALAMEDA

NorCal AABC State Tournament

July 12-15 Ages 13u Koufax, 14u Koufax, & 16u Mantle

James Logan HS & Irvington HS

3 Games Guaranteed

* LEAGUE TEAMS ONLY! WINNING TEAM ADVANCES DIRECTLY TO AABC WESTERN REGIONAL TOURNAMENT       

NORCAL SB WOOD BAT SUMMER SERIES

JULY 12-15 AGES - 16U & 18U

CAL STATE EAST BAY & JAMES LOGAN HS

4 GAMES GUARANTEED
12 teams max per age group

In the month of June alone, we have had over 80 teams participate in our events! Our July schedule is filling up fast... Our 2013 Fall schedule will feature some of the most exciting events on the West Coast!!! Visit our website at - www.norcalsb.com to register for all events. We look forward to having your team participate in NorCal Select Baseball events! 

Sincerely,  

Gil Manzanares
(510) 552-5450
NorCal Select Baseball
NorCal AABC/CABA Baseball
All World Sports Co-National Director

Not all of these players I will list are from the Northern California scouting region (such as Eric Smith) and some are at schools outside of the region (like Abe Ruiz).  Many of our high school players leave the region to attend college somewhere else while other players come from high schools out of the region to attend the outstanding college programs in Northern California. If a player is from the region his high school will be listed.

Day 3 - Rounds 16-40

Round (overall), Team, Position/Player, School(s), College Commitment

(Bold = BAWS/RNWS participant during my time with each event)

16 (501) - White Sox - 1B Abe Ruiz, Arizona State (Pacific Grove HS) - signed

17 (521) - Mariners - RF Isaiah Yates, Clovis East HS - signed

17 (522) - Orioles - RHP Nick Grim, Cal Poly (Salinas HS) - signed

18 (550) - Twins - RHP Will LaMarche, Chabot College (Amador Valley HS)

18 (566) - Dodgers - C Eric Smith, Stanford - signed

18 (571) - Red Sox - OF Shaq Thompson, Grant HS-Sacramento - signed

19 (586) - Pirates - RHP Michael Peterson, St. Francis HS

20 (615) - Padres - RHP Cameron Stewart, Valley Christian HS (Fresno State) - signed

Not all of these players I will list are from the Northern California scouting region (such as Dylan Baker) and some are at schools outside of the region (like Andrew Aplin).  Many of our high school players leave the region to attend college somewhere else while other players come from high schools out of the region to attend the outstanding college programs in Northern California. If a player is from the region his high school will be listed.

Day 2 - Rounds 2-15

Round (overall), Team, Position/Player, School(s), College Commitment

(Bold = BAWS/RNWS participant during my time with each event)

2 (80) - Nationals - 2B Tony Renda, Cal (Serra HS) - signed

2 (84) - Giants - RHP Martin Agosta, Saint Mary's (Jesuit HS) - signed ($613,000)

3 (111) - Nationals - LHP Brett Mooneyham, Stanford (Buhach Colony HS) - signed ($429,000)

3 (125) - Phillies - SS/3B Zach Green, Jesuit HS (Oregon State) - signed

4 (130) - Twins - RHP Zach Jones, San Jose State (Santa Teresa HS) - signed

4 (133) - Royals - SS Kenny Diekroeger, Stanford (Menlo School) - signed

4 (139) - Athletics - CF B.J. Boyd, Palo Alto HS - signed

USF Associate Head Coach/Pitching Coach Greg Moore is one of the best in the business.  What makes him so special and frankly different than most college baseball coaches and sports coaches in general is his ability to connect with players on a different level that the playing field.  Because Greg himself is unique and full of depth of character, he sees it in others and connects seamlessly with those who also have depth of character and so much more than what most people see.

That led Greg to write a brilliant and heartfelt piece about Kyle Zimmer.  That article can be found at the USF Baseball website and I have linked it here for you to enjoy.  

The term "student-athlete" is one that means something and Kyle Zimmer, #5 pick in the 2012 MLB Draft, is so much more. 

There are likely dozens of kids in the draft each year who have inspiring backgrounds.  Because I know Mark Appel, I would be willing to bet there are wonderful stories that can be told about his depth of character.  Same with Kenny Diekroeger, Tony Renda, and other great young people who just also happen to be very good at playing baseball.

Ok, full disclosure here... I coached at USF, I played junior college ball for USF head coach Nino Giarratano, USF pitching coach Greg Moore was in my wedding and I coached him for a year, I consider that coaching staff part of my family and after my time there as a coach and after getting my master's degree there, not to mention meeting the mother of my son there, well, I BLEED USF green and gold.

However, all that aside (really?  I can say "all that aside" and mean it?)... do you know how many college programs have had MORE pitchers drafted in the first round than USF's three since the 2007 draft?  Do you? 

The answer is TWO.  Exactly two college programs have had MORE pitchers drafted in the first round (including the supplemental round) than the University of San Francisco.

Vanderbilt, Stanford, San Francisco, Georgia Tech... look at the names of the schools.  Are you surprised? 

Vanderbilt has had five pitchers drafted in the first round, Stanford has had four while USF and Georgia Tech have had three apiece. 

Not all of these players I will list over the next three days are from the Northern California scouting region (such as Kyle Zimmer) and some are at schools outside of the region.  Many of our high school players leave the region to attend college somewhere else while other players come from high schools out of the region to attend the outstanding college programs in Northern California. If a player is from the region his high school will be listed.  For that matter, Appel is actually from the Houston area though he moved here when he was 12 years old.

Round (overall), Team, Position/Player, School(s), College Commitment

(Bold = BAWS/RNWS participant during my time with each event)

1 (5) - Royals - RHP Kyle Zimmer, USF - signed ($3,000,000)

1 (8) - Pirates - RHP Mark Appel, Stanford (Monte Vista HS)

1s (36) - Cardinals - 3B Stephen Piscotty, Stanford (Amador Valley HS) - signed ($1,430,400)

1s (38) - Brewers - OF Mitch Haniger, Cal Poly (Archbishop Mitty HS) - signed ($1,200,00)

1s (52) - Cardinals - 3B Patrick Wisdom, Saint Mary's - signed ($678,790)

1s (56) - Cubs - RHP Paul Blackburn, Heritage HS (Arizona State) - signed ($911,700) 

60 total picks on day one which means 10% of the day one picks came from schools in Northern California. 

It is a "tired" argument or line of discussion, but I have to make it again.  The West gets a raw deal in terms of how many quality teams are left out of the tournament while the "power" conferences like the ACC and Big 12 get lots and lots in but underperform year after year.  The fact of the matter is that in baseball, those conferences aren't powerful like they are in football and basketball.  Western conferences like the Big West and the WCC, which are not football conferences and are mid-major types in regard to basketball (except for Gonzaga and BYU), they ARE power conferences in baseball.  I would stack up the Big West against either the ACC or Big 12 and believe the WCC would hold it's own against those two conferences as well.

The Pac-12 is the best baseball conference in the nation. More big leaguers come from Southern California than another region in the country and no conference has more Southern California players than the Pac-12... except maybe the Big West.  The WCC is also full of good Southern California high school players, as is the WAC.  Furthermore, Northern California is one of the top 3-4 regions for producing big leaguers and as recently as a couple of years ago, was second only to Southern California in that regard. 

Those who pick their tourney favorites for the NCAA hoops tourney routinely scour the rosters for which teams have the most future NBA players on them and go with those teams.  History has shown that the teams with the most future NBA players do VERY well in that tourney and more of than not, the team with the most and best future NBA players wins the tourney.

Why should it be different in baseball?  The Pac-12 produces big time big leaguers and the Big West has plenty of future big leaguers, as does the WCC. 

It is time to change the perception of which conferences are the power conferences in baseball. 

Arizona will face St. John's in a super-regional and will be favored.  Stanford will travel to play at Florida State and though it will be a challenge, they are the more talented team and have a great shot to win.  Oregon will host Kent State and will be favored.  UCLA will get either TCU or Mississippi and will host, so they will also have a strong shot to advance.  If four of five invited teams from the Pac-12 advance to the College World Series (and ASU didn't get in because they are on probabtion), that speaks quite loudly. 

Ask any of those teams what they think of having to play teams like Long Beach State, Fullerton, Cal Poly, USF, San Diego, Pepperdine, etc in their non-conference midweek games and I think they'd all say those teams are tourney talented teams that prepare them for tough Pac-12 play and for the NCAA tourney.

Last Saturday night I saw the CCS D1 final between Valley Christian and San Benito.  Valley Christian won, 3-1, behind a no-hitter from senior RHP Cameron Stewart.  They scored three runs in the first before San Benito settled down and from then on it was a pretty tight contest.

Stewart is a tall pitcher, around 6'8" I believe.  He was at BAWS 2011 and I want to say he was up to 87 mph in his outing there.  I did not have a radar gun on him in this game but he was solidly in the mid-80s and mixed in a nice breaking ball.  He located at the knees, got a few punchouts but mostly just threw strikes and let his defense work.  The umpire had a pitcher-friendly zone, particularly for low and away breaking balls to right-handed hitters and both teams took advantage of that zone.  Stewart was composed, never got caught up in the moment and seemed very in control of himself.  He is headed to Fresno State in the fall.

Other players I liked in this game were San Benito catcher Jacob Tonascia and their lead-off hitter, centerfielder Josh George.  Tonascia is a big kid with a good arm and presence in the box.  He had the best at-bats against Stewart and made him throw a lot of pitches.  In the first after George reached on an error, he made his way to third base with one out.  Tonascia battled, fouled off some tough pitches, and drove in the run with a ground ball to second base.  It was a great RBI at-bat and approach.  He has a pretty short stroke for a big kid and I have seen his raw power, displayed on a home run at Santa Clara U last year at BAWS 2011.

Tonascia threw some between inning throws to second base in the 2.00 range, one was 2.02 and another was 1.97.  He showed good feel for receiving and worked VERY hard at blocking balls in the dirt all night long.  He seems to have all we are looking for in a backstop, arm strength, work ethic, power with the bat, and soft/strong receiving hands with good receiving technique.

As for George, he runs well (4.29 down the line) and hits from the left side.  He showed a short, flat, line-drive type stroke and I really like the way he ran the bases.  His overall approach and style of play reminded me of former Monterey HS star and current Santa Clara centerfielder Lucas Herbst.  Good player.

For Valley Christian, they have some good young players, in particular sophomore shortstop Bryson Brigman.  He has a lively swing and good approach and should be a safe bet to hit for average and some extra base power at the college level.  He played well at shortstop and as long as he develops a good quick release, he could stay there in college.  I have seen him hit before and that is his calling card at the college level.

Baseball America has some value when it comes to scouting and rankings for the draft.  I don't consider their evaluations as the end-all be-all for information because much (most) of what they get comes from second and third hand information.  When you read stuff on Baseball America is also important to know that when they do talk to scouts and scouting directors and agents (named as "an AL scout" or a "NL scouting director") they are getting information those sources WANT to put out and a lot of it actually misinformation or propaganda, depending on the source.  But they do the work to compile lists and try their best, with the info they have, to guess a draft order.  

Of the 500 players listed in this draft preview (you need to be a subscriber), there are 42 players listed from this area.  Either they are FROM the area or they go to a college in the area.  I will have to comb the list a big more to see if there are kids from the area at colleges outside of the West.  They are listed in the order they appear, with their overall rank.  Enjoy!  Long live Northern California, one of the hottest of all baseball prospect hotbeds!

3. RHP Kyle Zimmer, USF

4. RHP Mark Appel, Stanford (Monte Vista HS)

26. 3B/OF Stephen Piscotty, Stanford (Amador Valley HS)

42. OF Mitch Haniger, Cal Poly (Archbishop Mitty HS)

56. RHP Freddy Avis, Menlo School (signed w/Stanford)

57. RHP Paul Blackburn, Heritage HS (signed w/ASU)

74. RHP Derick Velasquez, Merced College

82. RHP Dylan Baker, Western Nevada College

97. 2B Tony Renda, Cal (Serra HS)

By now the NCAA regional bids are already awarded and we know that Fresno State and Stanford are in.  Fresno State won the WAC tourney and Stanford earned an at-large bid and will host a regional.  Fresno State, Pepperdine, and Michigan State will be in that regional.

Let's see how all of our regional teams did...

- Stanford (1-2 vs Cal, 38-16 season, 18-12 Pac-12) - The Cardinal dropped an 18-inning game in game one of the series, got pounded 15-5 in game two then bounced back to win game three 5-3.  They were awarded an at-large NCAA bid and will host a regional.  The Cardinal remain a strong contender to reach the College World Series.  They have a couple of first round draft prospects and a handful of other players who will be drafted in the top 10 rounds.  This is a talented and experienced team.

- Fresno State (5-1 @ WAC tourney, 30-26 season, 8-10 WAC) - Is there a tougher team to eliminate from a tournament than Fresno State?  The Bulldogs played a WAC tourney record six games and won five, including the WAC title clinching 4-3 13-inning victory over Sacramento State.  The winner of that game had a NCAA tourney bid on the line and Fresno State salvaged what had been a pretty substandard season by their program's standards.  However, they are alive and well and have pitching that can contend in a regional.  They play Stanford on June 1st and they are the only team who has beaten Stanford's outstanding All-American Mark Appel.  The rematch is set.