With the exception of some key guidelines, most college athletes were able to compete during the 2021 season. Meanwhile, Baseball for CCAA schools has been dormant for the past two years. Now in 2022, CCAA schools will look to finally ramp up and resume the action for spring sport athletes. The past two years have created challenging times for both athletes and coaches alike in the CCAA. One thing is for certain, everyone is eager to get back on the diamond!

“Boy, it has been two years since we played! Our goal may be just to survive. Health is going to be such a factor for us. So honestly, our goal is to play hard and compete. We will see where the chips fall.” Vince Beringhele Head Coach for Cal State LA, stated when talking about some of the goals for the upcoming season. There are many coaches within the conference that share Coach Beringhele’s sentiment.

While it’s hard to not dwell on the past, head coach of San Francisco State Tony Schifano is already looking forward to the challenge of a new season. “A handful of players chose to extend their graduation, train on their own last year and come back this season to compete and graduate. It was difficult to watch other programs around the country compete last season but we have moved past last year and are ready to compete this coming Spring.”

Roster Management After COVID

As coach Schifano explained, there were athletes that were hungry to compete over the past Spring. Combine that with the difficulty of recruiting during a pandemic while also trying to piece together the right mix of guys and you start to realize that fielding a full team is no easy task. Having the right blend of leadership, veteran presence, role players and young talent is crucial if a team want’s to be competitive during the season.

“Early, we were just trying to get bodies in here. Now we’ve been able to kinda really get our recruiting standards to where we want them to be. We’ve got really good competition all around the field, that’s what you have to have, from our older guys to our younger guys.” Cal State San Bernardino Head Coach Michael Nadeau said with confidence as he’s eager to start the season on schedule. Coach Nadeau has been coaching for nearly 20 years, so the pandemic’s abrupt impact on recruiting players has been a difficult adjustment for him, and many other CCAA coaches. After talking with him, it was clear that despite the challenge, he’s excited for his players to prove themselves this year.

Cal Poly Pomona is gearing up with a volume approach this year as they have added 20 new players to their roster, giving them a total of 34 players. Head Coach Randy Betten said that it’s a big turn-around from 2020, where recruits were hard to come by. He expressed similar sentiments to other CCAA coaches as even with the extra challenge, he’s just happy to be back out on the field with his players.

Who to watch in the CCAA

On the players’ side of things, there is a lot of positivity and excitement to watch these young student-athletes compete. With that in mind, below are some stand out CCAA Baseball players to keep an eye out for in 2022.

Graduate student and infielder, Ryon Knowles from Cal Poly Pomona had an impressive season until the pandemic brought the 2020 campaign to a haut. He had a .333 batting average with 6 doubles, 12 RBIs, and 2 home runs. He also had a perfect fielding percentage of 1.000 and helped convert 15 double plays.

Junior pitcher Raul Salazar at Cal State San Bernardino is another exciting player to watch. As a recent transfer from Pepperdine, he will be hoping to make an immediate impact. Salazar sat out the 2020 season, but in 2019, he had 20 strikeouts with his best start coming against Cal State Fullerton. A game in which he went 6 innings, giving up only 2 runs with 6 strikeouts. Coach Nadeau had stated that he’s expecting him to be the Friday night guy for the Coyotes.

Another player to keep an eye for the 2022 season is Jordyn Eglite, who is a Junior and pitcher for San Francisco State. Eglite was turning out an impressive 2020 season until the pandemic hit. His most notable start was against Simpson University of the California Pacific Conference. In that matchup, he pitched 6 shutout innings for the Gators while only giving up 1 hit and recording 6 strikeouts.

Time to play ball

After sitting out for nearly two years, baseball is alive and well in the CCAA with plenty of competition for these student athletes to test their mettle. The sacrifices that both players and coaches have made proves their commitment to their respective programs. Now it is finally their time to once again take the field and compete!