Building a pipeline

Six of the 19 players on the 2009 Columbia Union College program hail from California, ranging from Glendale to Redlands to San Diego.

It’s a goal of Ricucci’s to continue importing players from throughout the state.

Glendale college has been made aware of that.

For instance, Vaqueros sophomore outfielder Andrew Sember is on the verge of deciding where to transfer. He hasn’t ruled out moving on to Columbia Union College, nor have Vaqueros Byron Pacheco, Chris Turner and Chris Arredondo.

“Coach Ricucci was the first one to start recruiting me,” said Sember, a St. Francis High graduate who batted .283 with two home runs, 23 runs batted in and 23 runs scored last season. “He was impressed with the way I played and I think he likes the GCC players a lot.

“I’ve talked to John and Matt about the atmosphere there and they love it. They are good friends of mine. As a school that’s got a young [baseball] history, you can see that they are competitive year after year.”

There’s a drawback or two to playing baseball year round on the East Coast. For example, baseball usually isn’t played outside during the winter, compared to most of the West Coast, where the sport can be played monthly.

“You can’t play baseball year round back there,” Magallon said. “We have to practice in the college’s gymnasium and improvise what we have. That’s the worst part about it.

“So, we hit grounders on the basketball court and the basketball players get angry from the marks left on the floor. The fly balls have to be thrown up in the air because the gym is so tiny.”

Once the cold winters and springs have become a distant memory, it’s time for Columbia Union College to get cracking on the field.

Hoping to have a vast array of talent coming through the pipeline from California puts the Pioneers in good position to succeed.

“We had about 40% of our roster this season from California,” Ricucci said. “We’d like to try to make it higher because its a recipe that’s worked and you don’t want to deviate from it.”