Santa Cruz Sentinel

August 10, 2007

With Crocker, Aptos has four committed to D-I baseball programs
By JIM SEIMAS
Sentinel staff writer

Fleet-footed outfielder Bobby Crocker became the fourth soon-to-be senior on Aptos High's nationally ranked baseball team to give a verbal commitment to play at the NCAA Division-I level in the 2008-09 season.

Crocker gave his verbal to Cal Poly-San Luis Obispo two weeks ago. In San Luis Obispo, he'll join Mariners left-handed pitcher and first baseman Kyle Anderson, who gave his verbal to the Mustangs at the start of summer.

Crocker, along with Aptos teammate Kevin Eichhorn, is competing in Long Beach at the Area Code Games this week. Crocker, who hit leadoff and batted .433 with 42 runs scored last season, was unavailable for comment Thursday.

"When he called and told me, I thought that was pretty cool," Anderson said. "I know a lot of schools were interested in him. I think we're going to have some fun"

Each Aptos player agreed to a partial athletic scholarship.

Aptos finished the 2007 season with a school-record mark of 28-5 and took second in the Central Coast Section Division II playoffs to Los Altos. That earned the Mariners a top-10 state ranking in their division, and a No. 53 national ranking by www.pgcrosschecker.com. Aptos' Crocker, Anderson and Sentinel Player of the Year Kevin Eichhorn, a shortstop and pitcher, were named to the All-County team.

Cal Poly [32-24 overall, 13-8], under coach Larry Lee, finished fourth in the Big West Conference last season, a spot ahead of Cal State-Fullerton. But the Titans [38-25, 10-11], not Cal Poly, were selected to advance to regional play based on their strength of schedule.

Eichhorn, also an all-CCS and all-state selection, and Mariners third baseman Andrew Biancardi gave their verbal commitments to Santa Clara University prior to last season.
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A verbal commitment isn't a guarantee that a player will sign with a program. If a player is offered a better scholarship or is recruited by a more notable program, he can back out of his earlier agreement. Often, a player will commit verbally to a school and then get drafted and elect not to play in college at all.

Biancardi said his mind is set for Nov. 14 — the first day to sign. Once a player signs a written commitment to a school, he can only back out of the agreement if he chooses to play professionally, not for another school.

"It's 100 percent," he said. "I'm pumped on that. It's so cool to verbal early and save money on not having to attend any more showcases"

Biancardi said he'll have an opportunity to compete at multiple positions at Santa Clara: third, second, first and outfield.

"I hope I can make an impact as soon as I get there," Biancardi said.

His bat should help him get into the lineup. Biancardi batted .438 last season with 34 RBIs and 28 runs scored. He hit .317 as a freshman and .392 as a sophomore.

Santa Clara [27-29, 9-12], under coach Mark O'Brien, finished tied for fourth in the West Coast Conference with Loyola Marymount last season.

Cal Poly took two of three games from Santa Clara this season.

"It'll be cool to play them again," Anderson said of his Mariners teammates, "and play against them for a change"

Anderson said Cal Poly was his first choice, so when the program made an offer, he jumped at the chance.

"I don't like hot weather, getting all sweaty," he said. "San Luis is like Aptos and the coaches were nice and easy to talk to"

Last season, Anderson batted .404 and led the Santa Cruz Coast Athletic League with eight home runs. On the mound, he went 10-2 with a 1.40 ERA in 70 innings, recording a county-high 105 strikeouts.

Eichhorn, a right-handed pitcher, was 7-2 with a 1.03 ERA in 68 innings. Offensively, he batted .450 with 15 doubles, 49 RBIs and scored 45 runs.

Aptos catcher Beau Fraser [.472 last season] and pitcher Brian Godoy [8-0 with a 1.52 ERA] have yet to announce their college plans.