Overview:
Former San Marcos High School star Chase Hoover returns home to pitch for the Gauchos after two seasons at TCU
Autumn had a completely different feel for the UC Santa Barbara baseball team the last few months.
The 2024 season of fall-ball — college baseball’s version of Major League spring training — was more like a Thanksgiving than the Halloween of horrors the Gauchos experienced last year.
“We’re in a different spot, for sure,” coach Andrew Checketts said after last week’s exit interviews with the players.
They eagerly await the 2025 season after winning a pair of 16-inning scrimmages — 8-6 over Loyola Marymount and 22-2 over Pepperdine — at home, sweet home Caesar Uyesaka Stadium.
The place had been nothing but a Field-of-Screams, dirt pile during the fall of 2023.
UCSB couldn’t even practice there during its five months of preseason training.
The grass had been skinned from the field during August in preparation of a conversion to artificial turf.
But the California Coastal Commission put those plans in bureaucratic limbo for the next three months before pulling the rug out from under the Gauchos altogether.
It ordered them to pivot back to real grass.
The entire ordeal kept Checketts’ club on the oddest of odysseys.
They trained on diamonds as close as Dos Pueblos High School, just across Highway 101, to as far away as Elsinore High — a fretful trek of 175 miles through Los Angeles’ most frightful freeways.
“The headache and nightmare stuff was going on more in our offices, and we tried to keep it away from the players,” Checketts told Noozhawk. “But they had to bob and weave and be flexible.
“We had one week when we had to bus out to Elsinore after classes … Spent four hours on the bus and played on their turf field for two days and bused back.”
Uyesaka Stadium’s field wasn’t ready until March 8, forcing the Gauchos to play their first 11 games on the road.
Eight of those were originally scheduled as home contests.
False Start
The attitudes remained cheery through last Christmas and beyond.
“I didn’t hear any complaining from the guys,” Checketts said. “They just kind of put their heads down and were grateful that people let us share their fields with them.
“Westmont College in particular was awesome to us and went above and beyond. And the guys were just grateful that we got to play wherever they were.
“They did a good job of staying really positive.”
The initial results, however, were a bit negative.
“We got out of the gates slow,” Checketts acknowledged.
The Gauchos, ranked 17th in D1Baseball’s preseason poll of last year, finished February with a win-loss record of 3-4.
Their league mark stood at just 5-4 after the first three weekends of Big West Conference play.
“We thought we were good — we had talent and we had experience — but it didn’t feel like we were playing up to that potential during the first half,” Checketts said.
The worm turned, however, once they got their feet — and the new grass — under them.
The Gauchos ran away with the Big West championship by winning their last 21 league games. The NCAA Tournament Selection Committee was so impressed that it picked Uyesaka Stadium as one of its 16 regional sites.
UCSB’s record on the new grass was 25-0 until it lost a pair of pitcher’s duels to Oregon in the regional, 2-1 and 3-0, to finish with an overall record of 44-14.
“Having the field back, there was some karma that came our way,” Checketts said. “You’ve got to have some of that — some luck and bounces that go your way — if you’re going to go 25-0 at home.”
Perfect Pitch
Checketts balks, as usual, when asked if UCSB will keep that ball rolling this season.
“I’m always pessimistic,” he said. “My job is to worry about all the things that can get us beat.”
But the grass, he conceded, does look greener on this side of last year’s obstacles.
“I’ve enjoyed the guys,” Checketts said. “I think they did a good job in the fall.
“We had a good pitching staff last year, but I think this one might actually be deeper, one through 15.”
That’s saying something, considering that UCSB’s earned-run average of 3.84 was third-best in all of Division I baseball last year.
Its ratio of strikeouts to walks — 538 to 213 — ranked 22nd.
“We can start off the weekend with two potential first-rounders, but we also have the chance to be better — more consistent — in our Tuesday games, too,” Checketts said.
Junior Tyler Bremner made three All-America teams last year after posting an 11-1 record with the nation’s 10th-best ERA of 2.54. His 104 strikeouts in 88⅔ innings led the Big West.
His stock with MLB scouts rose even higher after they watched him pitch last summer for Team USA’s collegiate team.
The scouting report written by Philadelphia Phillies crosschecker David Seifert glowed as if it had been penned in radioactive ink.
“He pitches comfortably in the 95-96 mph range with a super-quick arm and a quiet head,” he began. “He has three plus pitches in his fastball, breaking ball and changeup.
“His 78-82 mph changeup is the best of the three and grades as a (plus-plus pitch). He can land it for strikes on both sides of the plate versus right and lefthanded batters.
“Bremner’s changeup might be the best pitch in college baseball and some scouts are already comparing it to (Phillies’ All-Star) Aaron Nola.”
ESPN’s scouts concurred. They listed him at No. 4 in their most recent projection of next summer’s MLB draft.
But Checketts had a different number in mind while keeping Bremner off the mound during UCSB’s fall scrimmages.
“We held him back, trying to put some weight on him,” he said of his 6-foot-2 righthander. “He was thin at the end of the season last year, at 175 pounds.
“I think he came here three years ago at probably 160 … We’re trying to get some more weight on him so he can get through the season.”
The holiday season now finds him stuffed up to a meatier 190.
Flora Arrangement
But Checketts is still weighing his options on who will start at Uyesaka Stadium for UCSB’s Friday night, Feb. 14 season opener against Campbell University of Buies Creek, North Carolina.
Jackson Flora, a 6-5 righthander who won all-league honorable mention as a freshman, made a big impression during the LMU scrimmage.
“He was 96-98 and was working his wipeout slider really well, and in the zone,” Checketts said. “He had a great fall and looks like another potential Friday ace.
“Those guys will duke it out for the Friday spot based on what happened during the fall.”
Lefthanded relief pitcher Cole Tryba, another freshman who received All-Big West honorable mention last year, made his own case this fall for a starting job.
“He’s added some strength and some velocity, and his changeup has really improved,” Checketts said. “He would probably be in the lead for the closer-stopper role but he wants to start … Everybody wants to start.
“But for me, if he’s not throwing on Saturday as a starter, we’d probably need to have him in that stopper role, from an experience standpoint of how good he could be.”
Four former or current Major Leaguers — Greg Mahle, Dillon Tate, Kyle Nelson and Michael McGreevy — got their Gaucho start as a closer.
Checketts needed the entire training season to sort through all of this year’s pitching.
“A.J. Krodel had a fantastic fall and could be a high-leverage reliever or compete for that Sunday job,” he said of the returning sophomore. “He and Frank Camarillo, Reed Moring, Calvin Prosky and Chase Hoover are probably the leaders to start on Sunday or Tuesday.
“And we’ve got two lefthanders — a JC transfer named Donovann Jackson and Nic Peterson, who threw a little bit for us last year — who had good summers and falls and could potentially get in there.”
High school recruits Nathan Aceves, Van Froling and Ray Olivas have also tossed their caps into the ring with impressive autumns.
And Hayden Hattenbach, a 6-7 senior lefthander, has arisen on the mound after Tommy John elbow surgery limited him to just 3⅓ innings last year.
Hudson Barrett, UCSB’s freshman All-America closer of two years ago, could become a factor, as well, upon his expected return in mid-March from the same surgery.
Chase a Dream
Hoover, a former San Marcos High star, emerged as one of the more intriguing stories of the fall.
The two-time Channel League Player of the Year transferred to UCSB after making 33 appearances —five starts included — for Big 12 Conference power TCU the last two seasons.
“He’s the first transfer arm we’ve had since they started the portal,” Checketts said. “We’ve been fairly selective on that stuff.
“His sophomore year didn’t go the way he had anticipated or wanted it to, but there’s a lot to work with there … A four-pitch lefty.”
Hoover allowed 42 earned runs in 55⅓ innings during his two seasons at TCU but showed his elite stuff with 65 strikeouts.
“He had a few things that he was working through, trying to clean up some arm-slot stuff and some consistency with that on his changeup,” Checketts began, “but he seemed to be able to make those adjustments.
“He was dinged up a little during the summer so we did have him on a slow ramp-up.
“He didn’t throw until the tail end of the fall … but he was good.”
Hoover threw shutout baseball during his fall appearance against Pepperdine.
“He’s got the ability to pitch in the top of the zone,” Checketts said. “He did a good job this fall in throwing his fastball in spots that are advantageous to him.
“He ended up throwing four or five innings and not giving up a run.”
UCSB pitched so well in the intrasquad games that it was often difficult for Checketts to gauge his own hitters. He’s got much to evaluate now that five of last year’s top batters are playing professional baseball.
“There are a lot of unknowns on the offensive side, but we have enough pieces,” he said. “I think there are enough athletes out there.”
Back in the Outfield
One of the best is LeTrey McCollum, a 6-4 senior outfielder who batted .320 last season with 10 stolen bases in as many attempts. He went 5-for-7 in last year’s NCAA regionals despite straining his hamstring muscle in the tournament opener against Fresno State.
McCollum filled in at first base during his sophomore season of 2023 when injuries depleted that position.
“He’s been a good soldier and he’s done a good job for us over there at first, but he should be playing the outfield,” Checketts said. “Centerfield is where we’ve got him working out.
“Right now, he and Reiss (Calvin) are out there.”
Calvin is looking to bounce back after batting just .214 for the Gauchos last season. He hit a school-record .435 at Ventura College the previous year when he won JC All-America honors as a shortstop.
“I thought the field situation hurt Reiss’ transition to the outfield last year just because we were playing on smaller fields,” Checketts said. “He also didn’t have as many live reps, or reps during batting practice.
“He went out and played outfield during the summer and has played more this fall. We’ve had both Reiss and Trey in center and I think the reality is that one will play there and the other in right.”
“We like our young guys,” he continued, “but our older guys need to perform — guys like Reiss and Trey, Rex DeAngelis, Corey Nunez, Jonathan Mendez and Jack Holman.”
Holman, a senior transfer who hit 13 home runs two years ago as UCLA’s starting first baseman, emerged as a Gaucho leader during fall workouts.
“He’s been awesome … Just a mature guy who really sets a good example for the guys with his work ethic,” Checketts said. “He’s been impressive, and he had a good fall with the bat.
“He’s got some power and bat-to-ball skills, and he’s been solid at first base. He looks like a middle-of-the-order hitter for us.”
Transfers Xavier Esquer, a second baseman from Arizona, and Jeremiah Crain, a third baseman from Tacoma Community College in Washington, will add more experience and power to UCSB’s infield.
Folsom Lake JC transfer Nathan Vargas offers the same at the catcher position. He’ll share that job with highly regarded freshman Ian Fernandez from Napa’s Vintage High School.
Incoming senior Isaac Kim is stirring some déjà vu of Brendan Durfee, a first baseman and catcher who slugged his way to All-Big West first-team honors last year.
Both came to UCSB after NCAA Division III All-America seasons — Durfee at Cal Lutheran and Kim as a first baseman at Pomona-Pitzer.
Kim batted .438 for the Sagehens with 17 homers, 82 runs batted in and an astounding .856 slugging percentage.
His fall season at UCSB ended as soon as it started, however, when he broke the hamate bone in his hand during his first at-bat of the first scrimmage.
“I think he hit a double while doing that,” Checketts said. “He’s a strong, big-bodied guy who had been impressive in batting practice.”
Replacing all of last year’s big bats remains the biggest question for the upcoming season. It did help, however, to have a home field in the fall.
“We definitely got more reps,” Checketts said. “More reads off the bat. More outfield hitting … A lot of those things that can help player development.
“Maybe it helps us get out of the gates better than last year.”
Those doors at Uyesaka Stadium, after all, have been open all autumn.
