Cole Schoenwetter has known about the success of the UCSB baseball program since was 5 years old. That’s when he started becoming a regular attendee at the youth baseball camps that UCSB coach Andrew Checketts held during the summer months.
On Wednesday, Schoenwetter signed his National Letter of Intent to play for Checketts and the Gauchos.
The right-handed pitcher was one of 11 San Marcos student athletes who signed to play at the next level during a ceremony held at the campus Greek Theater.
The other signees include Schoenwetter’s baseball teammate Owen Estabrook with Columbia, indoor volleyball’s Eloise McGibben (Texas A&M-Corpus Christi), soccer’s Caitlin Sparks (Point Loma), golf’s Leo Metzger (UC Davis), sailing’s Blake Behrens (Brown), and Ava Stryker (USC), Elaia Hamilton, Kate Meyer (Cal), Reagan McEachen (Stanford) and Sophia Panossian (Michigan) of the girls water polo team.
Schoenwetter made a verbal commitment with UCSB during his sophomore year, so Wednesday’s signing was a long time coming.
“I feel great. I’ve waited for this for a while,” he said. “I want to thank my family. I wouldn’t be here without them and everything I’ve done is because of them.”
Schoenwetter said he remembers going to Gaucho games at Caesar Uyesaka Stadium as a young kid and wanting to play at UCSB.
The Gaucho coaches watched him progress through their camps.
“I’ve been going there a while and it’s always fun,” Schoenwetter said of the camps.
When UCSB baseball expressed its interest in him playing for the team, he made the verbal commitment.
“They were on me early and I knew I wanted to go there, and I made the commitment to Checketts. I was glad to be able to keep that promise,” he said.
Metzger’s signing with UC Davis fulfills a dream of playing college golf.
“It’s always been one of my biggest dreams to play college golf and to finally be really close to that happening is just a thrill,” he said. “It’s what I’ve been working for for a long time.”
Metzger is a two-time Channel League champion. This summer he qualified for the 122nd U.S. Amateur at the Ridgewood Country Club in Paramus, N.J.