The Oakley family album is stuffed full of baseball photographs.
They include Bill Sr. pitching for Santa Barbara High School, then Cal, and finally for the New York Mets’ farm club that brought minor league baseball back to Laguna Park in 1962.
Later pages feature snapshots of his son, Bill Jr., roaming centerfield for the Goleta Valley South’s Senior Little League World Series championship team of 1982.
And then there’s the photo of grandson Nick taking the field for the first time at UCSB’s Caesar Uyesaka Stadium during the spring of 2006. It was a prelude to the magical season he’s now enjoying as a sophomore infielder for the Gauchos, whose records of 33-11 overall and 21-3 in the Big West Conference have propelled them to a No. 9 ranking in his week’s Collegiate Baseball national poll.
“I came to just about every game here since I was born, pretty much,” Nick said. “There’s a picture of me when I was about 4, throwing out the first pitch. I was probably three feet tall.
“There’s no place I’d rather be. I’m super thankful of the opportunity to come here.”
The Gauchos are super-thankful he did, especially after his 6-for-11, seven-RBI hitting spree led them to three critical victories at Cal Poly last weekend and boosted his season average to .269. The sweep — UCSB’s first-ever at Baggett Stadium — all but sealed a Big West championship for the Gauchos.
“Oakley was unbelievable,” coach Andrew Checketts said. “He gets the start there and had really competitive, tough at-bats — big swings when they mattered.
“I thought he played with his hair on fire. It was fun to see him bring some energy to the field, for sure.”
It marked Checketts’ first win of a three-game series in San Luis Obispo since becoming their head coach 11 years ago.
“There have been some demons for us up there,” he said.
The Dons’ Three Amigos
The devil was in the details for announcer Kevin Cannon, producer of UCSB’s Gaucho9 podcast, when he noticed Oakley posing with Cal Poly pitchers Bryce Warrecker and Derek True after Sunday’s game. The trio had been Santa Barbara High teammates in 2019 when the Dons won their first Channel League championship in eight years.
“You got a hit off both of them and then took a photo with them after the series,” Cannon pointed out during his interview with the sophomore infielder. “You’ve got a big smile on your face and those guys are probably forcing it a little.”
“It was super-cool,” Oakley replied. “We’re all playing at the same time, which is pretty cool.
“I’ve known those guys my whole life, so it was really cool.”
Cal Poly had cooled on the Dons’ All-CIF shortstop after originally recruiting all three of the childhood pals. Coach Larry Lee filled that infield position by signing his son Brooks, who’s projected to be a first-round pick in next month’s MLB Draft.
Oakley’s exposure to collegiate scouts was severely limited when the COVID-19 pandemic halted his senior season after just seven games.
“Checks is the only coach who gave me a shot to play college baseball,” he said. “I felt super-welcomed here, especially with how many older guys were returning. I just kind of found my role.
“I was obviously pretty nervous in the beginning, and then I felt my way through it.”
A Running Start
His Gaucho debut last year was a nerve-fraying experience. UCSB was clinging to a 4-3 lead against UC Davis when Oakley — who had performed only “foul-ball duty” through the Gauchos’ first 19 games — was summoned to pinch run for Christian Kirtley.
“I had no idea I was going into the game,” he recalled. “I got yelled at for having my turf shoes on. I threw on my cleats real quick. I ran right to first … and got the steal sign on the first pitch.”
When he crept out to a big lead, Davis’ pitcher whirled and fired a pickoff throw to first base.
“I was out … but they called me safe, thank God!” Oakley said.
“I ended up stealing on the next pitch,” he continued. “Then I made a dirt-ball read (on a pitch that bounced away from the catcher) and ended up at third.”
He jogged home on a double by Cole Cummings, only to find Checketts waiting in the dugout.
“Checks said, ‘You know, that would’ve really sucked if you got picked off,’” Oakley said. “And I told him, ‘I probably would’ve transferred … Thanks for putting me in.’
“I had to get the first one out of the way.”
Oakley came off the bench later that season to go 2-for-3 in a game at Long Beach State. Most of his duty, however, was as a pinch runner. He finished 3-for-11 on the season for a .273 batting average.
He did make two appearances at the NCAA Regional in Tucson. He was a defensive replacement at second base during the ninth inning of the Gauchos’ 13-3 win over Oklahoma State. He was also called to pinch hit later that day during the seventh inning of their 5-2 defeat to Arizona in the Regional final. He was hit by a pitch and eventually scored UCSB’s final run of the season.
“That was by far the coolest experience I’d had playing baseball to that point,” Oakley said. “Getting in the game was the smallest part, to be honest. It was just the atmosphere of a sold-out crowd. It almost felt like a football game, playing the home team with all the people there yelling.
“It was something I’ll never forget, for sure, being in the on-deck circle …Close game in the regionals … Elimination game … Season on the line … I got calmed down by all my teammates, which was really nice.”
The Foresters’ Oakley Legacy
He honed his game during the last two offseasons. He played for the Santa Barbara Foresters during their run to the 2020 National Baseball Congress World Series championship. Both grandpa Bill and Warrecker’s grandpa Fred had been teammates on the Foresters’ pitching staff more than 60 years earlier.
Nick also played shortstop and batted leadoff last year for the summer collegiate team in Port Angeles, Wash. He hit a team-best .290 and led the West Coast League with 20 doubles. He was also second in triples with four, hit five home runs and stole 10 bases.
“I got a ton of ABs, met a lot of cool people, put on some weight … It couldn’t have gone better,” Oakley said. “It was a beautiful place, too, right next to Canada and just across the water from Victoria.
“I could see (Gaucho teammate Jason) Willow’s house from my house with binoculars.”
He also played shortstop in high school but has seen most of his time at second base for UCSB. He’s faced fierce competition for the position.
Willow was UCSB’s Opening Day second baseman against USF on Feb. 18. Redshirt freshman Leo Mosby got the start four days later at Loyola Marymount. True freshman Zander Darby, one of the team’s most prized recruits, got 20 straight starts at second after Mosby suffered a shoulder injury.
Oakley entered the revolving door at the base during a mid-April home series against UC San Diego. He went 3-for-7 in his first two starts and has remained a fixture in the Gaucho lineup ever since.
“It’s something pretty special when you have so many guys in and out of the lineup and no one is complaining,” Oakley said. “Willow is a fifth-year (senior) … He wasn’t starting in the last game against Cal Poly and he didn’t say anything about it.
“He did his job on the bench and then came in when it mattered. It’s good. It’s competitive. Everything is earned.”
Fast Times in SLO
Willow got the start at second in a wild, series opener against Cal Poly. Oakley got into the game when Checketts shuffled around his infield in the bottom of the 10th. One inning later, Oakley’s opposite-field double down the left-field line fueled a three-run rally which capped a 10-7 victory.
He faced True for the first time that weekend during the bottom of the 11th — although not in the manner he expected.
True, who had entered the game as a pinch runner in the ninth, had to stay in the game as a right fielder after Cal Poly ran out of field players. His first at-bat in three seasons of college baseball came with two outs in the bottom of the 11th after the Gauchos had walked Lee intentionally.
True nearly made them pay by pounding the ball hard to the right side — although directly to Oakley.
“I was a little confused why he was in the box,” Oakley admitted. “He almost undressed me at second with a 106 (mph exit velocity) ground ball, but I made the play.”
“At least he said it was 106 mph,” Oakley added with a laugh, “so it was probably 95.”
Oakley faced True twice as a batter in the second game after starting at second base. He grounded out in the seventh but then hit a two-run double in the ninth to help the Gauchos pull away for an 8-3 win.
He went 1-for-2 against Warrecker in the series finale on Sunday, banging a single up the middle in a 7-3 win. He scored the only run Warrecker allowed during three innings of relief.
“I was surprised he threw me another heater after I fouled the first one back,” Oakley said. “I guess it was pretty funny, hitting it right back at him.
“I grew up catching them all the time so I’ve seen them both pitch my whole life. I had an extra scouting report.”
All in the Family
His DNA helped boost his baseball IQ.
“My grandpa still has all the newspapers and things like that, and he’s always giving me tips,” he said when Santa Barbara High clinched its Channel League title.
Grandpa Oakley was Cal’s MVP and an All-District 8 Region selection in 1962. His earned run average that season of 1.63 is tied with former Los Angeles Dodger All-Star Andy Messersmith as the seventh-best in school history. He also ranks sixth in career ERA with a three-year mark of 2.09.
His 199 strikeouts in 1962 is 10th in Cal’s record books.
The expansion Mets signed Bill Sr. after that season and placed him with the Santa Barbara Rancheros, their newly formed California League farm club. He posted a win-loss record of 2-0 with an ERA of 4.09, striking out 16 batters in 22 innings of work. He left professional baseball after that, however, to enter pharmacy school.
He has since been inducted into the Halls of Fame at Santa Barbara High, with the Foresters, and with the Santa Barbara Athletic Round Table.
Bill Jr. also starred for the Dons before becoming a physical therapist. He’s literally kept his hands in the game by helping with the rehab of several UCSB players.
The whole family was in attendance for Nick Oakley’s big weekend in San Luis Obispo.
“Grandparents, friends, and family friends who’ve known me and Derek and Bryce for a long time,” he said. “A lot of people were there, showing their support, that’s for sure.”
The Oakley Family Tree, after all, makes for some solid baseball lumber.
