Colleges Harvest Big Crop

On the first day of the early signing period for high school seniors, the Valley/Ventura County region has been transformed into a recruiting mecca for baseball and softball players.

Fifteen baseball players from the region are expected to sign with four-year schools during the week-long signing period. Close to a dozen softball players will also sign letters of intent.

The only sports not included in the early signing period are football, men’s and women’s soccer, men’s water polo and women’s volleyball.

Early signings are usually reserved for elite athletes, with schools taking a gamble by committing scholarships to athletes before they’ve started their senior seasons. The next signing period begins in February.

The increase in baseball and softball players signing early can be attributed to strong youth and club programs, and athletes meeting academic requirements such as an NCAA-qualifying SAT score.

Coaching connections also have led to better opportunities. David Esquer, former Pepperdine assistant who is the new baseball coach at California, will sign Conor Jackson of El Camino Real, Jeff Dragicevich of Westlake and Brian Horwitz of Crespi.

Coach Gary Adams of UCLA lives in Agoura and Coach Mike Gillespie of USC lives in Valencia, giving them the chance to keep a closer eye on players from the region.

Adams will sign Chris Cordeiro of Thousand Oaks and Matt Thayer of Harvard-Westlake. Gillespie is getting Jonathon Brewster of Notre Dame.

Cal State Northridge, revitalized under Coach Mike Batesole, has begun focusing its recruiting efforts locally and signing top players who in the past would not consider attending Northridge.

Three baseball players announced their choices Tuesday, with Matt Cunningham of Notre Dame choosing Rice, Joey Hamer of Newbury Park picking Iowa State and Brandon Montemayor selecting Clemson.

In softball, the talent level keeps rising and the number of players leaving is growing. Among the schools expected to sign players from the region are Boston College, Michigan State, Purdue, Georgia Tech and Illinois.

Virtually all softball players earned scholarships with performances on club teams.

In volleyball, two Quartz Hill players are headed for Division I schools.

Sahael Almuallem, a 6-foot-9 middle blocker, chose UCLA over BYU, Pepperdine, Stanford, USC and Penn State.

“It felt like going from one home to another home,” said Almuallem. “It’ll be a good chance for me to see how I can do.”

Jared Corpening, also a 6-9 middle blocker for the Rebels, chose Cal State Northridge.

Staff writer Mike Bresnahan contributed to this story.