Saint Mary’s set to name Eric Valenzuela as Head Coach

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FROM CBD NEWS SOURCE
MORAGA, Calif. — Saint Mary’s director of athletics Mark Orr announced Wednesday that San Diego State pitching coach and recruiting coordinator Eric Valenzuela has been named as the 12th head coach of the Gaels baseball program.

“Eric brings a tremendous track record and level of experience that we feel is the perfect foundation to lead our baseball program to the heights we believe it is capable of,” Orr said. “We expect our baseball program to compete and win both on the field and in the classroom and Eric’s teams have been consistent high achievers in both of those areas. I am excited to welcome both he and his family to Saint Mary’s.”

Valenzuela takes over a Saint Mary’s program that began playing baseball in the late 1800s and has produced players like Major League Baseball Hall of Famer and Boston Red Sox legend Harry Hooper. Saint Mary’s is a charter member of the West Coast Conference, which formed in 1952. And, in 2012, the school ushered in a new era of Gaels baseball with the opening of the new Louis Guisto Field.

“I’m extremely excited about the opportunity that Mark Orr and the Saint Mary’s staff has given to me,” Valenzuela said. “I’m excited to get it going. I’m excited to start the journey of putting Saint Mary’s on the map, not only on the West Coast but nationally.”

Valenzuela returns to Moraga for his first head coaching job in the same place that his coaching career started. He served two seasons as an assistant at Saint Mary’s from 2002-03, and filled a variety of roles for head coach John Baptista. While at Saint Mary’s he coached third base, managed team recruiting efforts, directed the team’s strength and conditioning program and coordinated the team’s youth camps and clinics.

Since leaving Saint Mary’s, Valenzuela has gone on to become one of the nation’s premier assistant coaches, both on and off the field.

For the past four seasons, he has served as pitching coach and recruiting coordinator for head coach Tony Gwynn at San Diego State. As an Aztec, Valenzuela has compiled two recruiting classes (2010 and 2011) ranked in the Top 25 nationally by Baseball America. In 2013, his San Diego State pitching staff led the Mountain West Conference in numerous statistical categories, helping the Aztecs to their first MWC Tournament title since 2000 and their first NCAA Tournament appearance in four years. Also in 2013, the program reached its highest team grade point average ever, and 16 players earned distinction as scholar athletes.

Before joining Gwynn at San Diego State, Valenzuela spent six seasons across town as pitching coach and recruiting coordinator at the University of San Diego. During his tenure, he helped the Toreros reach the NCAA Tournament three times, win two West Coast Conference regular season championships and earn a program-best 44 wins in 2008.

At San Diego, his strength as a recruiter also began to take shape. The Toreros’ 2006 class was ranked in Baseball America’s Dandy Dozen, and the publication ranked the 2007 class as the No. 1 incoming group in the nation. Valenzuela also showed his ability to develop pitching, as three of his hurlers earned All-American status in 2007-08 and Brian Matusz was named WCC Pitcher of the Year in 2008 before he was drafted No.4 overall in the MLB first-year player draft. Three of Valenzuela’s pitchers (Matusz, Josh Romanski and A.J. Griffin) were named to Team USA.

A native of Covina, Calif., Valenzuela was an All-American performer at Bishop Amat High School. He would begin his collegiate career at Arizona State, and was a member of the Sun Devils’ 1998 team that reached the College World Series. He eventually transferred to Pepperdine, and in 2001 served as a team captain as the Waves went 42-18 and won the WCC title. Valenzuela graduated from Pepperdine in 2001 with a bachelor of arts degree in Criminal Justice.

Valenzuela comes from an athletic family, as his father, Victor, was an assistant boxing coach for the United States in the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics. He continues to train boxers at the Duarte Boxing Club in Duarte, Calif. Valenzuela’s sister, Nichole, was also an accomplished softball player at San Diego from 2005-08. Valenzuela and his wife Betty have three children, daughter Catalina Esmie and twin sons Benjamin Evan and Noah Matthew.