Baseball lands No. 4 recruiting class

Toreros pick up 9 elite players from class of 2015

HUNTER JAMESON
SPORTS EDITOR
@HJamo

The University of San Diego’s baseball team has been very busy during this offseason and their hard work is paying off. The recruiting class for 2015 was just ranked No. 4 in the country, behind only Louisiana State University, Witchita State and the University of Florida. The team has had strong recruiting classes in the past, but this is definitely the best on paper in many years.

With such a beautiful campus, brand new stadium and perfect weather year-round, USD recruiters have plenty of pitches to their top recruits. The talent in this year’s class does not just come from Southern California, but also Arizona, Texas and Northern California. The Toreros are lucky to have many of these players choosing to come to USD, or even college in generally because many of them have been selected in the Major League Baseball draft. Whether is was in this past draft, or the year prior for some transfer student-athletes, six of the players were chosen in round 40 or higher.

The No. 4 recruiting class in the nation is comprised of: Riley Adams from Encinitas, Calif., Bryson Brigman from San Jose, Calif., Gary Cornish from Scottsdale, Ariz., John Grimsley from Tomball, Texas, David Hill and Jacob Hill from Orange, Calif., Kevin Padlo from Murrieta, Calif., Hunter Parkinson from Santa Cruz, Calif., and Jonathan Teaney from Palmdale, Calif.
Many of these players committed to USD over other elite programs in the country like Stanford University, Cal State Fullerton, University of Texas or even defending national champion Vanderbilt University.

This says something about the reputation that USD’s program has around the country, and the job that head coach Rich Hill has done to get it to this point.

Coach Hill does not take all the credit for landing such a talented recruiting class.

“USD and all that it encompasses really sells itself,” Hill said. “Ramon Orozco and Tyler Kincaid, in terms of driving the rig on this recruiting thing, were a perfect combination to get this kind of class.”

The Toreros focused heavily on the pitching staff, as six out of the nine recruits are pitchers. Cornish took a rather elaborate route to the USD baseball program, starting out at West Coast Conference rival St. Mary’s College during his freshman year, and then transferring to Palomar College for this upcoming season. He will arrive at USD in the fall of 2015 and begin his career as a Torero.

Brigman is a highly touted recruit out of Valley Christian High School in San Jose, Calif. and is a huge signee for the Torero program. He is the No. 2 overall high school prospect according to Max Preps and Perfect Game Baseball, while competing for Team USA outside of his high school career.

The future is looking very bright for USD baseball, and Hill is excited for not just his program, but for the student body and entire university.

“Im stoked for the whole university to get this kind of recognition,” Hill said. “The student body deserves that kind of recognition and when they go out with their buddies from any other school, they can have something to brag about.”

Last season, the Toreros finished with a 34-20 but unfortunately didn’t make the postseason like the year before. The WCC was very competitive last year, and their 16-11 record was not good enough to earn a spot in the conference tournament. With many key players returning like junior pitcher PJ Conlon and senior infielders Andrew Daniel and Connor Joe, the Toreros should have success behind the seasoned veterans.