Three years ago, the UCLA baseball program was in shambles.
The Bruins finished the 2005 season with an overall record of 15-41 and a 4-20 record in the Pac-10 under first-year coach John Savage.
It seemed as if the program was stuck going nowhere.
Yet with the steadying influence of Savage translating into conference success and postseason appearances, the baseball program has built a contending program through talented and highly ranked recruiting classes.
This upward trend was made all the more apparent with the announcement Wednesday of seven players who signed their national letters of intent for the 2008-2009 entering class.
This recruiting class follows three highly touted recruiting classes by Savage and his coaches. The 2005-2006 entering class, Savage’s first, was ranked No. 5. The recruiting classes from the past two seasons were ranked No. 13 and No. 7.
The 2008-2009 entering class is headlined by three Aflac All-Americans in infielders Chris Amezquita from Servite High School and Clark Murphy from Fallbrook Union High School, and the only true pitcher of the class, Gerrit Cole, from Orange Lutheran High School.
“We feel that this class is one of the most talented that we have had,” Savage said.
“Position-wise, we feel that it is right up there with the best in the nation. We have good middle infielders, we have left-handed power. We also feel that Tyler Chatwood is the best all-around athlete in the nation. So we are very excited.”
Chatwood, an infielder/outfielder/catcher and two-year varsity baseball letter winner at Redlands East Valley High School, was ranked as the No. 31 high school prospect in the nation by Baseball America.
Savage was especially complimentary of Chatwood and what he can bring to the table.
“He plays center, he plays third,” Savage said. “He can throw 94 to 95 mph on the mound. So he is phenomenally talented. He has a great makeup, and we hope that when he gets here in September he produces.”
On Thursday, Savage expressed the need to recruit top-level talent as there is the possibility that the team will lose many key players at the end of this season.
“Well, we are losing a lot of players,” Savage said. “This year we have a lot of draft-eligible juniors. There is (Jermaine) Curtis, (Brandon) Crawford, (Ryan) Babineau, (Tim) Murphy, (Cody) Decker.
“So we need to rebuild and reload. We hope that these players will make out and be able to produce as freshmen.”
This class differs from previous Savage recruiting classes in that there is only one true pitcher.
Savage, a former pitching coach who taught Major League players Barry Zito and Mark Prior, is a major reason why UCLA has been able to recruit a large number of talented pitchers.
But Savage felt that pitching was not a need in regards to this class, as the 2007-2008 entering class featured six talented pitchers.
In all, Savage was very pleased and excited with the 2008-2009 recruiting class.
“This one ranks right up there with top two or three (classes) that we have had,” he said.