WATSONVILLE, CA — In front of a throng of 60-plus family and friends, Watsonville High pitcher Chris Rivera signed his national letter of intent to play baseball at Long Beach State Monday at Watsonville High.
When Rivera — a 5-foot-8 170 pound right-handed pitcher — signed on the dotted line he became the first Wildcat to sign with an NCAA Division I program in nearly three decades, according to Watsonville coach James Gomez.
“I had a lot of realizations and had to put things in perspective and I never let things get me down,” said Rivera speaking of his stature and physique. “Like my size could be viewed as a disadvantage but I never let adversity get me down. I was fortunate to have my all the support from my family and everyone that came out here.”
For years, Rivera has dreamed of pitching for a college in Southern California, specifically Long Beach State, a storied program that has made four College World Series appearances since 1989 and includes current Major League Baseball players Troy Tulowitzki, Evan Longoria, Jason Giambi and Jered Weaver among its more famous alums.
“I have always been a fan of the Long Beach program,” said Rivera. “I remember watching them on TV when I was a kid and was really attracted to what they did. The older I got the more I felt the program fits me perfectly.”
Rivera in his junior season during which he posted a 6-4 record with two saves, a 0.83 ERA with 126 strikeouts in 67 1/3 innings, he threw six complete games in 10 starts.
In the process Rivera was also named the Monterey Bay League Most Valuable Player -- the first Wildcat to earn a league MVP award since Nico Vargas was given the top honor as a sophomore in 2006 in Watsonville’s final season in the Santa Cruz Coast Athletic League.
Rivera also sits atop the list of seven Santa Cruz County pitchers to record at least 100 strikeouts in a season since 2000. Scotts Valley alum Robbie Erlin, who now pitches for the San Diego Padres, struck out 125 batters in 62 innings in 2009.
With Rivera officially signed, Gomez said he plans to talk to Long Beach State coaches and see how he can best utilize his star pitcher while keeping Rivera healthy and ready for next season.
“My job as a coach is to get him prepared for next year at Long Beach,” said Gomez who has coached Rivera since his freshman year on varsity. “There’s more important things than us winning and losing games. I have to take care of him, and build him for the way (LBSU) will work him out when he gets there. But (pitching coach) Phil (Gomez) does a great job of getting him ready and keeping him strong (as well as) keeping his innings where he needs to be and his pitch count also.”
Phil Gomez, who has been Rivera’s pitching coach since his sophomore year, has seen Rivera develop from a guy who just throws hard into an actual pitcher.
Rivera was clocked throwing as fast as 89-mph in a post-season game last year against Menlo-Atherton. He also throws a two and four-seam fastball and three breaking ball pitches — a curveball, slider and slurve.
“We’ve helped him as much as we can -- the kids has all the ability in the world,” said Phil Gomez. “I’m happy to just be a little part of it and show him a few things here and there and help him get over that edge.”
With Rivera’s signing now out of the way, James Gomez thinks his ace can just go out there and simply play baseball.
“He doesn’t have to prove anything out there -- we know what he can do,” said James Gomez who has coached Rivera since his freshman year on varsity. “It should relax him. I know he has goals in mind but ultimately it will take the pressure off of him.”
Rivera’s ability just didn’t come from hard work as genetics played a part in it.
Rivera, an only child, will now follow in the footsteps not of his father but of his single mother, Jill, a former standout at Watsonville who played softball for four seasons at Santa Clara University.
He often played catch in the yard with his mom before he started playing T-ball.
“It’s exciting he’s worked hard -- he was born with a ball in his hands.” said Jill. “He’s been throwing around a ball since he was seven or eight months. When he could sit up his babysitter would sit on the ground with him and throw the ball back and fourth with him. Ever since then we knew this was the sport for him. We are all really excited for him.”
Rivera, who often stays even-keel while on the field, got a little emotional over all the support showed to by his family and friends at his signing.
“It was really big for me because I don’t think I would’ve been able to get here without everyone’s continuous support,” he said.
Now with his signing behind him and with one last season to play at Watsonville, Rivera is focusing on ending the Wildcatz' drought of 24 years without a title.
“We got to get that league title,” said Rivera who has helped lead Watsonville to three straight CCS Division I appearances — the first time in school history that has been done. “We’ve fallen short the past two seasons but I think we have a really good chance and everyone is hungry this year.”
AREA NLI SIGNEES
Early signing period Nov. 12-19
BASEBALL
Robert Emery, St. Ignatius (Dartmouth) *
Brendt Citta, Leland (San Jose State)
Kyle Mora, Mitty (UC-San Diego)
Kris Bubic, Mitty (Stanford)
Chris Rivera, Watsonville (Long Beach State)
David Kyriacou, O'Dowd (Kansas)
Garret Kelly, San Benito (UC Davis)
Zach Moeller, San Benito (Utah)
Conor Thane, St. Francis (St. Mary's)
Chris Brown, College Park (UC-Davis)
Noah Burnham, College Park (UC-Davis)
Joe DeMers, College Park (Washington)
Trevor Larnach, College Park (Oregon State)
Willie MacIver, College Park (Washington)
Jeffrey Mitchell, College Park (Cal)
Nick Oar, College Park (Stanford)
Kyle Marinconz, Valley Christian (Cal Poly SLO)
Keenan Brigman, Valley Christian (Pacific)
Dalton Craig, Valley Christian (Naval Academy Prep School) ***
James Outman, Serra (Sacramento State)
Chris Papapietro, Serra (Pacific)
Boys basketball
Paris Austin, Bishop O'Dowd (Boise State)
Girls basketball
Josie Little, St. Ignatius (Columbia) *
Ashleen Quirke, Los Gatos (Northern Colorado)
Janessa Manzano, St. Ignatius (Hawaii Pacific)
Sydney Raggio, St. Ignatius (St. Mary's)
Joleen Yang, St. Ignatius (UC San Diego)
Addi Walters, St. Ignatius (Cal State Bakersfield)
Asha Tyler-Thomas, Bishop O'Dowd (Cal)
Aisia Robertson, O'Dowd, Kansas
A'shanti Coleman, Sacred Heart Cathedral (Arizona)
Kayla Coloyan, SHC (Dominican)
Crew (men's)
Seth Bartlett, Serra (Yale) *
Crew (women's)
Gray Stranberg, O'Dowd (UCLA)
Fencing
Joe Dalli, Serra (Stanford)
Field hockey
Lauren Mewes, Mitty (UC Davis)
Kathleen Humphries, Los Gatos (UC Davis)
Kaitlyn McLaren, Los Gatos) (UC Davis)
Melina Moore, Los Gatos (Cal)
Golf
Isaiah Salinda, Serra (Stanford)
Lacrosse
Nick Stinn, St. Ignatius (Notre Dame)
Soccer
Tegan McGrady, Santa Teresa (Stanford)
Softball
Danielle Bowers, Mitty (Cal)
Desiree Severance, Mitty (Drexel)
Haley Wymbs, Mitty (Seattle)
Megan Nordin, Mitty (Cal Poly SLO)
Sara Hack, Mitty (Humboldt State)
Lindsey Mifsud, Notre Dame-Belmont (Redlands)
Lindsey Calcany Blair, Leland (Sonoma State)
Stephanie Kristo, Mitty (Manhattan College)
Madeleine Kim, Mitty (Army)
Alexis Corini, Valley Christian (Pennsylvania) ***
Jordan Dawkins, Valley Christian (Santa Clara)
Marcella Kay, Valley Christian (Seattle)
Noa Yakir, Homestead (Cal Poly SLO) **
Brynne Fitzpatrick, Valley Christian (Cal) ***
Corena Gregorio, SHC (Holy Names)
Swimming (men's)
Cooper Burrill, Bellarmine (Yale) *
Joe Kmak, Serra, UC-Santa Barbara
Alex Grimes, Los Gatos (Northwestern)
Swimming (women's)
Sarah Shimomura, Mitty (Arizona)
Tennis (men's)
Gunther Matta, Menlo School (Cal)
Tennis (women's)
Catalina Rico, Mitty (Navy) *
Track and field
Jeremy Wright, Terra Nova (Arizona State)
Volleyball (women's)
Brianna Karsseboom, O'Dowd (UC Davis)
Madison Murtaugh, SHC (USF)
Natasha Kosowicz, Mitty (Columbia) *
Ella Lajos, Valley Christian (Washington State)
Ali Vidali, Terra Nova (UTEP)
Jensen Ditzler, Los Gatos (TCU)
Water polo (women's)
Maura Cantoni, San Diego State (Women’s water polo)
Sierra Painter, Leland (San Jose State)
Water polo (men's)
Nick Bisconti, Menlo (Cal)
* Military academies and Ivy League schools do not give athletic scholarships, but student-athletes will attend there and will receive aid or have educations paid for.
***Have announced schools they will attend but have not signed an NLI.
