6 days ago
- Sport
- San Francisco Chronicle
How St. Mary's baseball marched to second-ever NCAA regional with zero NIL money
St. Mary's baseball, a program whose history dates to 1872 when it was introduced as the school's first sport, has never played under the lights at home. It isn't a figure of speech. There are literally no lights at Louis Guisto Field.
Gaels home games begin no later than 2 p.m. — and 3 p.m. after Daylight Saving Time.
When winning seasons became the norm during Eric Valenzuela's first stint at the helm from 2014-19, opposing teams would occasionally make full use of their offensive timeouts, to which the St. Mary's dugout relentlessly exclaimed, 'We don't have lights!' Whether it was a tactic to draw the game past sundown or simply coincidental, Athletics starting pitcher and Gaels alumnus Ken Waldichuk remembers well how the team's favorite chirp emerged as the calling card for good baseball in Moraga.
'We embraced it, honestly,' Waldichuk said.
'Not having lights and being in that situation kind of brought guys together.'
Valenzuela left for Long Beach State following the 2019 season after having led St. Mary's to four straight 30-win seasons, by far the most in school history, during a stretch that included the program's first NCAA regional appearance in 2016. Cy Young Award winner Corbin Burnes and MLB All-Star Tony Gonsolin were starting pitchers for that famed group of Gaels, whose legacy was finally matched last weekend.
St. Mary's won the West Coast Conference tournament to automatically qualify for the program's second regional appearance, again under the leadership of Valenzuela, who returned as head coach in the summer of 2023 after four seasons in Long Beach. The feat seems more impressive this time around.
In 2016, pay-for-play name, image and likeness (NIL) deals and a practically no-holds-barred transfer portal would not be implemented for another half decade. In 2025, success in college athletics is afforded to those with the deepest pockets.
More than half of the NCAA tourney's field of 64 is made up of Power 4 teams (34). St. Mary's is one of a select group of mid-major teams included for winning its conference championship. As a result, Valenzuela and company find themselves as a four seed in a Corvallis, Ore., regional that features No. 8 national seed Oregon State, USC (Big Ten) and TCU (Big 12). It's safe to say all three programs have various levels of NIL backing.
The NIL money spread across St. Mary's current roster? A whopping total of $0, Valenzuela told the Chronicle.
'There's absolutely no NIL with this current team at all,' Valenzuela said.
'We're not going to have the luxury of a lot of these programs, even in our conference, that have NIL and have a ton of it. … We're not there just yet.'
All told, Valenzuela lost six of nine starters from a 2024 lineup that brought the program back above .500 last season at 34-22 (16-8 WCC) after consecutive campaigns with records of 25-26, 25-30 and 23-28 in his absence. Roster turnover heading into this season was inevitable from what was a senior-heavy team. But the Gaels also failed to retain catcher Bear Harrison (Texas A&M), who started 42 games with a .322 batting average and eight home runs as a freshman, outfielder Dalton Mashore (South Carolina), an All-WCC second-team selection, and 6-foot-11 pitcher Jason Reitz (Oregon), whom Valenzuela said would've likely been a weekend starter.
Valenzuela cited internal conversations about potentially establishing an NIL budget and funding more baseball scholarships when the allowable number by the NCAA expectedly increases from 11.7 to 34 as part of the House v. NCAA settlement. What steps may be taken, while valuable, are also unlikely to make St. Mary's baseball competitive in the NIL marketplace overnight.
Valenzuela knows any high school, junior college or transfer recruits who land with the Gaels won't be the ones chasing money.
'The times have totally changed,' Valenzuela said. 'You never know what a Tony Gonsolin or a Ken Waldichuk or a Corbin Burnes would have done if they were in this era.'
For what it's worth, Waldichuk said he thinks he would've stayed. The development he received in three years at St. Mary's after joining as a preferred walk-on in 2017 was well worth it once the New York Yankees spent a 2019 fifth-round pick on him following his junior season. He said his cost of tuition was almost entirely covered once he was put on a partial athletic scholarship after posting a 2.00 ERA as a true freshman reliever. In his final two years, Waldichuk said he had to pay about $1,000 per semester.
Every St. Mary's baseball player pays some portion of tuition, according to Valenzuela, who acknowledged maybe one or two are close to attending the school for free but that 'a lot of them are paying the majority.' Meanwhile, some starters at Power 4 programs, especially in the SEC, not only have their tuition covered — they regularly net money off of NIL deals.
The independent variable in Valenzuela's success has been his staff.
Associate head coach and recruiting coordinator Daniel Costanza has coached alongside Valenzuela for 12 years. And under hitting coach Jack Meggs, who was retained from the program's previous staff, the Gaels boast a top-50 batting average in the country (.301). Fueling that are All-WCC first-team first baseman Eddie Madrigal, whose average is a team-best .372 with 21 home runs and 77 RBIs, and outfielder Aiden Taurek, who is batting .336 with 10 homers and 45 RBIs in his first year as a starter.
'If I'm a coach at a Power (4) school, I'm looking at schools like ours who found ways to be successful with limited resources — I'm going to try to hire those guys,' Valenzuela said.
The deeper the Gaels go this postseason as the Bay Area's only chance at a College World Series berth in Omaha, Neb., the farther they'll be from home. But their future on the grounds of Louis Guisto Field at Brother Ronald Gallagher Stadium will only brighten in the years to come. The town of Moraga recently approved outdoor light fixtures to be installed at the ballpark. Gone are the days of an afternoon first pitch thrown against the backdrop of bleachers marked by the handful of parents who could get off of work early.
Valenzuela said he always has believed night games could increase exposure for the program across the broader Lamorinda area, ripe with young baseball talent. To enlighten those who have been in the dark: Since 1967, St. Mary's baseball has fielded 12 teams that won at least 30 games, including the past six coached by Valenzuela.
'If you compare Coach V to probably any other coach in the country, he gets more out of what he has than just about anybody,' St. Mary's president Roger Thompson said.
