Incoming St. Francis High senior Chase Watkins, an MLB Draft prospect who was nominated for MVP of the Santa Cruz Coast Athletic League after a stellar junior season, secured college plans Saturday.
Watkins announced on Twitter that he committed to play baseball for NCAA Division I Cal Poly-San Luis Obispo beginning in 2018-19.
And on a scale of 1 to 10, he was quite excited.
“Like a 10, man,” said Watkins, noting that Cal Poly was atop his list of schools. “It’s a big weight off my shoulders. Recruiting, it’s a blessing, but it’s kind of stressful. Now, I can just go out and have fun.”
More than 10 colleges offered him a scholarship, including UC Santa Barbara, UC Irvine, Cal State Northridge, San Diego State, San Jose State and UC Davis. He was in contact with another dozen programs.
A 6-foot-4, 180-pound left-handed pitcher and first baseman, Watkins will focus on pitching in college.
“We’ll see,” he said. He batted .423 (22 for 52) with six doubles, four home runs, 18 runs and 22 RBIs in the 2017 regular season.
His numbers on the mound were equally impressive.
He posted a 1.23 ERA over 28 1/3 innings, giving up just 17 hits and five earned runs while recording 57 strikeouts against 14 walks.
Watkins was a first-team all-SCCAL selection at pitcher.
“His workout routine is very, very good,” Sharks coach Ken Nakagawa said. “Everything he’s gotten he definitely deserves.”
Watkins, who carries a 3.5 grade-point average, plans to major in business at Cal Poly. After taking two visits to the school, he said he loved the area and the atmosphere at Baggett Stadium.
“They get a lot of people at their games,” Watkins said. “I like to play with crowd energy, stuff like that.”
The Mustangs went 28-28 last season, including 16-8 for second place in the Big West Conference behind champion Long Beach State and ahead of third-place Cal State Fullerton, a 2017 College World Series qualifier.
Despite pitching with a groin injury, Watkins shined in several events over the summer, including a Perfect Game tournament in Arizona, the NorCal World Series at Santa Clara University, MLB Prospect Development Pipeline Premier at O.co Coliseum and Phil Singer tournament in San Diego.
“We’ll see where it goes in June,” Nakagawa said of the possibility of Watkins getting drafted. “He’s going to be pretty impressive to watch.”
Watkins said he’ll continue to play basketball for the Sharks his senior season instead of focusing solely on baseball.
“I’m definitely going to play basketball,” he said. “I love playing it. I need to take my mind off baseball and not just specialize.”
On the basketball court last season, Watkins was a first-team All-SCCAL selection. He averaged 17.4 points and 6.3 rebounds, helping the Sharks go unbeaten in the SCCAL. They went on to win Division V titles in the Central Coast Section and CIF NorCal playoffs before falling in the state championship.
Contact Jim Seimas at 831-706-3256.
