It’s Don Mico’s turn at steering one of the top area
community college baseball programs. After six years as an assistant at
Cosumnes River College, Mico will now be the head coach.
The man he replaces is Tony Bloomfield, who directed the
Hawks’ baseball program since 1999. Bloomfield has guided 23 playoff teams,
including nine that reached the Super Regional Final Eight. He won nine Big -8
Conference championships and nine conference Coach of the Year honors. In 2012
received the national community college Coach of the Year award. That year, CRC
won the state championship without a home game or home practice because of
facility upgrades.
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| Cosumnes River College's new baseball coach, Don Mico |
“We’re running everything just like normal,” Mico said of
the recent transition period. “It’s Coach Bloomfield’s program that I am
running. His program has been just so successful. We about making successful
men, fathers and sons. That’s what we’ve been doing.”
And, just like Bloomfield, Mico wants to continue to win
with homegrown talent, recruiting mostly in Elk Grove and Sacramento. His 2018
roster looks like an all-star team from area high schools.
He has just six sophomores and about 20 freshmen. Most of
the Sophs are his pitchers starting with Josh Congress from Laguna Creek High
School. Josh Caldwell, a freshman from Cosumnes Oaks, will also be a pitcher
likely to see plenty of innings.
The infield will consist of Mico’s son J.D. who will play
either shortstop or second. Alex Crouch from Bradshaw Christian will play short
or third base. Also at third base is sophomore Damian Chavez from Franklin.
Behind the plate will be Jeremy Kolb of Elk Grove High
School.
In the outfield, Burl Dixon of Sheldon will see time in
leftfield.
“We want good students, of course, kids that want to
compete,” Mico said. “We don’t over recruit. That’s one of Tony’s things. We
want to keep things small here so that guys get plenty of reps here.”
Mico plans on keeping about 25 guys on the roster, which
when you look across community college baseball rosters, is a pretty small
number.
“We want to make certain they guys fit into our program,” he
added.
Mico has had several years experience as a personal coach
and a pro baseball scout before arriving at CRC. He’ll bring with him personal
friend Randy Wong onto the staff alongside holdovers Jno Shuler and pitching
coaches Ray Hernandez and Michael Hacker.
CIF proposed rule changes
An interesting email came across the Notebook a few days ago
from the CIF. At the upcoming CIF Federated Council Meeting, February 2-3, there
are nine proposed items that will be discussed as a first reading. One of them
would clarify who CIF member schools are allowed to play.
In recent years, CIF member schools have been engaging in
competition with schools from other state associations who have membership in
their state, but are not allowed to play in their state playoffs. In some
instances, these schools are not allowed to compete with member schools of
their own state because they are not required to follow the same eligibility
rules. This proposal would help to ensure that CIF member schools are playing
other education-based high schools and not academy like programs.
Another proposal would continue to restrict full contact
practice to two days per week as prescribed by law but would limit that full
contact to no more than 45 minutes per day for a total of 90 minute per week.
This time limitation applies only to full contact. The current bylaw limits
full contact to no more than 90 minutes per day for a total of 180 minutes per
week.
The proposal has the unanimous support of the CIF State
Football Advisory Committee.
The 10 Section commissioners unanimously supported moving
this proposal forward to the CIF State Executive Committee for their
consideration.
Nicolos to sign with Santa Clara
St. Francis senior Marlee Nicolos will sign with Santa Clara
soccer program next month during the NCAA National Signing Day for soccer.
“I am so excited about signing with Santa Clara,” said
Nicolos. “It is amazing. I have been excited and a little nervous but after my
official visit on Sept. 29, it made everything so much more exciting. I met the
girls in my (recruiting) class, girls on the team and had team bonding. It was
an amazing experience and one of the best nights I have had.”
Nicolos, who currently is the leading scorer for the
Troubadour basketball team, is recognized as one of the top goalies in Northern
California. She plays for the San Juan Soccer club and was a member of the St.
Francis soccer program for two seasons.
She lives in Elk Grove.
Levin on Web.com Tour
Elk Grove golfer Spencer Levin lost his PGA Tour card
because of a rotten 2017 season and right now he’s trying to work his way back
by competing on the Web.com Tour. If he makes the top 25 money list there,
he’ll gain back his PGA Tour card for next season.
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| Elk Grove pro golfer Spencer Levin, now making his living on the Web.com pro golf tour. |
He recently told the Golf Channel that one big reason he had
such a poor 2017, finishing 163rd in the FedEx Cup standings, was that he went with a
different club manufacturer and just plain didn’t like his set of clubs.
Levin described the Callaway clubs and staff as
"top-notch," but added that he had trouble fitting the equipment to
his game. He switched back to his old equipment mid-season, and went on to
notch a top five finish at the Quicken Loans National that nearly earned him a
spot in The Open.
"I gave them their money back and went back to my old
TaylorMade driver and irons," Levin said. "It kind of sucked that I
didn't like [the Callaway clubs]. Their guys were really cool. I just couldn't
find a driver that I liked."
He was outside the top 140 on Tour in driving distance as
well as strokes gained off-the-tee, approach-the-green and tee-to-green.
While he initially thought he was without a place to play
this year, Levin will be fully exempt on the Web.com Tour by virtue of the fact
that he had banked at least five straight fully-exempt seasons on the PGA Tour.
"At least I have a chance to get back within a year,
which is pretty cool," Levin said. "If I play really well, maybe even
sooner. The whole thing right now is about getting back on the Tour."
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