Arizona Baseball and Chip Hale recruiting more local talent

Adjusting to his role as the head coach of Arizona Baseball, Chip Hale and the Wildcats are beginning to recruit more local talent. 

It has been an eventful month or so for Arizona Baseball as the Wildcats have fully transitioned from the Jay Johnson era to the Chip Hale era here in Tucson.

While under Johnson, we grew accustomed to the Wildcats being fairly competitive in the conference and nationally. And their recruiting prowess was always top-notch as well!

However, over the years, even amidst the Wildcats’ wild success, one of my biggest criticisms of Johnson and Arizona Baseball was that even though he and the Wildcats recruited well, and sometimes it was to a detriment.

What I mean by that is sometimes Johnson would get kids to commit that would never end up on campus as they would be drafted out of high school, signing pro contracts.

Beyond that, Johnson never seemed to put much emphasis on recruiting local talent. Now, this isn’t to say he didn’t recruit Phoenix or Arizona at all for instance, but overall, it just seemed to be missing at times.

Now, while Tucson may not be known for having the most dominant baseball players in the Southwest, however, there is plenty of homegrown talent here that has gone on to do great things, and sometimes it was players that were overlooked!

Players like Nick Gonzales, the No. 7 pick in 2020 that attended New Mexico State, Tristan Peterson who was near the top of the NCAA in hits a few years ago also attended New Mexico State, or Alex Robles, a standout from Tucson High that was drafted out of Austin Peay.

To me, those are players that could have and should have stayed home!

Luckily for us, Arizona Baseball and Chip Hale seem to be bucking that trend by recruiting more local talent.

Off to a great start on the recruiting trail, Hale and Arizona Baseball made news as they received a commitment from Central Arizona Community College standout, Kiko Romero.

A former star with Canyon Del Oro High School here in Tucson, the Dorados have one of the best baseball programs in the state and have produced plenty of Major League talent.

Kiko is a centerfielder/ catcher with a big bat a big playmaking ability. He will help bolster the Wildcats’ roster, and for Tucson kids being able to play for Arizona is a point of pride.

Whether the recruiting strategy will work is yet to be seen, however, I am excited to potentially see more local kids infused into the Arizona Baseball program.