Hernandez is latest Gaucho to commit

The Saddleback baseball program is back in the news this week with the announcement that another baseball player has committed to a four-year university.  Pitcher Nick Hernandez will continue his playing career at High Point University.

Hernandez appeared in 20 games in two seasons for Saddleback, pitching 68.2 innings and striking out 60 batters along the way with a cumulative 3.93 ERA.  He was a hard-luck pitcher for the Gauchos in 2019, finishing 1-5 due to a lack of run support in many of his starts.  Hernandez took a loss in a 2-1 battle with El Camino College and then was on the wrong side of a 1-0 loss to Fullerton College.  Two starts later he took a loss against Cypress College, 5-1, when Saddleback was only able to score one run.  Hernandez's top performance of the season came against Golden West College when he struck out nine in eight innings of work in an 11-3 win over the Rustlers.

Hernandez lettered in baseball and basketball at San Juan Hills High School before graduating in 2016.  While at SJHHS, he was a two-time First Team All-Sea View League selection and a scholar athlete. 

High Point University is located in High Point, North Carolina, and plays an NCAA D1 schedule in the Big South Conference.  The Panthers are currently 22-23 overall and 13-11 in Big South play. 

Hernandez becomes the fourth Saddleback player to commit to a four-year university from the 2019 squad.

2019 TEAM COMMITMENTS

Joey Castelli, Montana-Billings
Zak Herbers, Kansas State
Nick Hernandez, High Point
Riley Kasper, UC Irvine