Eric Valenzuela, Long Beach State's Baseball head coach joins Mentors of Baseball Live 1-23-22 - a podcast by Sammy & Bryan Eisenberg

Walter Beede, Bryan Eisenberg authors of "Committed The Guide to Developing College Ready Recruits from Middle School Through High School" and Butch Baccala host Twitter Spaces conversations. This week we were joined by Long Beach State's head coach Eric Valenzuela.

About Eric Valenzuela

Eric Valenzuela was named the eighth head coach of the Long Beach State baseball program in June of 2019. After two successful seasons leading the Dirtbags, he signed a contract extension in July of 2021 keeping him at the helm through the 2026 season.



After a season of “what could have been” in 2020 due to the premature ending, Valenzuela’s Dirtbags came back and put together a dominant 2021 season. Despite not having a fall season of workouts and not being allowed to practice as a team until February, Long Beach State went 28-15 overall, finishing third in the Big West going 26-14 in conference play.



After dropping the first series of the season, they did not lose a single one after including four-straight series wins to end the 2021 campaign. The Dirtbags ended the season as one of the hottest teams in the country winning 15 of their final 17 games outscoring opponents 119-42, but unfortunately were not granted an at-large bid for the NCAA postseason.



Under Valenzuela’s leadership, the Dirtbag pitching staff ranked 15th in shutouts (6), 20th in hits allowed per nine (7.76), 21st in ERA (3.75), 27th in WHIP (1.27), and 50th in K/9 (9.5) in the nation. The Friday night ace, Johnathan Lavallee, was named Big West Co-Pitcher of the Year and earned All-America honors while closing pitcher Devereaux Harrison was named Big West Freshman Pitcher of the Year also earning All-America honors.



His first year at the helm ended prematurely due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but despite the shortened season, the Dirtbags had a very successful 2020. Long Beach State quickly became one of the best stories in all of college baseball winning all four of their weekend series.



In his 15 games leading Long Beach State, he led the program to a 10-5 record and finished the shortened season as high as No. 12 in the rankings. Among the series wins that Valenzuela's Dirtbags picked up was a pair of top 25 teams in then No. 6 Mississippi State and a sweep of No. 17 Wake Forest.



A well-regarded pitching coach recruiter, Valenzuela's pitching staff was dominant in 2020. Under his mentorship, the Dirtbags finished 4th in the nation in WHIP at 0.99 and 12th in the nation with a 2.38 ERA.

Valenzuela comes from an athletic family, as his father, Victor, was an assistant boxing coach for the United States in the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics. He continues to train boxers at the Duarte Boxing Club in Duarte, Calif. Valenzuela’s sister, Nichole, was also an accomplished softball player at San Diego from 2005-08. Valenzuela and his wife Betty have three children, daughter Catalina Esmie and twin sons Benjamin Evan and Noah Matthew.

You can follow us on Twitter at:

Walter Beede: @baseballlifer11

Bryan Eisenberg: @TheGrok

Butch Baccala: @butchbaccala

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