Athleticism, strong arm, and good bat lead Vintage’s Fernandez to sign National Letter of Intent with UC Santa Barbara
By Kyle Foster
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Baseball isn’t always the best sport to gauge how athletic a player is because of how much it’s a team game. But when you’ve got a player going from catcher to the outfield, it’s noticeable.
For Vintage’s Ian Fernandez, being an athlete is one of his favorite things to do between the lines. This helped him sign a National Letter of Intent on November 14th to continue playing baseball at the University of California, Santa Barbara.
After all, he can jump between the two positions like Blake Sabol and Daulton Varsho. They’re the only two in the MLB that can do this feat. Oh, and it’s not exactly an easy thing to do.
“I think just being an athlete and being open to whatever coach wants me to play,” Fernandez said of his ability to do one of the hardest things in baseball. “I think being involved where I can run and constantly play is what I love to do, and that’s why I can play many positions.”
To be able to jump back and forth between the two, you’ve got to have a good arm to get runners out on the bases. This is a trait that Fernandez has.
“It’s effortless,” Vintage manager Billy Smith said of Fernandez’s arm strength, which allows him to bounce all over the field. “It’s unreal. Every ball was on the mark, either throwing down to second or outfield throwing to a base and you just like it’s the wow factor, and it just easy. Throwing comes easy to him. We’re still trying to get them on the bump just to close out games as well. He’s just that valuable for us.”
Over the last two years, he has proven this as he has 34 total assists. He has 17 in each of those seasons, showing the constancy needed to play the two positions.
Behind the dish, he has also caught a lot of innings over each of the last two seasons. In that time, he has caught 11 runners attempting to swipe a bag. That’s pretty good considering the caught stealing stat is somewhat dependent on the pitcher as well.
While Fernandez could easily play in the outfield, the plan is for him to return to his favorite catcher position. However, he left the options open to play the outfield again.
“As of now, it’s catcher,” Fernandez explained of his positional preference. “I signed for catcher but you never know. I love playing outfield. So wherever I can excel and help the team is where I’ll play.”
As a sophomore on varsity, Fernandez bounced between first base and the outfield as well. He played a few games here as a sophomore as well.
Yet another impressive part about Fernandez is that he has moved all over the field while remaining a constant threat at the top of the order. In two varsity seasons to date, Fernandez owns a career .283 batting average.
Fernandez was also voted to the first-team all-Vine Valley Athletic League last season while hitting .302 as a junior. He finished the season with 9 runs scored and 4 RBIs. He also showed he has a good approach at the plate by walking 9 times and striking out 8 over the entire season.
“We just want them to get that extra bad and just we’re trying to put them into a spot where he has a lot of people on base and we want that guy (up),” Smith said of Fernandez being a top-of-the-lineup presence. “We want him up for the RBIs and he’s that we’re that confident him he knows the game. He sees all the pitches. He’s just a very mature baseball player.”
On top of that, Fernandez can pitch if called upon to. He did this as a sophomore, getting a save and finishing with a 3.50 ERA in 2 innings of work.
One of the most influential people in his baseball journey has been former Napa Valley College head coach and current golf coach Bob Freschi who has pushed him to become the player he is today.
“Skip’s a second dad to me,” Fernandez emphasized. “He’s always pushing me to do my best and be my best. Honestly, without Skip I probably wouldn’t be here and at this point. I appreciate that and he knows that I’m a good ball player. So he’s going to make sure that I perform to my standards. So yeah, Skip’s just a great guy.”
Fernandez has also had his journey begin at Napa Little League with other stops at Napa Valley Baseball Club, Athletic Edge out of Petaluma, and Area Code 707.
Before signing with UC Santa Barbara, he was committed to Saint Mary’s College in Moraga.
He said his reason for switching to UC Santa Barbara was to evaluate all options and decide what made the most sense.
“So I was committed to Saint Mary’s up until like mid-summer and I got a few mentors just you know, kind of advising me ‘you know might want to switch this up, think about something new’,” Fernandez said of his choice to go to UC Santa Barbara. “So I did that and trust the process and trust myself and now I’m in the situation and I love it.”
When he gets to UC Santa Barbara, he plans to study business management.
Once he gets there, he’ll be joining a program that has been very competitive as of late. Last season, the Gauchos went 35-20 overall with an 18-12 mark in the Big West. In the two seasons prior they won at least 40 games and lost in the NCAA Tournament regional round.
He will also continue to compete against Everet Johnson who signed to play at UC Davis back on November 8th. The two created a friendship when they were teammates on Area Code 707.
“It’s awesome,” Fernandez said of continuing to play against Johnson after high school. “We were together on 707 for a summer ball team and before that, we didn’t really know each other, and then we vibed and we made a lifetime connection. So I think it’d be great to face him and hopefully, both me and him will be on the diamond in college together.”
At the November 14th signing ceremony, he signed alongside Miles Tenscher. They are the first Crushers to sign to play college baseball on the same day since Jake MacNickols and Jared Horn did so in February 2016.
“I think it’s amazing,” Fernandez explained of signing with Tenscher. “I mean, especially because we grew up as guys since the beginning of kindergarten and then preschool and then elementary obviously middle school and now we’re playing together in high school and it’s just awesome because he’s been my guy since day one, and we never really thought like we would get this opportunity and to now be in the moment is pretty awesome.”
Fernandez still has one more season to go with the Crushers next spring. It will be his third season at the varsity level.
