2018 Woodside graduate Cole Gabrielson signs with Yankees

“I’ve been talking with the Yankees and their Southern California scout for the last eight months,” Gabrielson said.

It was the culmination of a hectic month as Gabrielson, an outfielder who earned his degree in economics at University of Southern California, had been preparing for the Major League Baseball draft since the end of the Trojans’ season.

“I had workouts with the Mets, Dodgers and Padres and was in contact with a bunch of other people as well,” Gabrielson said.

He was told he would be drafted, at some point, in the three-day, 20-round MLB entry amateur draft. He wasn’t expecting to hear his name called on Day 1, but felt pretty confident about going on Day 2.

That came and went, yet he still believed he would drafted. No one called on Day 3 and he was left twisting in the wind.

“I was pretty bummed out. They fed me a bunch bull—,’ Gabrielson. “But I felt I had good showings at those workouts.”

Gabrielson had two solid varsity seasons at Woodside. In 52 varsity games, he batted .315 with 54 hits, 27 RBIs, 10 doubles and three home runs. That garnered a couple Division III offers.

“I felt I was overlooked in high school, just being undersized,” Gabrielson. “But I knew what I could do on the field.”

But he was also being recruited by College of San Mateo and, after meeting with CSM manager Doug Williams, he decided to become a Bulldog.

Williams said he and his staff saw something in Gabrielson and agreed that it was his “body type” that kept him off college radars.

“Maybe not 5-foot-nothing, but he was a hundred and nothing,” Williams said, referencing a line from the movie “Rudy.”

“We saw his tools and the potential was there,” Williams continued. “You never know with a player, what they’re going to do with their abilities, both physically and mentally.

“Cole’s development (at CSM) was tremendous. He had a great year with us (in 2019).”

In 2019, Gabrielson batted .330 with nine home runs, 48 RBIs, 44 runs scored and 14 stolen bases to earn all-conference honors.

“When I look back on it, going to CSM was one of the best decisions I’ve ever made,” Gabrielson said.

In the fall of 2019, as he was preparing for the 2020 season, Gabrielson suffered a torn ACL that required surgery. Turns out he didn’t miss much action — the Bulldogs played 21 games before the season was shut down by the pandemic. He rehabbed through the lockdown and was cleared to play again in the fall of 2020. Community college baseball in the state of California was allowed to play some games in the spring of 2021, but they didn’t count.

All of that, however — the injury and the shuttered season — turned out to be a blessing in disguise for Gabrielson as he eventually earned a scholarship offer from USC, which was his dream school.

“I had some offers that fall (of 2019), but I tore my ACL and they all dropped me,” Gabrielson. “If I didn’t tear my ACL, I wouldn’t have gone to USC.”

But even USC was no sure thing. Some MLB teams had sent out feelers about the ability to sign Gabrielson if they drafted him. Gabrielson, however, had a dollar amount he wanted to get and if not, he would go to USC.

His family has a legacy at the school — both his father, Randy, and grandfather, Len Gabrielson, played baseball at USC. Len Gabrielson went on to a nine-year professional career, spending two seasons with the San Francisco Giants and four with the Los Angeles Dodgers, among other teams, from 1960 to 1970.

When a team didn’t match his demands, “They came close,” Gabrielson said, he enrolled at USC — and promptly ran into another problem.

“I got screwed,” Gabrielson said. “I got to USC and they told me they [messed] up processing my transcripts. … I had to write a waiver to the NCAA and they denied my waiver.

“I was really down, thinking, ‘I should have taken the money (and gone into the draft).’”

But he became eligible late in the season and appeared in the final eight games.

Heading into this past season, he had to prove himself all over again as a new coaching staff took over the program. But Gabrielson was confident his play would speak for itself.

“[The new staff] told me they got good word on me, so I wasn’t worried,” Gabrielson said. “It was just a matter of going out and showing what I could do.”

All he did was start 57 of 58 games, mostly in right field. He batted .286 with 11 home runs and 48 RBIs and posted an OPS of .897. Defensively, he threw out six base runners and in the highlight of his career — to this point — he had a walk-off single in the bottom of the ninth to beat arch-rival UCLA in April.

“He’s rounded out his game,” Williams said. “He’s a weapon out there in the outfield. He’s wiry strong. He’s got some pop.”

Now Gabrielson wants to put that all together again at the next level. And while some friends and family say he’s made it, Gabrielson knows that the hard work is just beginning.

“In my mind, I have not made it. I’m just getting started,” Gabrielson said. “It’s definitely cool to look back on (the journey). I’ve been through some adversity … but that has only made me a better person and more resilient.”