El Camino grad Noel Valdez set to transfer to UC Davis after earning his stripes at CSM

Valdez, however, had no offers to play baseball at four-year schools. So, coming off a 1.70 ERA his senior season, the 6-foot right-hander opted to take the community college route to play at College of San Mateo.

“The only college that I talked to was CSM, and that’s the only place I really wanted to go to,” Valdez said. “I got into some good schools academically, but no baseball interest. But CSM called me and I rolled the dice. And I would do it again if I had to.”

The decision has worked out well for Valdez, who earned a spot in the CSM starting rotation early his freshman season of 2022 and never looked back.

After posting an 11-5 career record for the Bulldogs, Valdez has announced he is transferring to UC Davis, making him the first El Camino graduate headed to an NCAA Division I baseball program since Steve Pastora transferred from CSM to Western Michigan in 2016. Since former El Camino coach Carlos Roman retired in 2012, Valdez becomes the the first EC player with no ties to the Roman era to advance to the Division I level.

“My goal is to win a starting role on the staff,” Valdez said. “That’s the main goal. ... I’m just going to go in there and compete, try to win a spot in that starting rotation. Otherwise, I’ll be ready to go out of the pen.”

Once a baseball powerhouse, El Camino has had just two winning seasons since Roman retired, one being the 12-12 overall record with a 10-4 mark in Peninsula Athletic League Ocean Division play in 2013, the year after his departure. Pastora, who graduated in 2013, was one in a long line of Roman players to promote through the community college ranks to play Division I baseball, highlighted by Steve Murphy, who graduated from El Camino in 1997, and transferred from Cañada College to pitch for San Jose State in the 2000 College World Series.

El Camino has had seven head baseball coaches in the 11 years since Roman retired.

“The turnover in coaches is probably the biggest reason,” Roman said. “You have some kids that have probably had three different coaches in their four years there. And that’s tough for anybody. ... You don’t have that consistency, and that’s hard to do.”

Valdez is an old-school baseball player. He never played travel ball growing up. And to stay in shape this offseason, instead of playing summer ball, he is opting to work construction on Treasure Island.

“No summer ball for me,” Valdez said. “I threw quite a lot just throughout the fall and the spring. So, I’m just kind of recovering and stuff. I’m still throwing right now ... just long toss and getting a lift in here and there. Still staying in baseball shape.”

Valdez’s old-school sensibilities showed up on the mound for CSM. As a freshman, he earned his first collegiate start one month into the season only because of an injury to one of the Bulldogs’ rotation aces. Valdez has been a starting pitcher ever since, including being named the opening day starter this season, as well as starting CSM’s final game, an elimination loss to Modesto, in the regional playoffs.

While Valdez was openly critical of his 4.88 ERA, he still fronted the CSM rotation, tying for a team-high seven wins, leading the staff with 73 strikeouts, and ranking second with 72 innings pitched. The sophomore was sharp in the clutch, including impressive head-to-head splits against eventual Coast Conference North champion Chabot College. Despite the Bulldogs settling for second place in the Coast North, Valdez kept them in the running by going 2-0 with two complete games against Chabot.

“I don’t try to make it more than it is,” Valdez said of pitching high-leverage games. “I just trust in myself, trust my preparation and then go out there and execute.”

Valdez is one of five Division I transfers CSM has secured thus far. Starting pitcher Joey Cirelli and infielder Ty Barrango are both transferring to University of Louisiana-Monroe; infielder Kai Hori in committed to University of New Orleans; and first baseman Chris Schuchart is headed to Davidson College.

For Valdez, transferring to UC Davis makes perfect sense. His older brothers Alvarado and Omar both went there, and one of his best friends, Josh Mathiesen — who graduated from El Camino in 2021, is also an EC Blanket Award winner, and pitched at Skyline College for the last two seasons — will be attending Davis in the fall as an academic transfer.

After two years at CSM, though, Valdez proved a throwback to that old-school baseball tradition once synonymous the city of South San Francisco.

“[CSM] was a great place,” Valdez said. “It was a great place for me personally, just my values and the way they go about things. I think, very old school, you could say. If you put in the work you’ll have good things happen.”