Kyle Smith's brother, Kory Smith, will be a freshman for the Bulldogs in 2008

April 26, 2007

By Amanda Branam
San Diego Union-Tribune

College can be a big jump for anyone, and for baseball players Kory Smith and Beau Zinman of Rancho Buena Vista High and Chris Brookey of La Costa Canyon, it will be a 2,300-mile jump.

All three have committed to play baseball next season at the UNC Asheville. They took their recruiting trip to the campus together in September, and the trio signed their letters of intent during the early signing period in November.

"We all thought that it would be fun to go out there together because we're all pretty good friends," said Brookey, a pitcher and outfielder for the Mavericks.

Brookey is a left-handed pitcher, a coveted commodity at every level of baseball. He's been playing with Smith, a second baseman, on the San Diego Gamers travel ball team for the last two years. Zinman, an outfielder, joined the Gamers last summer.

The UNC Asheville coaches traveled to Georgia to watch Smith play in a tournament for the Gamers. It turned into a recruiting jackpot for the Bulldogs. The coaches got a look at Brookey, Zinman and Smith at one time. And there may be more signings to come: The university is recruiting right-handed pitcher Taylor Wohlwend of Grossmont High, who also plays for the Gamers.

For third-year UNC Asheville head coach Willie Stewart, recruiting players from the baseball hotbed of Southern California is a matter of supply and demand.

"The area is overloaded with talent but not a lot of places to play. There are so many more places for a kid to play in college out here," said Stewart, a former Bulldog.

The challenge is convincing athletes they will fit in at a place far away from what they know. Stewart said having a piece of home around all the time can be the difference for someone deciding whether to play out of state.

"I definitely think it helps. We recruited four or five out there originally, and three of them committed together," Stewart said. "A big part of that is, it's a long way from home, but you have a couple of guys there with you. It's actually helped us get a couple of others from out that way."

Zinman, Smith and Brookey were aware of the concerns about spending the next four years on the opposite coast. They weren't the only ones with reservations, either.

"I asked (Beau's mom), 'Are you sure he's going to be able to handle being so far away?'" RBV head coach Leo Fletes said. "She was pretty confident, with the family that's out there, that he'd be able to make the adjustment."

Zinman has family in Delaware, about a six-hour drive from Asheville.

While Fletes was concerned about the more reserved Zinman making the transition, he wasn't as worried about Smith.

Smith, whose older brother, Kyle, is in his last year of eligibility with the Bulldogs, seemed to be anxious about moving away from his parents, grandmother, aunts and uncles, who all live in Vista. Zinman helped the RBV second baseman put it in perspective.

"He just brought up to me that if I go to school in Arizona, it's a six-hour drive," Smith said. "Beau said it's a six-hour flight to UNCA. After that I didn't see it as that big of a deal."

Zinman said he probably would have played for the Bulldogs regardless of who went with him, but he's glad to have the company.

"It would be scary going that far by myself," Zinman said. "We're going together; we're good friends. It should work out."

The three are joining a program that is on the rise. UNC Asheville won the Big South Conference for the first time last season and also made a trip to the NCAA Regionals.

Brookey, Smith and Zinman all like the possibility of helping the Bulldogs program take the next big step, but it all starts with a big jump.