Former Douglas High baseball standout Tyler Hoelzen has signed a letter of intent to pitch for Division I Sacramento State starting in the spring of 2012.
Hoelzen, a crafty left-hander who pitched for Feather River College in Quincy last spring, first started drawing interest from the Hornets this fall during team scrimmages.
"There were scouts coming out to the field all semester," Hoelzen said. "Sacramento was one of the places I wanted to look at after junior college and my coach got in contact with them.
"They came out to a scout day, saw me pitch and apparently liked what they saw."
Hoelzen verbally committed to the school after his official visit and signed with them last week.
"I'm glad to have that behind me," he said. "It's better to know where I'm going and be able to focus on the upcoming season."
Hoelzen, who posted 17 wins at Douglas and helped the Tigers to the 2009 regional title, was an All-Golden Valley Conference performer last year. He went 5-2 for Feather River while posting a 1.66 ERA with 22 strikeouts and 17 walks in 43 innings pitched.
It was a season that almost didn't happen for Hoelzen.
He went to national baseball powerhouse College of Southern Nevada in Las Vegas to start the year and picked up some valuable coaching and experience.
"The coach down there taught me a new grip on my curveball that really made it more effective," Hoelzen said. "I spent a lot of time in the weight room and got a lot stronger. I gained about 12 pounds and I really started to notice a difference in my velocity and my control."
But, with the depth on Southern Nevada's roster, it was unlikely Hoelzen was going to see the mound much at first. He ended up transfering to Feather River before the start of the spring semester and catching on with the baseball team.
"I was looking around at the talent Southern Nevada had and thought there probably wasn't going to be much playing time," he said. "Plus, Feather River was closer to home. It's funny, in high school coming from a small town, all you can think about is getting away and seeing what's out there.
"Once you get out there, reality kind of sets in. I felt like Feather River was really a good decision for me.
"I liked the location, it's a small town, the coaches are cool and it's a great program to be a part of. Plus, they are very successful at moving players to the next level. Quincy is a place where there's not much to do, so you focus on school and baseball. It's a good environment to get better as a player."
Hoelzen said he's continuing to hit the weights in hopes of further improving his velocity, which is topping out between 83 and 86 right now, and he'll be changing his slate of pitches for the upcoming spring.
"I've always kind of had a mental block with the changeup, always dropping my arm," he said. "I'm dropping it this season and going with a splitfinger fastball my coach taught me. It's been getting better all fall and I'm hoping I can be pretty effective with all three of my pitches this season."
Hoelzen said he also fielded some interest from Nevada and San Francisco, along with NAIA St. Mary's out of Kansas, but that Sacramento offered the best of what he was looking for - including his preferred major, Exercise Science.
"I'm looking forward to it, just trying to get better and get prepared for the next level," Hoelzen said. "I'm looking to get ahead in the counts early and cut down on my walks. I've been more of a contact pitcher through the past couple of years, but I'd like to be more of a well-rounded pitcher. There's plenty of room to improve. I just have to put in the work to get there."
Joey Crandall can be reached at (775) 782-5121, ext. 212.
