Baseball: Junior shortstop Nick Valaika commits to UCLA
This article was originally on a blog post platform and may be missing photos, graphics or links. See About archive blog posts.
Junior shortstop Nick Valaika of Newhall Hart has committed to UCLA. He will be the fourth brother to end up with a college baseball scholarship. Older brothers Chris and Matt went to UC Santa Barbara, and a third brother, Patrick, is UCLA’s starting shortstop.
Nick missed most of his sophomore season with injuries. He played last weekend in a tournament in Arizona and was impressive in his return.
‘He’s talented,’ Coach Jim Ozella said.
Perhaps Hart should change its nickname from Indians to Bruins, because in the spring, there will be three future Bruins on the roster. Besides Valaika, senior Luke Persico and sophomore Dayton Provost are committed to UCLA. In recent years, Hart has also sent Trevor Bauer and Trevor Brown to UCLA.
-- Eric Sondheimer