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 Long Beach State star Evan Longoria has dedicated a bit of community service to the Western Christian High School Baseball program. Longoria has made a commitment to new Head Coach Mark Gabbard to come in once every two weeks to talk and give fundamental instruction to the Lancer infielders. Longoria was recruited by and played for Coach Gabbard at Rio Hondo College during his tenure there as Assistant Head Coach. At Rio Hondo Longoria earned All-Conference, All-State, and All-American honors as a freshman before earning a scholarship to nationally ranked Long Beach State University .
Once at Long Beach , Longoria started at short stop for the #14 ranked Dirtbags before moving to third base upon the return of Troy Tulowitski (#7 overall pick in 2005 draft). Longoria went on to earn All-Conference honors there in 2005. Last summer Longoria went to play in the Cape Cod League with the best college players in the nation. By summer's end he proved to be the best of the best earning Cape Cod Most Valuable Player while leading the league in Home Runs and Runs Batted In. Longoria is a projected first round draft pick in the 2006 draft.
Coach Gabbard is more than excited to have his former recruit and player lending a helping hand with his athletes. “Evan is an amazing talent,” says Gabbard. “He is the complete package of physical, emotional, and most importantly mental. Watching him blossom into one of the top players in the country has been a blessing to witness.” Longoria will come in every other Friday working around his Long Beach schedule to evaluate and give pointers. Gabbard goes on to state, “I hope the kids and parents realize how special this is for our kids and our mission of turning the program into a winner. Not many high school kids, let alone private school kids, can say they are being taught by the best in the country. Hopefully they will begin to understand the commitment and time it takes to become a champion. This is truly a blessing to our mission.”
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