Long Beach Poly star senior infielder Tate Hammond committed to UCLA last week, as he will follow in the footsteps of Jackrabbit legend Chase Utley going from 1600 Atlantic to Westwood. The commitment caps a fast recruitment that saw the Bruins aggressively pursue Hammond, a smooth glove with a powerful bat the last three years at Poly.
“I’m very excited, obviously that was one of my top schools going into the process,” he said. “It was pretty quick–they saw me play halfway through the Summer, then one more time, and then I got on the phone with the coaches. I took my visit, toured the campus, and then they offered and I committed the day after.”
The Bruins had a strong year under longtime coach John Savage last year, going 48-18, finishing tied for first in the Big Ten, then making a run to the College World Series; the Bruins finished the season ranked No. 13 in the nation.
“Obviously they had a very good year last year going to the College World Series,” said Hammond when asked about what appealed to him about UCLA. “They have a great plan to develop me and they already have proof of developing good players. On the academic side obviously it’s great, they have very good resources. It’s a university where you just can’t really go wrong.”
Hammond has been a highly-rated recruit throughout his baseball career to this point, popping up on watch lists and top showcase performance rankings. He’s matched that with his performance on the field for the Jackrabbits, including scoring the tying run during Poly’s walkoff comeback win in the playoffs last year.
“Tate’s fielding skills, hitting ability and physical tools will make him an asset to a Division 1 program,” said Poly coach Soloman Williams. “His work ethic and intellectual ability extend far beyond the field and will aide him in reaching success as a Bruin and make him an integral part of UCLA.”
A 6-1, 185 pound infielder, Hammond said he’s expecting to develop at the corners in the infield at UCLA. He’s also been playing with the New York Mets’ fall scout team recently, coached by Poly alum and Mets scout Glenn Walker. The commitment is a big deal as college scholarships have gotten increasingly hard to come by for high school seniors, as NCAA teams look more and more to the transfer portal, and soon to JuCo players who will be able to enter the NCAA ranks with all of their eligibility intact.
Hammond said that while his future is secure, he’s looking forward to his senior year of high school.
“We lost some good seniors last year, but we’ve got five seniors back who played on the varsity level and some really good underclassmen coming up, I think we’ll be pretty good,” he said.
