Vedo headed south

When he's not wearing cleats, Matt Vedo will be getting sand between his toes.

The kid who wowed while at Colusa High, impressed as a freshman on the Yuba College baseball team and took the hill for the Gold Sox will be heading south for his junior season.

Last week, the right-handed hurler inked a national letter of intent to play for UC Santa Barbara.

"I'm going to be a beach bum for awhile," he said jokingly.

But Vedo also had the option to be in the snow or just off the strip. With a 93 mph fastball and a forceful curve highlighting his four-pitch repertoire, the 6-foot-3 starter garnered interest from programs like Purdue and UNLV in addition to Cal Poly, UC Riverside and Oral Roberts.

"There is a lot of talk from the scouts up north about how good Matt is," UCSB coach Bob Brontsema said in a press release. "He should fit nicely into the weekend rotation next season."

And Brontsema's notion that Vedo would be eating innings was one of the factors that led Vedo to accepting the Gauchos' offer of an 80 percent scholarship.

"A lot of schools have been looking at me," he said. "It was a tough choice but I felt comfortable at Santa Barbara."

Also swaying Vedo toward the coast is the "location, track record and level" of Santa Barbara and it's baseball program, he said. The Division-I Gauchos compete in the Big West Conference, which means he will go against vaunted competition like Cal State Fullerton, a regular in the College World Series.

The fact that he will be expected to get outs from such talent is almost unfathomable for Vedo, who entered his freshman year hoping for interest from smaller programs.

"My goal coming into Yuba was if I could go to Chico or Sacramento State, I would be happy with that," he said. "It's kind of eye opening where I ended up."

But given the chance, Vedo would say bye to the beach and opt to ride a bus. Last season's effort was enough to not only draw interest from colleges, but pro teams as well, he said.

At Yuba, Vedo went 5-4 with a 4.21 ERA. He struck out 48 and walked 19 in 66 innings pitched, while showing the potential that drew major league scouts to Yuba County. Ask the 19-year-old who he's talked to and he will quickly rattle off the "Rangers, Cardinals, Indians, Cubs and Red Sox."

It's motivated the sophomore to spend his offseason in the weight room and pounding the pavement outside. To "get bigger and stay as flexible as possible" Vedo's fitness regimen incorporates a mix of lifting, plyometrics and running, he said.

The workouts are indicative of Vedo's effort intensive personality, which helped him go from being "very raw" to having scouts talk about him being the top pitcher in Northern California," said 49ers coach Tim Gloyd.

"He's a 3.8 student and just has everything going for him," Gloyd said. "Now we just wait for the draft."

Over the summer, Vedo had a sampling of wood bat baseball during a short tenure with the Gold Sox, where he struck out seven in 72⁄3 innings.

Contact sports reporter Ryan Klocke at (530) 749-4714 or at rklocke@appealdemocrat.com.