It was the spring of 2022 when Colin Yeaman finished as the leading hitter with a .385 batting average on a 13-16 Saugus High baseball team. He had zero home runs, which matched how many scholarship offers he had.
“I figured not getting any offers, junior college was going to be the best place for me to grow and develop to get to the Division I level,” he said.
During two injury-plagued seasons at College of the Canyons, he grew to 6 feet 2 and 200 pounds. He started showing moments of power and ability playing shortstop.
UC Irvine recruiters paid attention before he was injured last season.
“The big thing was Irvine had believed in me that I was going to come back. Big thanks to them,” he said.
Never drafted in three seasons of eligibility, Yeaman is suddenly on every pro team’s radar this season for what he has been achieving at Irvine. He leads the team with a .409 average. Among his 65 hits are 12 doubles, four triples and 12 home runs. He has 48 RBIs. His latest home run came Tuesday night against UCLA.
He’s hired an agent for the first time.
“It’s pretty surreal,” he said.
This summer he’s going to get drafted and likely become a professional. There are so many lessons to be learned from Yeaman’s journey of going from zero scholarship offers to pro prospect
“Just keep levelheaded about everything,” he said. “I knew I had two years to prove myself and had a lot of potential and had a lot of time to get better.”
Yeaman said support from his family was critical. His father, Kris, played at Bishop Alemany in the 1990s, went to Canyons and became a scholarship player. His grandfather, Rod, also played, so they reminded him there was no reason to stop playing a game you love.
“Big thanks to my family not letting me get too emotional,” Yeaman said. “They assured me everything would be OK and just get after it.”
As a freshman at Canyons, he was hitting well until diving for a ground ball and injuring his left throwing shoulder. In the summer he separated the same shoulder and had surgery. He injured it again diving for a ball and had another surgery that finally fixed it.
He was healthy long enough for people to recognize his talent.
“He’s a special player,” Canyons coach Chris Cota said. “There were several coaches who said he was the best hitter they’ve seen at this level. He really matured when he got out of high school.”
Yeaman advises if you’re passionate and believe in yourself, fight through any roadblocks.
“If you love the game, definitely keep playing it,” he said. “You never know when your last at-bat will be. A lot of people who stop end up regretting it. See how good you can get. It’s tough mentally. In the end, it almost helped me with baseball dealing with the adversity, being patient. Stick to the plan and everything will work out.”
The initial judgments by scouts when he was 18 have changed now that he just turned 21. He’s a different physical specimen and his journey has prepared him for the inevitable highs and lows that will come with playing baseball in the coming years.
“I want to keep going until the wheels fall off or someone tells me no,” he said.
What will happen if he hears his name called in this summer’s amateur draft?
“I might get a little emotional,” he said.
It’s the story of his life. Keep working hard, keep trying to improve, keep believing in yourself.