User:Erick Raich

Erick John Raich (born June 10, 1982) is an American baseball coach. He is the owner and founder of California Club Baseball (CCB) one of the top amateur college baseball development programs in the country.

Raich got his start in coaching as an assistant coach at West Valley College. After his coaching stint at West Valley College, Raich went on to become the head baseball coach at Palo Alto High School and after a successful tenure was hired as the head baseball coach at De Anza College. Raich spent five years as the head coach at De Anza College. After his time at De Anza College, Raich wanted to move back to the high school level and took over the baseball program at Westmont High School.

During his time as an assistant coach at West Valley College, Raich was heavily involved in the newly popular youth travel baseball which was what preempted him to start California Club Baseball (CCB).

Early life
Raich was born in San Jose, California to Rick Raich and Veronica Shepardson. His parents separated at the early age of one and he split time living with both parents.

His father Rick was a former professional baseball player and baseball coach. After his playing career, Rick got his start in coaching as the pitching coach for San Jose City College and then went on to coach at Santa Clara University and West Valley College. His mother Veronica was a track and field star that excelled almost to an Olympic level.

Raich in his early years grew up in many parts of the Santa Clara County but spent majority of his time living with his mom in the town of Los Gatos. Growing up Raich excelled in many sports and played baseball, basketball, volleyball along with wrestling and track.

As a freshman in high school, Raich attended Los Gatos High School where he played on both the football and baseball teams. After his freshman year he transferred to Saratoga High School where he would continue to play football and baseball along with his team winning a Central Coast Section title in 1999.

College career
Raich was recruited to play both football and baseball in college but decided to focus solely on baseball and enrolled at West Valley College. Raich, grey-shirted his first year due to an illness but returned back the following year in which their team won the Coast Conference Championship. Raich then had another set back the following year having to sit out due to a torn rotator cuff he had been playing through since high school. Upon his recovery, Raich transferred to Mission College to finish up his last season.

West Valley College (2005-2007)
After his playing career finished, Raich was an assistant coach at his alma mater West Valley College for three years under hall of fame coach Mike Perez. During his time as assistant coach, West Valley won the conference championship in 2006 and coached future MLB star Eric Thames.

Palo Alto High School (2010-2014)
In 2010, Raich was hired as the head baseball coach at Palo Alto High School. During his five year tenure at Palo Alto, Raich accumulated a 102-38 record along with leading the Vikings to four league titles. During the 2011 season, Raich guided the team to the schools first ever Central Coast Section Division 1 Championship and was also named the #1 ranked program in the state of California. While at Palo Alto, Raich also coached notable alumni and current MLB player Joc Pederson

De Anza College (2014-2019)
In 2014, Raich was hired as the head baseball coach at De Anza College taking over a program that had a record of 3-32 the prior season. In his first season, Raich was able to turn things around quickly guiding the team to an 18-18 record and their first playoff appearance in eleven years. His second year, the program built on the first year success and went 21-16 for the season along with another playoff appearance.

Westmont High School (2020-2023)
In 2020, Raich came back to the high school level after a successful tenure at De Anza College. His first season was wiped out as all spring sports were cancelled due to the COVID-19 Pandemic. In 2022, Raich was able to guide his team to a Blossom Valley Santa Teresa League Title and Central Coast Section playoff appearance.