TEMECULA – Great Oak’s new head baseball coach, Tony Tarasco, has high hopes for not only his program, but for players all over the valley, which he wants to start referring to as the “Diamond Valley” when it comes to baseball. While Diamond Valley may be synonymous with the Hemet area, Tarasco, a former Major Leaguer, is on a rebranding mission.
Tarasco bought a house In Temecula as the COVID-19 pandemic hit the world in 2020 but has been a staple in the local professional baseball realm since 2015 when he was working with the Padres, and Lake Elsinore Storm. As a player, Tarasco signed with the Atlanta Braves in 1988 after being selected in the 15th round of the MLB Amateur Draft and made his Major League debut at 22 years old against the St. Louis Cardinals, in which he recorded a pair of base hits.
The California native then went on to play in parts of eight major league seasons with the Braves, Montreal Expos, Baltimore Orioles, Cincinnati Reds, New York Yankees, and New York Mets. Once he retired from baseball, Tarasco began his coaching career, landing a job in the Washington Nationals organization. Prior to being with the Padres, he started out as a minor league coordinator before joining the Nationals coaching staff as a first base and outfield coach.
“That time, in my new house, tucked away from the world, I got to really delve into the local history, and got to know a lot of the local coaches, like Eric Morton, who had been talking about finding the right person to take over at Great oak when the time was right,” says Tarasco.
Morton retired from coaching in 2022, and Tarasco jumped at the opportunity. While he has been learning the ways of high school baseball, and the rules, and CIF Southern Section ways of life, coaching, and playing the game at a high level are fueling his every move at this point.
The new head coach just recently teamed up with a local organization that has been working with baseball players all over Southern California for the past few years. Baseball Resource Group (BRG) is a California nonprofit corporation founded by former MLB scouts, coaches, and players whose mission is to provide opportunities for student baseball athletes.
The goal of BRG, is much like Tarasco’s philosophy of being able to expose players to some of the industry’s best talent, college recruiters, and pro scouts. While the group has utilized many resources in the area over the past few years, including using local high schools for field space, this past weekend the two groups, BRG and Great Oak Baseball, were able to come together on the Great Oak baseball fields in the City of Temecula, which isn’t easy to go down when it comes to district approval for non-school related events.
“I have had such great support with our admin Aimee Ricken (Principal), and Herschel Ramirez (Athletic Director), who have been steering the District ship,” says Tarasco. “Shelly Lopiccolo (TVUSD Facilities Use Technician) has also been a valuable guide for me as I have started the process in understanding what needs to be done to host events that can bring in top talent from this area, and those around us.”
This past weekend’s event was a hit in every sense of the word. Both fields at Great Oak were set to be utilized for players to play games, train, develop, and get mentorship by former and current MLB/MiLB players, coaches, and scouts. Also in attendance were college scouts and coaches looking for talent to field rosters in the years after 2023.
Tarrik Brock, a former professional baseball player and current first base coach for the Pittsburgh Pirates, was a lead instructor for the event and is a staple of the BRG Pirates Scout Ball teams that are currently filling rosters for their summer ball teams. The event at Great Oak was also held to help find talent for those teams. Pittsburgh Pirates outfielder Calvin Mitchell, who played at Rancho Bernardo High School (2017 graduate) and made his MLB debut in 2022, was also in attendance and helped offer advice to the younger players. To find out more about these events, visit https://www.scoutballgames.com.
JP Raineri can be reached by email at sports@reedermedia.com.
