![\"Palomar](\"https:\/\/www.palomar.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/50\/2018\/02\/Comets-baseball-2-1024x681.jpg\")
<\/p>\nRyan Semon, Josh Sidney and Conor Mckenna head into their final season at Palomar College with commitments to play in Pennsylvania, Oklahoma and Kansas.<\/p>\n
SAN MARCOS \u2014 It\u2019s a familiar routine for Buck Taylor, the head baseball coach at Palomar College: The players arrive from nearby high schools, hone their skills as Comets, spend two years getting playing time at Palomar, and then apply to the top baseball universities in the U.S.<\/p>\n
\u201cEvery year, we have Division I athletes,\u201d Taylor said. \u201cThis is standard. We play all fall and showcase our guys for the four-year schools. This happens every year.\u201d<\/p>\n
As baseball season gets underway, three players on this year\u2019s team\u2014two pitchers and a shortstop\u2014are preparing to transfer to NCAA Division I universities after signing on the first day of the National Letter of Intent early signing period in November. Two of the colleges are athletic powerhouses in the Big-12 Conference and the other is Ivy League.<\/p>\n
Palomar alumni have gone all over the country to play baseball, but this year Josh Sidney will be heading to the University of Pennsylvania, Conor Mckenna to the University of Oklahoma, and Ryan Semon to the University of Kansas.<\/p>\n
\u201cThose are all outstanding programs,\u201d Taylor said. \u201cRyan and Conor\u2019s schools are a little more athletics-oriented, they\u2019re in the Big-12 Conference. Pennsylvania is a superb academic institution\u2014an Ivy League school\u2014and Josh is going to be super-successful there as an athlete.\u201d<\/p>\n
As Palomar\u2019s head baseball coach since 2006, Taylor has seen dozens of his players move up through the ranks of collegiate and professional baseball.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve had a few kids sign out of here for a good amount of money,\u201d he said. \u201cWe had four guys in the Major Leagues this year.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe best part of coaching is watching them leave here, to be honest,\u201d Taylor added. \u201cIn the spring, I can\u2019t wait to get to my office and go online and see who did what. We have probably 10 or 15 guys active in professional baseball, so when the season starts we always check and see how they did the night before.\u201d<\/p>\n
For Sidney, Mckenna and Semon\u2014who all aspire to play in the Major Leagues\u2014the best days of baseball are still ahead. And they know they\u2019ll have to work hard to show up one day in Coach Taylor\u2019s morning research. Each has made plans to transfer this summer, after their sophomore season with the Comets.<\/p>\n
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Sidney is a tall right-handed pitcher who came to Palomar from Torrey Pines High School and went 4-1 for the Comets as a freshman. Now 20 years old, he plans to pursue a Philosophy, Politics and Economics degree at Pennsylvania.<\/p>\n
\u201cJosh will be the first athlete that I\u2019ve had here who has ever transferred to an Ivy League school,\u201d Taylor said. \u201cHe\u2019ll be drafted this year and have to deal with, \u2018We want to give you X-amount of dollars,\u2019 rather than going to college. But Josh could pitch anywhere in America and he chose academics over athletics.\u201d<\/p>\n
Sidney was humble about his academic ambitions and his athletic ability, but said that he appreciated the way Taylor and the other coaches \u201csupport good education.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe coaches support a balance in your lifestyle,\u201d said Sydney.<\/p>\n
Mckenna agreed: \u201cIf you\u2019ve got no grades, you\u2019re not playing. They\u2019ll send you to the library instead of practice.\u201d<\/p>\n
As for his experience as a Comet, Sidney said Palomar has been the ideal place to begin his career as a college athlete. The storied baseball program here has a reputation reaching far beyond Southern California.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re kind of like a powerhouse,\u201d he said with a grin. \u201cIf you were to ask someone from a Division I team, they would all know Palomar.\u201d<\/p>\n
![\"Palomar](\"https:\/\/www.palomar.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/50\/2018\/02\/Comets-baseball-3-1024x681.jpg\")
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As an infielder, Mckenna, 19, made an impression at Palomar for his skill at the plate. As a freshman, he maintained a .365 batting average with 27 RBIs and was a first-team All-PCAC pick.<\/p>\n
Now headed for the Big-12 Conference, Mckenna plans to major in kinesiology and pursue physical therapy.<\/p>\n
\u201cA good player has a lot of other options coming out of high school, but the goal of coming to Palomar is to go as big as you can,\u201d he said. \u201c(Signing with Oklahoma) was the next step in my career, because all of us want to end up playing baseball professionally, and it\u2019s tough to do that if you\u2019re not at a Division I school.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mckenna said he\u2019s been especially grateful for the camaraderie at Palomar College. For example, this year\u2019s team has a lot of freshmen, but \u201cit doesn\u2019t really matter what year you are,\u201d he said. \u201cAs long as you have \u2018Palomar\u2019 across your chest, it doesn\u2019t matter how old you are or where you come from, we\u2019re all going to be best friends.\u201d<\/p>\n
As for his choice of schools, he said, \u201cMy family\u2019s from the Midwest, so they\u2019re happy,\u201d adding that he has a grandfather who lives in Oklahoma.<\/p>\n
![\"Palomar](\"https:\/\/www.palomar.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/50\/2018\/02\/Comets-baseball-1024x681.jpg\")
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During his freshman season with the Comets, Semon broke the Palomar College record for most wins without a loss when he racked up a 9-0 record with a 1.54 ERA\u2014as a reliever.<\/p>\n
With plans to major in kinesiology, Semon, 20, is a graduate of Valley Center High School and admits to being a Yankees fan, despite the many Padres die-hards in the area.<\/p>\n
The left-handed pitcher was named to the 2017 CCCAA All-State first team, but it\u2019s the 2018 season that he\u2019s focused on now. Last year, the Comets were knocked out of the playoffs early, and Semon said, \u201cWe definitely want to redeem ourselves.\u201d<\/p>\n
He agreed with Mckenna about the atmosphere at Palomar: \u201cWe all come from different places. You\u2019d never see any of us hanging out, but we hang out all the time. It\u2019s the environment out here\u2014you basically become brothers.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"