Justin Santich-Hughes joins the Cal State Monterey Bay baseball coaching staff after serving one year with the San Jose State Spartans in 2008.
The Spartan pitching staff was second in the Western Athletic Conference (WAC) in Earned Run Average behind the College World Series Champion Fresno State Bulldogs. They were also ranked first in the least amount of runs given up, earned runs given up, walks allowed, extra base hits given up, and second in batters struck out looking. Santich-Hughes also coached two individuals who finished ranked in the top 5 of conference in ERA (Max Peterson 3.69 and Scott Sobczak 3.96). Peterson was selected the All-WAC second team as a sophomore.
In 2007, Santich-Hughes concluded his collegiate playing days behind the plate following an exemplary four-year career for San Jose State. He showed a great knowledge of the system and expertly handled the Spartan pitching staff, posting a fielding percentage of .988 over four years, with just nine errors in 732 chances. He posted career-high as a senior in batting average (.280), at-bats (125), runs (19), hits (35), doubles (5), runs batted in (21), walks (10) and hit-by-pitches (11), starting 45 of 51 games. He led the WAC in sacrifices with 11, moving him up to third on the all-time Spartan list (35). Santich-Hughes tied for fifth in the conference with a .991 fielding percentage and was tied for fourth with 13 would-be base-stealers struck down.
Santich-Hughes fielded .982 in 2005 and .994 in 2006 as the Spartans produced school-record fielding percentage marks in each year. He provided 12 multiple-hit games and nine multiple-RBI games in four years, including a career-high four-RBI haul in an 11-8 home victory over Saint Mary’s on April 10, 2007. He also strung together a six-game hit streak in 2007.
A three-time Academic All-WAC honoree and three-time San Jose State University Scholar-Athlete, Santich-Hughes is currently working toward a bachelor’s degree in history, and expects to graduate in May of 2008. After coaching the Castro Valley Thunder Sox in 2006, Santich-Hughes teamed up with former Spartan catcher, Daniel Fitch, in 2007 to coach the team, who consisted of 16-to-18-year-olds.
The native of Castro Valley, Calif., is a 2003 graduate of Castro Valley High School, where he lettered three years in baseball. An all-league selection, Santich-Hughes batted .361 as a senior, with three home runs and 30 RBI, helping his team to the North Coast Section semifinals with a school-record 26 wins.
