Danny Cepin and Scott Heylman – University of California, Davis

Justin Roswell: Where Are They Now?

Recently added to the NCAA Division I roster and now competing in the prestigious Big West Conference, the University of California, Davis Aggie baseball program has several former Team One participants. Two in particular, Danny Cepin and Scott Heylman have been impacting the Aggie roster in their first year of NCAA Division I competition.

Let’s turn back the clock this week to a National Tryout that we held at the University of California, San Diego in January 2006. Two players that stood out that day were Danny Cepin (MIF – Coronado HS) and Scott Heylman (MIF – Point Loma HS), both from the San Diego area. Cepin and Heylman both tried out that day at the shortstop position. I remember myself, Robert Ruiz (Associate Head Baseball Coach – Azusa Pacific University), Tony Cougoule (Assistant Baseball Coach – Iowa Western CC), and Chad Addison (Assistant Baseball Coach – UC San Diego) discussing who was better. Collectively we could not decide which player out performed the other.

Cepin hit from both sides of the plate, had plus speed, and had smooth actions in the field. Heylman had plus power, speed, and good feet and hands defensively. That day players tried out for various National Tournament Teams and for our 2006 Team One West Showcase. As a scouting staff, we could not come up with a definitive player that out performed the other. We could not invite one and not the other. So, we decided to invite both to our prestigious Team One West Showcase, which was held that summer at Tempe Diablo Stadium in Tempe, Arizona. Heylman was also a part of the Baseball Factory Exclusive Program.

Out in Arizona, we had Jim Gemler (Scouting Director – Team One), Mac Seibert (Former National Crosschecker), and Andy Ferguson (Former Professional Scout) scouting the event and they too debated over the same argument that we had been discussing six months earlier. Well, UC Davis must have had that same argument because they recruited both Cepin and Heylman as shortstops out of the same city.

In their true freshmen year at UC Davis, both Cepin and Heylman earned starting roles in the Aggie lineup. UC Davis had an overall record of 31 – 19 entering play on May 17.

We would also like to recognize some other UC Davis players who attended a Team One Showcase.

• Grant Bauer – 2006 Team One West
• Alex Dreyfuss – 2005 Team One Bay Area World Series
• Alex Johnson – 2005 Team One Northern California Preview
• Ty Kelly – 2005 Team One Bay Area World Series
• Dayne Quist – 2005 Team One Bay Area World Series
• Justin Schafer – 2005 Team One West and Bay Area World Series

Best of luck to those outstanding student-athletes as they continue their baseball careers at UC Davis.

Check out the UC Davis player bios and team statistics

Justin Roswell joined the Baseball Factory in 2001 serving in the scouting, event coordination, and player development departments. In 2007 he became the Senior Director for Team One Baseball, the showcase division of Baseball Factory. As Senior Director, he leads the player identification process for all Team One Regional Showcases. Justin also runs the Under Armour Tournament Division. Justin graduated from California State University - Fullerton, where he received his degree in Business Administration, with an emphasis on management.