With a lengthy to-do list — recruiting, retaining, scouting, budget planning — summertime is a no-time-to-nap period for a college baseball head coach

But as the University of San Diego’s coach in 2004, Rich Hill decided to put on pause the search for a new pitching coach. One of the candidates was Eric Valenzuela, whose pregnant wife was diagnosed with leukemia.

“I was in the hospital with her for over a month,” said Valenzuela, whose wife is now healthy. “Instead of moving on, (Hill) stayed with me. He hadn’t offered me the job yet, but he said that ‘I’m not going to hire anybody else until I meet with you.’ He did that, and we just hit it off. He waited for me during a very difficult time for me and my family. And he hired me.”

Initially, it was a full-time job with part-time pay. Valenzuela was at USD for six years, collaborating with Hill to win four league titles. Valenzuela then moved on to an assistant coach’s position under Hall of Famer Tony Gwynn at San Diego State, and head coaching jobs at Saint Mary’s and, since 2019, Long Beach State.

Hill, who was hired as Hawaii’s head coach in June after 23 seasons at USD, will face off against Valenzuela tonight in the opener of a three-game series between the visiting Rainbow Warriors and Long Beach State.

“He’s my mentor,” Valenzuela said of Hill. “I wouldn’t be in this position if it wasn’t for him. I owe my career to him. I really do. I say that with everything I have. He took a chance on me as a young coach when a lot of other schools didn’t. I have so much respect for him. That’s my boss. That’s my guy.”

Valenzuela feels at home in Southern California. He grew up in San Gabriel Valley, just east of Los Angeles, a coach’s son. His father has coached and trained boxers for more than 40 years. Valenzuela boxed as a kid, but then was encouraged to focus more on baseball, which offered a more direct path to college.

“He wanted me to be the first in my family to go to college,” Valenzuela said. “He wanted a different route for me.”

Valenzuela was a pitcher who wore jersey No. 34 in high school, and at Arizona State and then Pepperdine. “I’ve been asked a million times if Fernando (Valenzuela) is my dad or if we’re related,” said Valenzuela, who is not related to the Dodger who donned No. 34 and spawned “Fernandomania.” But Eric Valenzuela said he is possibly related to the late musician Richard Valenzuela, better known as Ritchie Valens.

While at Pepperdine, it was a man-in-the-mirror moment when Valenzuela realized he might not be destined to be a major league pitcher. He then focused more on his studies, becoming his family’s first college graduate, and preparing for a coaching career.

Valenzuela has a proficiency for developing players, particularly pitching staffs. In recruiting, he prioritizes high school hurlers with “pitch-ability” over velocity. He said it is easier to develop strength and increase velocity than to teach a pitcher to consistently throw strikes.

“We’ve been lucky to do that as far back as being with Coach Hill at USD,” Valenzuela said.

UH will face a Long Beach State staff of efficient pitchers. Luis Ramirez, who skipped last week’s scheduled outing because of shoulder stiffness, will start tonight. Ramirez is 1-0 with a 0.50 ERA and 0.89 WHIP.

Jack Noble, who began the year in the bullpen, is back in the rotation. Noble is 3-0 with a 0.84 ERA and 1.08 WHIP. Juaron Watts-Brown, a second-year freshman, was a league MVP in baseball, basketball and football at Hanford High.

Devereaux Harrison, a closer, was a freshman All-American (NCBWAA, Collegiate Baseball) after producing 10 saves and averaging 11.02 strikeouts per nine innings last year.