Once summer hits, baseball becomes the center of attention in professional sports. But with the spiking gas prices and distance to the Bay Area, a closer outlet for watching quality baseball could prove more desirable.

Unfortunately, high school and college baseball teams have ended their seasons, but fans should not despair.

The California Cobras, a collegiate baseball club based in Orangevale, has arrived just in time to fill Roseville’s need for local baseball this summer.

“It is really hard to find a competitive semi-pro league in California over the summer,” pitcher and former Granite Bay player Matt Breining said. “Most of the good leagues are on the east coast, so hopefully the Cobras can be a part of something great in California.”

The Cobras are affiliated with the American Amateur Baseball Congress (AABC) and the Nor-Cal Semi-Pro Baseball Conference. The AABC is, as their name indicates, an amateur baseball organization through which teams, such as the Cobras, can compete against other collegiate age squads. There are tournaments throughout the season, with the largest being the AABC World Series, which is held in Huntsville, Texas.

“There are nine returning players from a team that went to Washington for the World Series last year, and I think that the Cobras can get to that point this year,” Breining said.

The Cobras consist of 40 players, split into two teams, Gold and Black. Most of the players are currently in college, and 16 of the 40 are from the Roseville or Granite Bay areas.

“We have a really versatile squad,” Breining said. “We have three guys that are in high school still, and some guys that are in the later years of college.”

Specifically, the Cobras are a part of the Sierra Baseball League (SBL), which contains a total of 16 teams ranging from the East L.A. Dodgers to the Humboldt Crabs. Each team in the SBL will send three players to the SBL All-Star game, to be held on July 12 in Lodi.

“We are going to try and stay as close to home this summer because of scheduling and just overall time,” Breining said. “Most of our games will be played here in Northern California.”

The Cobras’ home field is at Sacramento City College and their first game will be against the Stockton Glory on Saturday, June 21 at noon.

For more information call (916) 221-2308 or go online to www.cobrasbaseball.us