The article below originally appeared in the San Mateo Daily Journal and is being reprinted with permission.

College of San Mateo (3-0 in Coast Golden Gate, 15-4 overall) has a wealth of Serra graduates on its 2017 baseball roster. And at the top of the class is slugger Angelo Bortolin, a left-handed hitting third baseman who, in three varsity seasons with the Padres, forged a career as something of a high school version of George Brett.

Bortolin is one of four ex-Padres currently wearing Bulldogs blue, and the true freshman is off to hot start as CSM’s cleanup hitter. With the No. 4-ranked Bulldogs opening Coast Conference Golden Gate play last week with three straight wins — back-to-back wins over Mission College 11-6 and 15-5, then a 5-3 victory over West Valley — Bortolin had his biggest game as a collegian in last Thursday’s blowout of Mission, going 2 for 4 with two home runs and five RBIs.

“Our whole team swung it really well,” Bortolin said. “It was just a big offensive day for us.”

Bortolin opened the game with a bases-loaded opportunity and cashed in, connecting with a hanging curveball to launch a grand slam over the right-field wall at Mission College. In his final at-bat of the day, he added a solo homer, his fourth of the year.

Having attended Loyola Marymount in the fall, where he played fall ball as a third baseman and left fielder, Bortolin decided to transfer back to his hometown school of CSM.

“It was working out baseball wise,” Bortolin said. “Just more school wise it wasn’t really working out for me.”

Now, he is reunited with his former Serra teammates, first baseman Nick Knecht, outfielder Ryan Sambel and outfielder Chris Papapietro.

“It’s good,” Bortoliin said of playing once more with Papapietro, a Division I kickback from University of the Pacific, where he redshirted last season. “I got to play with him at Serra for three years and it’s good to be playing with him again.”