The hometowns of the two players are about seven hours away. Fernandez, not far from Livermore, California, near San Jose, լ Toplicar, from Santi, California, near the southern border of the state. But both captured UC Riverside, which was much closer to Toplikar, about 95 miles from Santi.
For Fernandez, it was simply a matter of finding the best place. It was a priority for Toplikar to stay in the state.
Fernandez, as a freshman in 2014, had a limited playing time, and 2015 was his sophomore year. He led UC Riverside in many categories. 54 games.
That year was Toplikar freshman season, although his career in the highlands got off to a difficult start. He suffered an injury in January and eventually underwent surgery on Tommy John On in the summer, which wiped out both his 2015 and 2016 seasons.
At the same time, Fernandez improved his junior sophomore year in 2016 to a team-high 350 team heights of eight home runs և 42 RBI. It preceded his selection in the MLB draft that year, in the 10th round, 290th overall, to the Rockies.
Toplikar said that Fernandez, with his success, was the person he was waiting for.
When Fernandez was about to start his first full year, Toplicar finally made its collegiate debut in February 2017, which he said was amazing. He pushed some struggles out of the shower that year to establish himself as a starting right in 2018.