Riley Pittman commits to Stanford; hopes to lead Woodbridge to water polo title

Riley Pittman has been the leader of the Woodbridge water polo team. (Photo Tim Burt, OC Sports Zone)

Woodbridge High water polo star Riley Pittman is hoping to making his senior year a special one.

Pittman and the Warriors are aiming to bring home a second consecutive Pacific Coast League title.

But there is also a bigger goal for Pittman, who has been a starter all four years and earned all-league honors each season.

“We want to win (CIF) Division 2, that would be unreal, that’s been our goal ever since we came to Woodbridge and we’ve been close, but we haven’t been able to do it yet so that’s the end goal,” Pittman said.

The future appears bright for Pittman, who said this week he has committed to play water polo at Stanford University.

“I honestly feel that Stanford fits my personality,” Pittman said. “I’ve been working hard and ever since the sixth grade, it’s been my goal to go to Stanford and my parents told me I would have to get good grades and work really hard in water polo.”

Pittman also considered offers from Princeton, UCLA, UC Davis, Air Force and Harvard.

“I’m unbelievably excited, the opportunity to win a national title and possibly play under some unreal players like Ben Hallock and have the learning experience, I’m really looking forward to it,” he said.

Pittman also had the chance to play for the USA youth national water polo team this summer. The team went undefeated to capture the gold medal of the UANA Youth Pan American Championships, defeating Brazil 19-8 in the championship game.

“We actually finished first which means we automatically qualify for youth worlds next year and hopefully I get a chance to go to do that too,” Pittman said.

Pittman has made quite an impact at Woodbridge, according to Coach Matt Campbell.

“What’s unique about Riley is that he always has an effect on the game,” Campbell said. “His influence can be seen offensively and or defensively depending on the opponent.

“Because he is our leading scorer, sometimes his defensive skills are overlooked but he is equally strong at both ends of the pool. In addition, he is one of the most competitive players I have coached in all my years of coaching.”

Pittman was second team all-league as a freshman, first team and All-CIF Division 3 as a sophomore and league MVP and second team All-CIF Division 2 as a junior.

He was the team’s leading scorer in his sophomore and junior years and this year, he leads the team with 37 goals.

-Tim Burt, OC Sports Zone; timburt@ocsportszone.com