College Review : Grossmont Pitcher Regains Top Form After Losing Weight

Pitcher Bill Reed, with the pressure of his senior year of high school behind him, showed he hasn’t lost a thing. Except maybe a little weight.

Reed was 10-0 as a junior at Santana High and helped lead the Sultans to the San Diego Section 3-A title in 1986. Entering his senior season, Reed was expected to be the county’s dominating pitcher.

He finished the season 8-2 and again helped the Sultans reach the section title game, which they lost, 7-2, to Mt. Carmel. But he was inconsistent and took a back seat to Grossmont pitcher Lance Dickson, who had five shutouts, good for fifth place in the section’s all-time standings; six consecutive strikeouts, tying him for fourth on the section’s all-time list, and 138 strikeouts for a career total of 256, eighth-best in section history.

Reed, now pitching for Grossmont College, has returned to top form. He threw a one-hitter against Arizona Western in the season opener at Yuma Thursday, allowing only a ground-ball single between first and second with two out in the fourth inning. Grossmont won, 2-0, and the Griffins went 3-0 over the weekend to win the Arizona Western tournament.

“As a junior I was 10-0, and I felt pressure to improve or at least match that mark (as a senior),” Reed said. “There was a lot of pressure.”

Reed was drafted by the Padres in the late rounds of the 1987 draft but opted to play community college baseball.

“I kind of thought I needed another year,” Reed said. “I needed to get my feet wet.”

The first thing Doug Barber, the Grossmont pitching coach, did was put Reed on a conditioning program. Reed had battled his weight most of his senior season.

Reed (5-feet 10-inches) started the 1988 season at 202 pounds. He says he’s down to 187.

“The big difference between last year and this year is that I’m in a lot better shape,” Reed said. “Lugging that weight around for nine innings gets a little tiring.”

The United States International University ice hockey team opens its most important home stand of the season Tuesday when the Gulls play the University of Alaska Fairbanks (16-7-2) in a two-game series.

USIU (13-12) is battling for the independent berth to the eight-team NCAA championship tournament. USIU, Merrimack College, Alaska Anchorage and Alaska Fairbanks are the front-runners for the playoff spot.

The Gulls defeated Merrimack twice at home in January, but they were swept in two-game series by both Alaska schools in November.

USIU plays host to Air Force on Feb. 20-21 and Alaska Anchorage (18-10-2) on Feb. 26-27 to finish the regular season.

The Gulls are coming off a split of a four-game trip. USIU is 10-4 since Dec. 18.

The Mission Conference is being realigned for the third time in the past four years. The community college football conference will have 16 teams in three divisions--Southern, Central and Northern.

After the 1985 season, the Pacific Coast Conference was merged with the Mission Conference. The PCC membership was primarily San Diego County colleges. Starting with the 1988 season, the South Coast Conference will be merged with the Mission Conference.

Jim Symington, Grossmont College football coach, said the primary reason for the merger was scheduling. He said some of the better teams were having trouble finding nonconference opponents.

“It was pretty much either we accept (the new alignment) or be dropped out and have to find our own games,” Symington said. “It would be difficult getting people to come down here.”

Symington also said the winner of each division is expected to advance to a bowl game. Teams will play each team in their division and make up the rest of the schedule with other conference teams. Symington said the only exception is that teams may schedule their first game of the season with a nonconference opponent, but the game will not count toward deciding a conference champion or bowl berths.

The Southern Division will consist of the five San Diego County colleges--Grossmont, Palomar, San Diego Mesa, San Diego City and Southwestern. The Central Conference will consist of Rancho Santiago, Orange Coast, Saddleback, Fullerton, Riverside and Golden West. The Northern Conference will consist of Cerritos, Pasadena, Mt. San Antonio, El Camino and Long Beach.

Only two San Diego County football players have been named to the JC Athletic Bureau-California Community College Football Coaches Assn. All-Southern California football first team --linebacker Scott Walker of San Diego Mesa and tight end Dee Halton of Southwestern.

Palomar guard Curt Dykes was named to the second team.