PLAY BALL! : Dominguez Hills Struggling With Injuries, Poor Performances . . .

These are not the best of times at Cal State Dominguez Hills.

The Toro baseball team is struggling with a 7-8 preseason record, even though they won three games last week.

What’s wrong with the baseball team, the most consistent program on campus in recent years? Fans at the school, hungry for some kind of success, have to wonder if this just isn’t the year of the Toro.

In fall, neither the men’s nor women’s soccer teams gained a post-season playoff berth. Then this winter, the men’s and women’s basketball teams struggled through seasons both head coaches would like to forget. The men, who finished 12-13, failed to defend their California Collegiate Athletic Assn. crown.

Now, on the eve of its CCAA opener on Wednesday at 2:30 p.m. with Cal State Los Angeles, the Toro baseball team teeters on becoming the biggest disappointment yet.

The Toros were ranked No. 4 nationally in a preseason poll. The defending conference champions have been picked to repeat. Seven starters were supposed to return.

(In contrast, the men’s basketball team returned just one starter and was picked to finish seventh in an eight-team league. It wound up tied for fourth.)

Injuries, mediocre pitching and poor fielding have kept the Toro baseball team from living up to its billing.

“We have not seen the team we recruited,” said Coach Andy Lopez. “From a coaching standpoint, that is discouraging.”

Injuries have played a major role in the Toros’ lackluster start. Eight players, including three starters, have been lost for the season with ailments ranging from torn ligaments to broken bones.

Consider:

Freshman catcher John Baldwin from Lakewood stretched knee ligaments. He is out for the year.

JC transfer John Paboojian, slated to start at second base, suffered a broken femur bone in his right leg.

Terry Bauer, another second baseman, broke an ankle.

Some of the casualties have been unusual. Catcher Mike McCarthy missed the first week of the season with the chicken pox. He had been recovering from a sore elbow on his throwing arm.

Freshman infielder Craig Turley has dropped out of school after surgery to correct a cyst on his spinal cord. And highly touted freshman Eric Campo, selected out of high school in the major league draft, decided to sit this season out after he was in an automobile accident.

No wonder Lopez says: “We’ve lost a lot of people.”

Only 20 players remain on a roster that began with 34. This on a team that was 43-15, won the CCAA title and advanced to the Division 2 World Series.

“You learn to fight through adversities you can’t control,” said Lopez of the rash of injuries, “but, really, we’re struggling.”

Dominguez Hills showed signs of shaking itself out of its slump with an 11-2 clubbing of Cal Lutheran on Thursday. But even that win was bittersweet. Outfielder Chuck Ludlow injured his left knee when he stepped on the pitching rubber in the bullpen as he was chasing a foul ball. He will miss at least a week.

That leaves just two men on the bench--catcher Dwayne Fowler and utility man Vic Fresca.

“Without the injuries, we’d be a real big factor,” Lopez said. “Realistically, we have to get good pitching and pay attention to details.”

So far, Toro pitching has been spotty. The team’s earned run average is hovering well over 5. At the start of last week, no pitcher had won more than one game.

Adding to the problems on the mound is the condition of middle reliever Chris Haslock, a senior right-hander from Burbank. A year ago he posted a 7-2 record with 12 saves and an ERA of 2.42. Last week Haslock, who could also be a designated hitter, was diagnosed as having nerve damage in his right foot. Lopez expected to find out sometime today whether Haslock will need surgery, which might end his career.

“The timing of these injuries really got us,” Lopez said.

Poor fielding also is to blame for the team’s poor record. The Toros are averaging three errors a game. Last season Dominguez Hills led the nation in defense.

Some of the problems in the field can be attributed to players filling in for the injured or playing out of their normal positions.

Damon Neidlinger, a right-handed first baseman at Napa College who was going to start at third base is now at second. Although he has committed just four errors in his new position, he has been unhappy with his play.

“If I boot a ball it’s too easy to say I don’t belong there,” he said. “I look at it like an error is an error.”

Shortstop Rick Davis, a transfer from Mt. San Antonio College, leads the team with eight miscues.

“He’s made some hard plays, but then he’s missing the easy ones,” said Sports Information Director Tom Neff. “He’ll come around.”

Neidlinger agrees.

“We’ve made so many errors,” he said. “But I think that will change.”

Neidlinger said playing out of position has not been the major reason for the team’s problems.

“I think it’s a lack of concentration,” he said.

A bright spot has been the team’s hitting. Dominguez Hills has a team batting average of .320. Third baseman Juan Jauregui leads the team, batting .463. Neidlinger is second at .420.