‘88 Baseball Picture Looks Much Better for Valley Teams : Diamond Bar Looks the Cream of New 5-A League, Followed by Arcadia, Bishop Amat, Nogales

It was not the best of times for San Gabriel Valley baseball teams last season.

Not only did a valley team fail to win a CIF Southern Section title for the first time since 1980, no team even reached the championship game in its division.

But don’t be surprised if the results are much different this year.

Diamond Bar is considered a strong threat in the newly formed 5-A Division and Edgewood is a contender in 4-A, Arroyo in 3-A and Baldwin Park and San Marino in 2-A.

With outstanding pitching, Diamond Bar is the consensus choice among coaches as the top team in the valley. The next three teams could be traditional powers Arcadia, Bishop Amat and Nogales.

Other top teams include Edgewood, Arroyo, Glendora, Baldwin Park, San Marino and South Hills.

Here is a look at the top 10:

1--Diamond Bar (Sierra League; 5-A Division)--It was largely a junior team that won the league title and reached the second round of the 4-A playoffs last year.

So with a season of experience and quality pitchers, the outlook for the Brahmas is bullish.

“I think it is probably warranted,” Coach Denis Paul said. “It’s up to us to live up to it.”

Diamond Bar (20-8 last season) is expected to be led on the mound by senior left-hander Jim Edmonds (6-2, 180), an All-CIF player who was 6-2 with a 2.24 earned-run average and 77 strikeouts as a junior. Two other talented left-handers are seniors Tony Darden (6-3, 190) and Paul Spere (6-4, 200).

“We feel like we have three quality left-handers,” Paul said.

Darden, an all-valley performer who batted .487 last season, heads a list of strong hitters. Others are catcher Bascom Mellon (6-4, 250), third baseman Kyle Schuler (5-10, 165), Mike Hoyos (5-9, 165) at second base and Edmonds in center.

Diamond Bar has promising sophomores in right fielder Frank Delgadillo (6-3, 180) and shortstop Tito Quiles (6-2, 165).

That should give the Brahmas the best starting nine in the valley, although Paul said they do not have depth.

“That is probably the big question mark,” he said. “We have a smaller team than usual, but we’re versatile.”

2--Arcadia (Pacific League; 5-A)--With three all-leaguers from last year’s team that was 22-6 and reached the 4-A semifinals, Coach John Meiers is not concerned about producing runs.

The problem may be stopping Apache opponents from scoring.

“I would rather be telling you that our pitching is fine and our hitting is suspect,” Meiers says.

Arcadia, which has won five of the last seven Pacific League titles, including the last two, has a fine starting pitcher in senior Pete Smaldino (6-3, 175), but after that Meiers is not certain. “We’ve got an inexperienced pitching staff,” he said. “They are good but inexperienced.”

Still, the Apaches have the hitting and defense to stay with most teams.

The leaders are seniors Mark Smith (6-2, 190) in center field and Dustin Pike (5-10, 170) in left field and junior Jim Aiwasian (6-2, 180) at shortstop. Three other standouts should be juniors Mike Gerken (6-3, 190) at third base and Dan Bisuano (5-10, 160) in right field and senior first baseman Aaron Holmes (6-1, 190).

“We’re not enormous but they’re all around 6-0 or 6-1, and from top to bottom our lineup has some very good hitters and we have good speed,” Meiers said.

Which should be enough to keep the Apaches among the best in the valley again.

3--Bishop Amat (Angelus League; 5-A)--The Lancers may have only one starter from last year’s team that was 22-5 and reached the 4-A quarterfinals, but pitcher J. R. Phillips is no ordinary player.

Run-of-the-mill players do not finish 13-1 and a 2.12 earned-run average and hit a school-record .523 with 8 home runs and 46 RBI.

“He had an incredible year,” Coach Glenn Martinez said of Phillips, who made the All-CIF 4-A team and has been recruited by USC, Oklahoma State and Arkansas. “He’s an incredible talent. If you had only one player back, he’d be the one you’d want.”

“We hope he can carry us until the young kids come around,” Martinez said.

Other players who should play an important role for the Lancers are shortstop Ken Kendrena (5-10, 160), catcher Tom Acuna (6-1, 220) and second baseman Steve Clark (5-10, 175). Acuna batted .343 and Clark .298 last season.

The Lancers have good younger players in junior outfielders Adam Rogers (5-11, 185) and Wade Kennedy (6-1, 170), who start for the football team, and sophomore pitcher Robert Stewart (6-3, 250).

“It’s just the opposite of last year,” Martinez said. “It’s probably a better team to work with because they’re younger and not as experienced, but last year the team was already set.”

4--Nogales (Sierra League; 5-A)--Over the last four years it would be difficult to find a team in the valley with a better record than the Nobles (76-23-2 during that span).

The Nobles, who finished 19-7 and advanced to the second round of the 4-A playoffs last year, have reached the playoffs six straight years, and that does not figure to change.

“This team has a chance to be very good,” said Coach John Romano, who has an impressive 148-53-3 record in 10 years at Nogales.

The Nobles should have a strong attack built around senior outfielders Richard Witherspoon (6-2, 190) and Boo Moore (6-4, 205). “I’ve had Cecil Fielder (of the Toronto Blue Jays) and Mark Salas (New York Yankees), and I think they’re better players at the same stage,” Romano said.

Nogales may have to rely on Witherspoon and Moore, at least at first, because it has only three seniors. The other is All-Sierra League third baseman Nick Tito. The Nobles also have a good junior transfer in pitcher Humberto Reyes (6-2, 195).

All of which makes Romano optimistic.

“You’ve got to be optimistic, but like I told my kids, sometime it’s going to end,” he said of the team’s success. “But I don’t think it’s going to happen this year.”

5--Edgewood (Valle Vista League; 4-A)--Despite having five sophomores and a freshman starting last season, the Trojans won their fourth straight league title and finished 13-11.

With one more year of experience, not to mention a plentiful supply of pitchers, the outlook does not look good for Edgewood opponents.

“Our problem last year was we were very young and it took us a little while to get going,” Assistant Coach Jeff Jones said. “We’re still young, but we have a lot of talent.”

The only seniors in the starting lineup are center fielder Richard Brown (6-0, 180), who batted .462 and was named most valuable player in the Valle Vista League, and left fielder Eric Martin (5-10, 165). Toss in sophomore right fielder David Lawson (6-0, 180), who made the all-league team as a freshman, and the Trojans should have one of the best outfields in the valley.

The Trojans have two outstanding junior pitchers, Chad Lucius (5-8, 170) and Todd Alcorn (6-1, 210). Lucius was an all-valley player and was 7-2 with a 2.12 ERA last year.

“We have several other pitchers who can throw,” Jones said. “We’ve got a lot of depth there. If our starter’s not throwing well, we have the people to go to.”

6--Glendora (Baseline League; 4-A)--It has been a pretty good sports year at Glendora, where the football and basketball teams have won league titles. And the Tartans have the talent to take the title in baseball, too.

That certainly would not go against tradition for Glendora, which was 17-8 last year and reached the 3-A playoffs.

“I’ve been coaching here for 20 years and we’ve made the playoffs about 15 times,” Coach Clint Harwick said.

The Tartans appear to have pitching and hitting.

Top hitters are catcher George Jones (6-0, 195), who batted .350 last year, and center fielder Brian Baiotto (5-10, 195), who hit .395 and was one of the top juniors in the valley. Another offensive leader should be shortstop Teddy Rawson (5-7, 160).

But what could separate the Tartans from a lot of teams is their depth at pitching. The top three are seniors Rawson, Matt Hansen (6-0, 170) and Mike Breceda (6-0, 185) and Glendora also has a promising sophomore in left-hander Dave Mowry (6-3, 210).

7--Baldwin Park (Montview League; 2-A)--Since 1982, there has not been a more successful team in the valley than the Braves, and Coach Ron Mead says it has a lot to do with attitude.

“I took over after we won (the 1-A title) in 1982 and after that we just tried to instill a positive attitude and have had success in other sports. It’s just carried over,” Mead said.

The Braves have reached the Southern Section finals and won their league title three of the last five years. Last year’s team was 22-3-1 and reached the 1-A semifinals. It would not be a surprise for Baldwin Park to have similar success again.

Especially when you consider that the Braves once again have outstanding pitching headed by senior David Hammond (5-8, 135) and junior Chris Castro (6-4, 205). Hammond was 8-2 with a 2.05 earned-run average last season and Castro, in limited playing time, was 2-0 with a 1.68 ERA.

“Pitching is our strength this year,” Mead said. “Unless our hitting comes around, it will have to carry us.”

Not that the Braves are without excellent hitters. The leaders are second baseman Joe Miranda (6-1, 170), who batted .414 last year, and center fielder Eddie Urias (5-7, 140), who hit .340. Two other standouts should be shortstop Bruno Haro (6-1, 170) and catcher Eddie Sanchez (6-0, 230), both juniors.

8--San Marino (Rio Hondo League; 2-A)--Considering that there are six starters from last year’s 16-6-1 team, Titans’ Coach Mickey MacNamee will not dispute the lofty preseason buildup his team has received.

“If we stay healthy, we’ll have no excuses,” he says. “We have the nucleus of a strong team.”

The Titans figure to be one of the top hitting teams in the valley, led by junior shortstop Marty Willhite (6-1, 165), who batted .466 and was an all-league selection as a sophomore.

San Marino has another solid infielder in third baseman Greg Chapman (6-1, 165) and returns its entire outfield of J. P. Paciorek (6-2, 175), Pete Richter (6-2, 175) and Bill Dial (5-10, 170).

Paciorek and Ed Uriarte (6-2, 200) also give the Titans a strong one-two pitching punch. Paciorek was 4-4 with a 2.54 earned-run average a year ago and Uriarte was 7-0.

“We should swing the bat well and we have a lot of athletic ability,” MacNamee said. “Unless I’ve grossly overestimated our ability, we have a chance to be pretty good.”

9--Arroyo (Mission Valley League; 3-A)--First-year Coach Chris Sorce suffered an early setback when he lost three veterans because of grade problems.

Nonetheless, with good pitchers and hitters returning from a team that was 18-6-1 and reached the 3-A semifinals last year, Arroyo could be a winner.

The pitching is especially strong, led by senior All-CIF right-hander Paco Chavez (5-9, 160), who was 11-1 with a 1.71 ERA and 78 strikeouts a year ago. Other standouts should be junior Ray Pena, 10-2 at the junior varsity level, and senior Ralph Montenegro.

Pena, a third baseman, also figures to be one of the team’s top everyday players along with junior Jeff Holguin at catcher, senior Kiko Garcia at second base, senior Rick Cordova at shortstop and sophomore Fred Martinez in right field.

10--South Hills (Valle Vista League; 4-A)--Scoring runs does not figure to be a problem for the Huskies (13-12 last year), who may have one of the top offensive teams in the valley.

“I think outside of our pitching our starting players are as good as anyone in our league,” Coach James Bastion said.

The key word is pitching . The coach said his best pitcher is junior Jason Giambi (6-2, 165), an all-leaguer who also is a second baseman.

After Giambi, Bastion is not so certain about his pitching. “If we can get some good pitching, we should be pretty tough,” he says.

The offense figures to be led by Giambi and Covina High transfer Jerry Wolak (5-10, 160), who was an all-leaguer and batted .415 last season. Three other good offensive players are third baseman Clay Tellers (6-1, 170), left fielder O. J. Brooks (5-9, 145) and catcher Dave Vasquez (5-10, 180).