In the Swing : San Pedro’s Garcia Eager for All-Star Challenge

San Pedro High School’s Rodney Garcia has the name of one pitcher at the top of his hit list:

Scott Davison.

And next month, if the Pirates’ left fielder has his way, he could get a chance to swing his hot bat against that very pitcher--Davison, Redondo’s ace of aces.

So far this spring, Garcia has hit just about every pitcher but Davison. He leads San Pedro with a .500 batting average (34 for 68) and his seven home runs are tops in the Marine League.

So why has Davison, who spearheaded Redondo’s Pioneer League championship drive this year and whose name now is prominently inked in the CIF record books, become a marked man for Garcia?

“I just want a shot at him,” Garcia said. “I don’t even care if he K’s me. I just want to see it happen.”

As the fates would have it, Garcia and Davison play in different sections of the CIF and will never face each other in a regular game.

But that moment of truth for Davison and Garcia could come on the night of June 10, during the South Bay All-Star Baseball Classic, a talent-studded affair that showcases the best senior players of the area.

“If it’s dark, I might not be able to hit him,” Garcia said. “That’s just because I’ve never played in the dark. Davison’s slider is the best I’ve ever seen. It’s invisible in the dark.”

If all this makes Garcia seem like the Muhammad Ali of the Marine League, he has the statistics to back him up. His dangerous bat is one reason the injury-plagued Pirates (19-5,12-3) finished in a first-place tie with Banning. They will open at home on Wednesday against El Camino Real, who defeated Taft, 13-1, on Saturday, in the first round of the City playoffs.

Garcia did his part for the Pirate cause last week by smashing two home runs, including the game-winner, in San Pedro’s 8-5 home victory over Banning.

Garcia’s first homer was a rocket off Banning right-hander Chico Limas that sailed over the center fielder’s head. Garcia hustled around the bags for an inside-the-park round-tripper.

But the clincher was his mammoth blast off a 2-1 Limas fastball that broke a 5-5 tie in the sixth inning. Garcia’s drive soared over the left-center-field fence, 338 feet away, cleared the infield of the alumni softball diamond that lies behind the fence and came to rest in left field of that diamond.

“I got a good shot on that one,” Garcia said. “It was a picture-perfect fastball. I was waiting for it.”

Garcia also showed last week that he wasn’t just a power hitter. He went to the opposite field three times at Gardena, where the wind in left field turns line drives into harmless outs. He finished with a double and two singles in a 7-2 San Pedro win.

That’s the kind of hitting that leads San Pedro Coach Jerry Lovarov to pencil Garcia into the third spot in the lineup every game. With 32 runs batted in, Garcia often has been chasing Pirate leadoff men Jamey Stellino and Matthew Rasband around the bases.

“I want Rodney to come up in the first inning of every game,” Lovarov said. “That means runs.”

Garcia proved his value as a No. 3 hitter early in the season. In the Blue Division final of the Westside Tournament in March, Garcia launched a two-run homer to give San Pedro a first-inning lead against Oxnard. He finished that game 3 for 3.

Then, in the waning sunlight, Garcia took over for San Pedro reliever John Pinel and struck out six batters in the final two innings for the save.

Unfortunately for Lovarov, Garcia’s mound time has been limited this season. In early April, Garcia came down with tendinitis in his right shoulder and hasn’t pitched since.

But his performance against Oxnard was a glimmer of Garcia’s ability on the hill. He has an explosive fastball and good command of the breaking ball, but they don’t do Lovarov any good in left field.

In Garcia’s absence, San Pedro’s pitching corps has been shored up well by the emergence of two fine junior right-handers, Joey Camello (6-0 in league) and Joey Miller (4-0 in league).

Lovarov doubts that Garcia will recover enough to pitch in the playoffs. Garcia isn’t so sure.

“I think I’ll pitch again this season,” he said. “They say (the tendinitis) is all in my head. But if you can feel pain, there must be something wrong. I’ll just try to overcome it. I don’t give up easily.”

He proved that over the winter with his speedy recovery from a broken finger suffered in the first game of the City playoffs for San Pedro’s football team.

Garcia had just picked off a pass and set up a San Pedro touchdown with a return to Taft’s three-yard line. He was lined up at tight end for the point after attempt when he broke the fourth finger on his left hand. He grimaces now when he remembers the play.

“It was real muddy and the pads were soaked,” Garcia said. “It was cold and my hands felt like rocks. . . . A linebacker came charging around the right side and caught my left hand with his face mask. The finger snapped.

“I just kind of panicked,” he said. “The coach taped up my finger and asked me if I wanted to come out. I just said ‘Hell, no!’ ”

Garcia had the same reply to skeptics who wondered if the injury would sideline him for part of the baseball season. The break was a clean one, split diagonally, and required two long pins.

“I didn’t think he could recover that fast,” Lovarov said. “But he guaranteed us he’d be ready by baseball season and he was. He enjoys coming to the ball park. Baseball is a fun game for him.”

Garcia would like to play baseball professionally someday. His immediate future is still up in the air, however. His recent bout with tendinitis may have hurt the 6-0, 180-pounder’s stock with the pro scouts. Garcia’s hinted that he’d like to play baseball at Arizona State, but said he might start at the ground level at Mendocino College.

“Definitely, I’ll get to the pros, somehow,” Garcia said. “I’ll do whatever it takes to get up there.”

Before taking up baseball, Garcia wanted to be an accordion player. He plays tenor saxophone for San Pedro’s concert band, but now he’s focused on baseball--and he has the support of a baseball-loving family and his girlfriend, Stephanie Freitas, who pitches for San Pedro’s softball team.

“Everyone’s been behind me from the start,” Garcia said. “One thing’s for sure: If one day I do get to the pros, I’ll have a hell of a lot of tickets to give out.”