Baseball /Gary Klein : Left Out in the Cold on Draft Day, Riscen Warms to Comeback Task

Impressing scouts was never a problem for Fred Riscen when he was mowing down batters for Granada Hills High, Pierce College and College of the Canyons.

The stocky left-hander had been drafted three times before last season, but he spent much of 1988--his final year of eligibility at Texas A & M--overcoming a shoulder problem.

Riscen, the City Section 4-A Division Player of the Year at Granada Hills in 1984 and an all-state selection at Canyons in 1987, was 3-0 with a 1.80 earned-run average for the Aggies. But the June draft came and went with Riscen’s name missing from the selection lists of all 26 major league teams.

“Right now I’m on a mission to prove myself,” said Riscen, who is toiling for the Salt Lake City Trappers, an independent team in the Pioneer Rookie League. “I’ve been drafted three times. I know I’m good enough.”

Riscen wasted no time proving it once he got to Salt Lake City. In his first start, he struck out 13 and pitched a complete-game two-hitter against the Idaho Falls Braves. In his second start, against Pocatello last week, Riscen went seven innings and struck out eight but did not get a decision.

Like his teammates, Riscen is hoping to recapture the attention of major league scouts while making only $550 a month--below the minimum for players signed by major league organizations. He already may be opening some eyes.

“Fred’s very aggressive and goes right at hitters,” Trapper Manager Barry Moss said. “He has real command on the mound and he isn’t afraid to throw his breaking pitch behind in the count.

“I think his injury is over with. He’s throwing the ball, at times, in the upper 80s. All he has to do is prove he’s not injured, and he’s proving that every time he goes out on the mound.”

Add Moss: The Trappers’ 34-year-old manager is a Studio City resident who played at North Hollywood High and Pierce College before signing as an outfielder with the San Francisco Giants in 1972.

Moss was released by the Giants after one year and picked up by the Cincinnati Reds. He spent six years in the Reds’ organization and also played two years in the Toronto Blue Jays’ chain.

Moss was a player-coach at Utica (N.Y.) in the Class-A New York-Penn League in 1982 and ’83.

Welcome to pro ball: Olonzo Woodfin made his first professional appearance a memorable one last week when he pitched two innings of relief for Burlington (N. C.), the Cleveland Indians’ Class-A affiliate in the Appalachian League.

“It felt different throwing to hitters I knew could hit the ball all the time,” said Woodfin, the Indians’ eighth-round draft pick out of Sylmar High.

Woodfin pitched the seventh and eighth innings of Burlington’s 10-3 loss to Kingsport and gave up three runs on two hits, including a home run.

“I hung a changeup and he took it out to right,” said Woodfin, who also had three strikeouts. “I guess the first one is out of the way now.”

Burlington Manager Mike Bucci said he was not sure if Woodfin would be used as a starter or reliever for the rest of the season.

“It’s a wait-and-see situation right now,” Bucci said. “I haven’t had any direction from the front office yet on how they want to use him. The important thing is the innings, not how he’s used. That can be determined next spring training.”

Royal pain: Dennis Moeller hopes to follow fellow Cleveland High alumnus Bret Saberhagen to the mound for the Kansas City Royals. But to get there, Moeller knows he is going to have to overcome the arm problems that have plagued him for two seasons.

Moeller, a left-hander who signed out of Valley College in 1986 and is playing at Appleton, Wis., the Royals’ Class-A affiliate in the Midwest League, went on the disabled list July 1 because of tendinitis in his shoulder.

“I was suspicious that something was bothering him because early in the year he could bring the ball in and jam people,” Appleton Manager Brian Poldberg said. “After the first month and a half, he was still getting the ball in, but they were turning on it.”

Said Moeller, who is 3-4 with a 3.42 ERA: “It’s not the rotator cuff, that’s the important thing.”

Last season, Moeller played at Appleton and was bothered all season by an ulnar nerve injury.

“I got here and it was cold,” he said. “I started opening night, pitched fairly well and a couple days later my arm was real stiff. The next game, I went out and was throwing 75 miles an hour. From that point on it was an injury-prone year.”

Moeller has been throwing lightly the past few days and is expected to pitch a few innings next week.

Back in the swing: Frank Halcovich finally got back into the Appleton lineup as a designated hitter last week after missing three weeks because of a broken thumb sustained in one of his first professional plate appearances.

Halcovich, who played at Granada Hills High and College of the Canyons and was the Royals’ 22nd-round draft choice out of Arizona, got a hit in his first at-bat against the Rockford Expos.

“It had been pretty frustrating because I didn’t get a chance to get going,” Halcovich said. “It felt good to get that first hit.”