PREP WEDNESDAY: BASEBALL PREVIEW : Top 10 : This Could be the Season El Dorado Wins the Big One: a Southern Section Title

Will this finally be the year that El Dorado High School wins a Southern Section baseball title?

El Dorado has come close several times in Coach Steve Gullotti’s nine seasons, advancing to the championship game in 1981 and reaching the semifinals in two of the past three seasons.

Last year, El Dorado was the top-seeded team entering the 5-A division playoffs but was upset by Beverly Hills, 13-11, in the second round.

“We still haven’t won the big one,” Gullotti said. “There are so many variables involved that make it so difficult to a single-elimination tournament. You play one bad game or face one hot pitcher and you’re out.”

El Dorado would appear to have another team capable of challenging for the championship. Six returning position players, a solid pitching staff and a quality transfer certainly sets El Dorado a notch above the top teams in Orange County entering the 1989 season.

“They’re men playing with boys,” said Esperanza Coach Mike Curran, who has led Esperanza to three consecutive appearances in the large-school division championship. “There isn’t a weakness on the team.”

A look at the top teams:

1. EL DORADO

The pitching staff includes Matt Luke, who threw a no-hitter on Saturday against Servite, and Pete Janicki, who was 7-2 as a junior but has pitched only once this season because of an infected lung.

“We’re solid all the way around,” Gullotti said. “We have five pitchers who will probably pitch past their high school careers.”

Gullotti says Jay Hassel, a 6-foot-3, 195-pound right-hander, has a very good shot at being drafted. Travis Dowdell is being recruited by Brigham Young University. Shane Borowski is another returning pitcher.

The Golden Hawks are solid up the middle with shortstop Phil Nevin, who has signed with Cal State Fullerton, and catcher Bruce Petillo. Nevin hit two home runs Monday night in a 6-5 victory over Ocean View.

Wayne Hefft, a 6-2, 190-pound senior, transferred from Whittier Christian and starts at third base.

“You will hardly ever see this many college and pro prospects on a public high school team,” Gullotti said. “My biggest concern has been our defense. We haven’t made the routine plays, but that will come.”

El Dorado is 5-2 with losses to El Toro and Ocean View by 2-1 scores. The team batting average was .360 and the staff earned-run average was under 1.00 entering this week.

2. MATER DEI

Last year’s No. 1 team is also rich in pitching with Tony Pena the ace of the staff. Pena, 10-1 as a junior, is one of four returning pitchers who combined for a winning percentage of .840 last season when the Monarchs finished 21-4.

“Pena is our No. 1 pitcher, and we’ll go as far as he takes us,” said Bob Ickes, Mater Dei’s coach. “But I wouldn’t trade my staff for anybody’s.”

Scott Corliss, the team’s No. 4 pitcher last season, has moved up to No. 2. “He’s really improved,” Ickes said. “He’s got greater command of his pitches and added some speed to his fastball.”

Among the top returning position players is Ickes’ son, Rob, at catcher and the double-play combination of Jason Gill at second base and Lionel Hastings at shortstop.

Mater Dei’s all-star outfield of Jim Austin, Mike Basse and Larry Sutton, who earned Division I scholarships, has graduated but Ickes turned infielders Juan Zarate and Greg Carl into outfielders to fill the gap.

Carl is the team’s top hitter and leads in on-base percentage from his leadoff position. Third baseman Jeff Ciccarella has at least one hit in all of of the Monarchs’ games so far.

Mater Dei won the Newport-Mesa tournament and has lost only to Capistrano Valley in the second game of a season-opening doubleheader.

3. WESTMINSTER

First baseman Ryan Klesko, a three-year varsity starter, is ranked among the top seniors in the nation on most scouting reports. Klesko, 6-3, 225, batted .462 as a junior with seven home runs and 33 runs batted in. He has hit 11 career homers.

Klesko also has compiled a 13-6 record in three seasons on the mound, but the left-hander will be limited to playing first base this season after suffering an arm injury.

Veterans Brian Stubbs and Brett Grebe and newcomer Jeff Lyons should fill the void in Klesko’s absence.

Grebe started slowly last year with a 8.56 earned-run average in his first 18 innings of work, but he had a 2.02 ERA in his last 34 innings. He finished 7-3 with a 1.95 ERA.

The Lions averaged three errors per game last year, but should be improved defensively with shortstop Chris Larson and second baseman Brent Heredia returning. Jim Slagle is the only returning starter in the outfield.

Westminster advanced to the championship game of the El Segundo tournament where it lost to unbeaten Artesia, 6-3.

4. OCEAN VIEW

Steve Barrett has replaced veteran Bill Gibbons as the Seahawks’ coach. Barrett compiled a 34-6 record in two seasons as the school’s freshman coach. Barrett inherits an experienced infield headed by third baseman Gary Christopherson.

Christopherson batted .380 with five homers last year and Barrett said he thinks the two-time all-league performer is the best player in the Sunset League.

“He got three hits against us and looked great,” Laguna Hills Coach Jack Hodges said. “He’s slimmed down a little and is a lot stronger.”

All-league second baseman Steve Hernandez and his brother, Daniel, at shortstop give Ocean View a good double-play combination.

Pitching is the team’s question mark. Senior right-hander Brent Woken, sophomore left-hander Randy Karliner and Keith Herrell, the top pitcher on the junior varsity, are expected to be the team’s top pitchers.

Ocean View won the consolation championship in the Loara tournament. The Seahawks have victories over Laguna Hills, Los Alamitos and El Dorado.

5. LAGUNA HILLS

Three players--center fielder Chris Sheff, catcher Mike Helm and pitcher-first baseman Rob Milo--begin their fourth season on the varsity. Sheff was among the county leaders with 23 stolen bases last year.

Helm has moved from shortstop to catcher and Hodges said the experiment was a good move. “He came to me and suggested the idea because he knew we would be short at catcher,” Hodges said.

Milo, hampered by back spasms, has pitched only one inning and Hodges said his status is “day to day.” The Hawks’ staff has been set back with injuries to ace Ron Kortman (minor arm surgery) and Matt Maffei (academic ineligibility).

“Kortman pitched his first game last week and struck out 10 in seven innings,” Hodges said. “We should get Maffei back in three weeks. In the mean time, Kevin Lovinger has been doing a good job.”

Outfielder Jason Thompson, who hit .380 last season, is the team’s cleanup hitter. Laguna Hills has five left-handed hitters in the batting order.

Laguna Hills lost to champion Lakewood and consolation champion Ocean View in the Loara tournament.

6. EL TORO

Three sophomore pitchers--Brad Hulse, Ryan Filbeck and Rob Johnson--have been pleasant surprises for Coach Don DeLeon, who led El Toro to the 3-A division title game after finishing third in the South Coast League last season.

Hulse pitched five strong innings in a 2-1 victory over El Dorado in the title game of the Loara tournament. Filbeck has yet to allow a run in eight innings and Johnson has a win and a save. The staff ERA is 0.75.

“It’s conceivable that we’ll be going with three sophomores and a junior on the mound this year,” DeLeon said.

DeLeon has five position players returning, led by shortstop Sean Drinkwater. Drinkwater is the best defensive shortstop in the county. Bo Haley has moved from left field to third base and was voted the top defensive player in the Loara tournament.

Catcher Scott Miller and outfielder Greg Miller also return. The Chargers have struggled with a .160 team batting average, but DeLeon isn’t worried.

“The hitting will come,” he said. “We concentrated on defense and pitching in our early practices. Haley will be a force before the season is over.”

7. IRVINE

Pitching is the name of the game for Irvine. David Goldstein, John Bretza, Kevin Obergfell and Mike Seal form one of the best staffs in the county.

Goldstein pitched well against El Dorado in the Loara tournament, but allowed seven runs on three home runs. “Three swings and they had seven runs,” Coach Bob Flint said. “Otherwise, he pitched well very.”

Obergfell, who throws sidearm and has an effective slider and sinker, has allowed only three hits and struck out 15 in 10 innings of relief. Bretza has been suffering from the flu and will not pitch for at least three more weeks.

Catcher Scott Vollmer, who is hitting .412, is being recruited by Stanford and Pepperdine. Shortstop Terry Rahmatulla is starting his fourth season.

“Everybody else is new,” said Flint. “Steve Nessl has been playing well at third base and doing some designated hitting. We’ve been very inconsistent.”

Wayne Heck, former Newport Harbor coach, has joined Flint’s staff as a part-time hitting instructor.

8. ESPERANZA

What’s the county’s most successful program over the past three years doing so low in the poll?

“We’ve had to do more extensive rebuilding than any other year since I’ve been here,” said Mike Curran, Esperanza coach. “We shouldn’t even be in a top 10. We’re 5-1, but it’s an ugly 5-1.”

Roger Weems, the team’s best player, has yet to pitch. Weems strained a muscle in his right arm but Curran said the three-year veteran will throw this week.

Greg Hauser, Dan Redington and Brian Pickler have picked up the slack. Redington, a 6-4, 215-pound junior, is the younger brother of former Esperanza star Tom, now in the Atlanta Braves organization. Redington doubles as the team’s designated hitter.

Esperanza’s best position player is shortstop Jason Bates, a transfer from Whittier Christian. Bates is being recruited by Cal State Long Beach, Pepperdine and Cal State Fullerton.

Curran is getting plenty of help from a frosh-soph team that was 20-1, winning 20 straight games and scoring 10 or more runs in 15 games.

9. FOUNTAIN VALLEY

Coach Ron LaRuffa has moved from Edison to Fountain Valley after spending a year as an assistant at Rancho Santiago College.

LaRuffa inherited eight returning starters, including three all-league selections from a team that finished 12-13 and fifth in the Sunset League.

Catcher Mark Dodd tied for the county lead with nine home runs and drove in 29 runs as a junior. Pitcher Steve Montgomery had 70 strikeouts. Third baseman Jeff Higbee was the team’s leading hitter.

The outfield is set with returning seniors Rick Mock, Steve Grack and Rick Wolcott. Joining Montgomery on the staff is returning junior Jeff Hale.

Last year’s junior varsity was 13-2, and among the team’s players expected to make an impact are first baseman Don Hallock and second baseman Garren Ito.

Fountain Valley (3-2) tunes up for its league opener against Ocean View on Friday with a nonleague game against Rolling Hills today.

10. KENNEDY

Kennedy nearly lost its playoff bid last year, dropping its final four league games and tying with Rancho Alamitos for third place in the Garden Grove League. The Irish needed a 3-1 victory over Rancho Alamitos in a playoff game to advance to the playoffs.

This year, the Irish are favored to win the eight-team league with all-league pitchers Greg Hansell and Pete Montera returning. Hansell was 7-2 with a 1.45 ERA and 72 strikeouts. He has experienced a tender elbow and a stiff back but has won a game and saved a game this season.

Montera, the starting quarterback on the football team, has won two games, including a shutout over Huntington Beach in which he threw only 70 pitches. Catcher Ernie Franco has driven in 12 runs in five games.

Shortstop Steve Rath was a second-team all-league selection and anchors the infield. Rath and Hansell start their fourth seasons on the varsity.

“Hansell and Rath have played about 75 varsity games and Montera and Franco have played about 55 games, so we’ve got good experience,” said Chris Pascal, Kennedy coach. “The biggest surprise has been sophomore Scott Wood (hitting .556) whose playing catcher, outfield or DHing for us.”

Others to watch: Capistrano Valley, Edison, Foothill, Fullerton, Mission Viejo, Santa Ana, Servite, Sunny Hills, Troy, Tustin and Valencia.