El Camino Isn’t Expecting Any Letdown After Its Best Season Since 1959

The El Camino baseball team is coming off its best season since 1959, and, despite having only two returning starters, the Warriors, who are ranked No. 6 in Southern California, are 16-7 and 3-1 in the South Coast Conference due mainly to strong hitting.

“I think this is one of the two best teams I’ve ever had here,” said sixth-year Coach Tom Hicks. “We’ll definitely compete for the championship.”

El Camino won the SCC crown last year and made it to the semifinals of the regional tournament. The Warriors look strong enough in most areas to repeat, but they’ll still feel the absence of All-American first baseman Colin Franker, who led them at the plate last year by hitting .406.

El Camino will also feel a big void on the mound and in left field because star hurler Jeff Beck and all-league left fielder Dan Berthel both graduated. Beck, who pitches at Texas Tech, compiled a 10-3 record last year and set a school record by winning 22 games in two years at El Camino. Berthel, a starter at Cal State Long Beach, batted .405 last season.

“I think we have a real good group of freshmen,” Hicks said, “that has done a great job filling in for those guys. They’ve already improved, and they’ve learned to do the things necessary to win at the college level.”

First baseman Heath Jones (El Segundo High) is one of those fast learners. Hicks says the 6-foot-5, 230-pound freshman has done a great job succeeding Franker defensively. Jones also leads the team with 25 RBIs and has a .320 batting average.

Marvin Bernard (Bell High) is also filling big shoes at left field with little problem. He leads the Warriors at the plate with a .438 batting average. The 5-foot-8, 180-pound freshman is joined by freshman Wayne Johnson (Leuzinger) at center field. The 5-foot-11, 170-pound Johnson was drafted by the Chicago White Sox last summer. Right field doesn’t have a permanent starter, so Hicks alternates between freshmen Marvyn Mack (Serra High) and Gilbert McDonough (Bell High) and sophomore Jeff Chadwick.

“We have a series of great athletes that can play that position well,” Hicks said, “so we still don’t have a regular, and we may not get one.”

The infield includes two sophomores: returning shortstop John Blood and third baseman Ross Rosenfeld, who transferred from UC Berkeley. Denny Hocking (West Torrance High) starts at second and Frank Pena (Bishop Montgomery) at catcher.

“The thing about this team,” Hicks said, “is that we have a lot of clutch hitting. We have a different guy every day who hits well. They seem to get the key hits because they have a lot of confidence.”

The Warriors also seem confident on the mound despite Beck’s departure. Sophomore Lucio Chaidez leads the team with a 6-2 record. The 6-foot-5, 215-pound right-hander compiled a 10-5 record last year with a 4.05 earned-run average.

Freshman Jon Newville (Bishop Montgomery High) is also expected to be a key pitcher for the Warriors. The 6-foot-1, 185-pound right-hander was drafted by the Houston Astros in 1988, but decided to try college.

“I guess the bottom line is,” Hicks said, “that we have great team cohesiveness. We have a bunch of freshmen from all sorts of different schools, and they’ve meshed very well.”

El Camino is one of three SCC teams ranked in Southern California’s top six. This year there are only five teams in the conference since three dropped out.