GLENDALE : Vaqueros Brace for Major Early-Season Tests

The Glendale College baseball team won’t have to wait long to look at some of the best community college teams in Southern California.

The Vaqueros open their 1990 season Friday by playing host to Riverside in the first round of the Foothill Tournament. The eight-team, double-elimination event, co-sponsored by Glendale and Citrus colleges, also includes defending state champion Cerritos, El Camino, Ventura, College of the Canyons and Valley.

Glendale is coming off a 1989 season in which the Vaqueros finished 16-20 overall and 8-12 in Western State Conference play.

Glendale Coach Steve Coots, in his 12th season with the Vaqueros, has a veteran team led by center fielder John Bojanac, first baseman Art Chute and third baseman Paul Hugasian.

Bojanac and Chute were selected first-team All-WSC last season. Hugasian, a shortstop last season, was named to the All-WSC second team.

Sophomores Aldo Angrisani and Darron McWhorter will start at catcher and second base, respectively, and freshman Swain Wukelich replaces Hugasian at short.

Freshmen Vic Ramirez and Dustin Pike will flank Bojanac in the outfield.

“Defensively, we’ve shown signs of brilliance, but we’ve also been inconsistent,” Coots said. “We’re not quite where I hoped we’d be on offense, but I think we’ll get there.”

The Vaqueros’ experience should pay off most in the performance of their pitching staff.

“The sophomores have done a good job of setting the tone,” Coots said. “The pitchers are farther along then we’ve been at this time in the past.”

Sophomore right-hander Mike Larsen, who was second-team All-WSC last season, opens as the staff ace. Sophomore right-handers Mike Peterson and Jaime Aguayo also threw well in the fall.

Matt Whisenant, a freshman left-hander from La Canada High who was drafted last June by the Philadelphia Phillies, is the brightest newcomer.

Sophomore right-handers Steve Dempsey and Brad Blackmore will also see action.