UNIVERSITY OF SAN DIEGO : No Doubt, Toreros’ Youth Will Be Served in a Hurry

The University of San Diego’s 1990 baseball team appears to be one for the skeptics.

What with a third of the team freshmen and another third sophomores, there is inexperience at every position. And this after the 1989 Toreros suffered through a 15-game losing streak late in the season and finished 23-31-1.

These things, plus a seeming lack of power, give doubters plenty of reason to do just that--doubt.

If also provides Coach John Cunningham with an unprecedented challenge, which is saying a lot considering that Cunningham is entering his 27th season at USD.

“It’s one of those years,” Cunningham said, “where it’s hard to view one way or another for the simple reason we’ve got so many new faces, predominantly freshman. You like what you see, but you haven’t got a clue as to how they will respond to game situations.

“My gut feeling is that I like this group better than last year’s group without having seen them play yet. But over the years I’ve learned it’s impossible to predict how a high school kid, no matter how good he may have been, is going to react to college ball.”

Cunningham’s lineup figures to have four freshmen starting, maybe five some days. It will also be a bit unorthodox.

Jim Alexander will bat first and play left field. He started at shortstop last season and batted .317 with one home run and 16 runs batted in. He is not the fastest guy on the team, but of the position players, he is the only senior. The thinking here is to have the leader lead off.

Batting second will be second baseman Jim Keen. Keen worked his way into the lineup last year as a freshman. He batted .230 with 16 RBIs and had six steals in seven attempts. He also had a .957 fielding percentage and was given the team’s Golden Glove award.

Junior Rick Doane, a Clairemont High graduate, also played shortstop last year. This year, he will play first base and, as the only left-handed hitter on the team, bat third. The four and five spots belong to freshmen David Pingree and Tony Moeder.

Pingree, a shortstop from Bellevue, Wash., is not your typical cleanup hitter (he is not considered to have a great deal of power), but as Cunningham points out, “When you go through our lineup, we’ve got a lot of things that aren’t what the book says is required.”

Moeder, the center fielder, is from USDHS, where he was a three-sport star and two-time All-City Western League baseball selection. Cunningham calls him the quickest player he has.

Sean Gousha was another freshman starter last season at catcher. He batted .226 and is tops among returning players with 19 RBIs. The Mt. Carmel graduate will likely bat sixth.

Batting seventh and playing third base will be Kevin Herde, who less than nine months ago was doing the catching for San Pasqual High.

Batting eighth is junior right fielder Devin Bundy, who hit .280 with 10 RBIs in 1989.

For the designated hitter spot--expected to bat ninth in the order--Cunningham will choose from juniors Dan McAdoo (outfield) and Steve Stumpfl (catcher), sophomore Mark Moyer (infield) and freshmen Kevin Davis (infield), Chad Boyd (infield) and John McCoy (infield). Boyd played at Hilltop High last year.

Junior outfielder Paul Thornton, a starter last season, and freshman catcher Merv Hartman (Christian High) may be out for the year. Thornton has an ailing foot, Hartman back problems.

“The most experienced people on the team are on the pitching staff,” Cunningham said. “And I guess if you had a choice, that’s where you’d like them to be.”

Senior Pat Fitzsimons (7-3, 3.46 earned-run average last year) is the ace but could be pushed by junior James Ferguson.

They are the two proven starters, with either senior Lou Skertich, the only left-hander, or senior Bob Grandpre getting the third spot in the rotation.

Mt. Carmel graduate Tom Cheek (9-3 at Southern Idaho Community College last season) will be the bullpen stopper. Also in relief will be senior Mike Newby, sophomores Aaron Miller and Peter Keup and freshman Marc Bouchard.