Chute Takes His Best Shot : Baseball: After setting Glendale College single-season home run record, slugger chases career mark.

No one, not even Art Chute himself, thought he was a power hitter.

When Chute arrived at Glendale College 2 1/2 years ago, the first thing Vaquero Coach Steve Coots did was hand him a ball and point toward the pitcher’s mound.

Chute dutifully focused on keeping the ball in the park rather than hitting it out.

Only a stroke of luck, in the peculiar form of an arm injury, gave Chute a chance to develop the stroke that has made him one of the most prolific home run hitters in school history.

With 10 home runs, Chute has eclipsed the single-season record of nine that he shared with Todd Gauntlet (1979), Tom Wallace (1983) and Ron Ratliff (1985). And, with five games left, he is one home run away from tying the career mark of 17 set by Ratliff.

“I can’t say that I expected things to turn out like this,” said Chute, who plays first base. “I was a pretty good hitter and pitcher in high school, but nothing like this.”

Chute (6-foot, 200 pounds) came to Glendale after graduating from Temple City High.

“It was obvious he had some potential,” Coots recalled.

Initially, though, Coots thought that potential might flourish on the mound.

Chute, a left-hander, had been a second-team All-Rio Hondo League selection in high school, compiling a 6-5 record his senior year.

He worked out as a pitcher for the Vaqueros during the fall of 1987, but injured the ulnar nerve in his left elbow and was forced to sit out the season as a redshirt.

In retrospect, it was the best thing that could have happened to him.

Chute was born in November and was always young for his class. The year away from competition narrowed the gap, physically, between him and his peers.

“In high school, I was always playing with guys that were older and I did average,” Chute said. “Then I’d go play summer ball with guys my age and do really well.

“So sitting out that year was good because it allowed me to catch up.”

Last season, Coots installed Chute at first base. He batted .326 with six home runs and 33 runs batted in and was named to the All-Western State Conference first team by league coaches.

This season, he has continued his assault on WSC pitchers. Along with his 10 homers, Chute is batting .409 and has driven in 41 runs.

“He’s got his sophomore confidence,” College of the Canyons Coach Len Mohney said. “A lot of guys have good first years and then country-club it through their second year. That doesn’t seem to be the case with him.”

Indeed, last summer Chute lifted weights religiously and added 15 pounds of muscle.

He has combined his new-found strength with more discipline at the plate and the result is a record-breaking season.

“I’m a lot more patient this season,” Chute said. “I don’t think about hitting home runs. I just get up there to swing and they go out for me.”

Chute’s power and consistency this season drew interest from several four-year schools. He recently made an oral commitment to attend Cal State Fullerton.

“(Fullerton Coach Larry) Cochell said he needed a first baseman,” Chute said. “I also was considering UC Riverside but I chose Fullerton because it’s an established Division I program that is competitive.”

Glendale, too, has been competitive this season--but not as consistently as Chute had hoped.

The Vaqueros entered this week’s play 11-19 overall and 6-9 in conference play.

“I think we have one of the best teams in the league,” Chute said. “We’re just not playing like it.

“We get up for the games when we know we’re playing teams like Canyons or Moorpark. Our level of intensity fluctuates so much, you never know what we’re going to do.”

The Vaqueros are shooting for a strong finish, hoping to qualify for the four-team Shaugnessy playoff tournament that will determine the WSC’s second representative in the Southern California regional of the state playoffs.

“That would be great if we came together at the end and got hot,” Chute said. “That would be the perfect time.”