Lovingier Enjoys Life as Starter : Prep baseball: After learning the ropes as a junior, pitcher has led Laguna Hills to the Pacific Coast League title in his senior season.

One year ago Kevin Lovingier wandered the outfield and the Laguna Hills High School bullpen, waiting for a chance to pitch.

Any chance.

Opportunities were few for the Laguna Hills junior, who was third in the rotation behind seniors Rob Milo and Ron Kortman.

“I was the young one,” Lovingier said. “That was my year to learn.”

His days as an understudy behind him, Lovingier is showing that he has learned his lessons well. The 6-foot-1, 180-pound senior has pitched two no-hitters and led the Hawks to the Pacific Coast League championship this season. His 131 strikeouts lead the county and his 13-1 record and 0.98 earned-run average also rank among the county leaders.

With Milo now playing for Stanford and Kortman at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, Lovingier has become Laguna Hills’ top starter. It’s a role he was eager to accept.

“I like starting a lot better than relief,” Lovingier said. “I can take it slower, be a little more careful.

“I didn’t mind relief pitching. I got some innings. I would warm up in the outfield or the bullpen and get my arm ready.”

Lovingier said his success as a starter has surprised him. But Laguna Hills Coach Pete Tereschuk said he recognized Lovingier’s potential as a starter long ago.

“It wasn’t like he all of a sudden learned to pitch,” Tereschuk said. “No one’s surprised. He was just waiting his turn last year.”

Lovingier’s turn at the collegiate level will come next year at Loyola Marymount. He signed with Loyola April 12, turning down offers from Pepperdine and University of the Pacific.

“I like Marymount a lot,” Lovingier said. “It’s a smaller school and it has a nice business school. I’ll either go into business or study math.”

Tereschuk said Lovingier needs to improve his concentration to pitch at the college level.

“With the No. 3 and No. 4 college hitters he’ll be facing, he can’t relax against them,” Tereschuk said. “He has walked 31 hitters in 73 2/3 innings (this season) and has hit seven. None of those walks have been in critical situations, but he still needs to work on that.”

Lovingier kept his arm in shape in the off-season by pitching in a winter league. He also compiled a 4-1 record with an Orange County team that toured Australia in December.

The team played 10 games on the tour, and Lovingier quickly discovered that his 83-mile-an-hour fastball was too quick for his Australian opponents.

“Australia’s more into cricket than baseball,” Lovingier said. “We played against a bunch of 40-year-old guys. It was like a softball league.

“The trip was a world-travel kind of thing. (Saddleback College Coach) Jack Hodges got the team together. The games got me ready for the season.”

Lovingier opened the high school season with nine consecutive victories.

His only loss was a 4-3 defeat to Orange April 18. He pitched a four-hitter, but gave up three hits and two runs in the final two innings.

Tereschuk said Lovingier uses a variety of pitches to keep hitters off-balance. “He has a good fastball and he works it in and outside of the plate,” Tereschuk said. “He has a pretty good curveball and changeup, and he throws them often enough to remind hitters that he has it.”

Lovingier didn’t waste time showing hitters his best pitches this season. He struck out 19 Costa Mesa batters and pitched a no-hitter in the league opener March 16.

“I was dazed after that game,” Lovingier said. “I had never thrown a no-hitter before.”

Lovingier had mixed emotions about his second no-hitter, May 1 against Trabuco Hills. The Hawks (18-7, 13-1) won, 4-0, to clinch a tie for the league championship, but Lovingier wasn’t sure if he deserved the no-hitter.

“That was a cheap one,” Lovingier said. “There was one play where a guy hit a high chopper to our third baseman and it got by him. I thought it was a hit, but it was scored an error.”

Lovingier’s days as a spot relief pitcher haven’t ended. He threw 1 2/3 innings of relief Friday against Trabuco Hills to earn a 10-7 victory, which clinched the Hawks’ third consecutive league title.

“We gave up three runs on six errors in a row,” Tereschuk said. “We had to go with Kevin. We knew our best chance to win was to strike them out so we wouldn’t have any more errors.”