Four Californians Say They’ll Join Cochell

Three former Orange County high school baseball players and one from Diamond Bar have made oral commitments to attend the University of Oklahoma and play for Larry Cochell, the former Cal State Fullerton coach.

Cochell said Wednesday that Mike Smedes, a pitcher from Laguna Hills High and USC; Tom Szymanski, an infielder/outfielder from Servite and UCLA; Kevin Schula, a catcher from El Dorado and Orange Coast College, and Tony Darden, a pitcher from Diamond Bar and UCLA, will receive financial aid at Oklahoma.

Smedes, an all-Orange County selection and eighth-round draft pick of the Seattle Mariners out of high school in 1988, had obtained his release from USC Coach Mike Gillespie and was planning to transfer to Fullerton this fall.

But when Cochell took highly regarded pitching coach Vern Ruhle with him to Oklahoma, Smedes decided to follow. A left-hander who went 7-2 with a 1.28 earned-run average and 75 strikeouts in his senior year of high school, Smedes pitched only one inning because of a shoulder injury this past season, his sophomore year, at USC.

Darden, a sophomore right-hander who was redshirted this past season at UCLA, had been released from his scholarship by Bruin Coach Gary Adams and also was planning to transfer to Fullerton until Cochell and Ruhle left.

Szymanski was an all-county utility player in 1988, his senior season at Servite. Playing all positions except catcher and first base, Szymanski hit .427 with four home runs and 40 runs batted in. He played sparingly in his freshman season at UCLA and redshirted this past season.

Schula, who played the 1989 season at Cypress College before transferring to Orange Coast, hit .259 with two home runs and 19 RBIs for the Pirates last season. He was a second-team all-Orange Empire Conference selection.