SOUTHERN SECTION BASEBALL PREVIEWS : SAN FERNANDO LEAGUE

Bell-Jeff

COACH: Sab Manente, 1st season

LAST SEASON: 10-12-1; 4th in league, 5-6

PLAYERS TO WATCH: Manente replaces 11-year Coach Hal Krug who stepped down for personal reasons. Ten of the 13 players are seniors, but Manente believes junior Nestor Villanea is the team’s best pure hitter. “He can hit for power or hit line drives,” Manente said. Catcher Tony Cesta will hit in the cleanup slot. Manente calls Mike Dunn the team’s best all-around player. Dunn, who played at second base last season, will move to shortstop. Bell-Jeff will use a three-man pitching rotation consisting of Brian Santo, Brett Lindsay and Luis Guzman, but junior Brian Lee might pitch occasionally. Santo will alternate between the mound and third base and Lindsay also will play at first base. Gabriel Vaca, a transfer from Queen of Angels High, is the quickest player and will play in the outfield. Alfred Silva, Louis Gonzalez, Albert Del Toro and Anthony Pawluc are battling for the remaining outfield positions.

OUTLOOK: “The kids we do have coming back have some experience,” Manente said. “We have to find some people who can throw strikes. Pitching will be the biggest question mark.”

Harvard

COACH: Jim Brink, 11th season

LAST SEASON: 6-15; 5th in league, 6-15

PLAYERS TO WATCH: Jono Pivo, who played third base last season, will be at shortstop because of an injury to senior Bobby Mason. Mason, who suffered a broken ankle during the summer and is not at full speed according to Brink, will play third base and also pitch. Senior center fielder Adam Braun also returns. Junior Greg Peters is projected as the No. 2 pitcher behind Mason. Senior Ed Saito will catch and juniors Max Sank and Brian Givens will play in the infield. Five players are battling for outfield positions.

OUTLOOK: Brink believes that the offense will be Harvard’s strong point. “We have a good blend of contact and power hitting.” The defense, however, is untested. “How competitive we are we’ll depend on it,” Brink said.

St. Francis

COACH: John Yakel, 1st season

LAST SEASON: 7-11, 5th in Del Rey League, 4-8

PLAYERS TO WATCH: The move from the Del Rey to the San Fernando league proved a good one for the St. Francis football and basketball teams. In baseball, however, the Golden Knights are joining a league that includes El Segundo, traditionally one of the top programs in the Southern Section. St. Francis plays El Segundo in a two-game series to close league play. “I’m hoping that we’ll be playing for the league title,” said Yakel, 24, an assistant at St. Francis the past two seasons. Yakel, who replaces Tom Moran, now the principal at Chaminade High, has three returning seniors in catcher John Willis, right-handed pitcher Paul Gomez and center fielder Shawn Haney. Junior right-hander John Workman and junior left-hander Ermilo Cervera, both of whom saw extensive action last season, augment the pitching staff. “Workman was a clutch guy as a sophomore and he came through in tough situations. He’s a very mature kid for his age.” Yakel also expects good things from sophomore switch-hitting shortstop Rudy Martinez.

OUTLOOK: Yakel seems optimistic about his first season, saying, “We don’t have the great pitching that we had last year nor the great offense we had two years ago, but we’re balanced and solid everywhere defensively,.”

St. Genevieve

COACH: Scott Smith, 2nd season

LAST SEASON: 6-13-1; 6th in league, 1-9

PLAYERS TO WATCH: Four seniors--Cary Iacino, Josh Smith, Tom Nickels and Bobby Kite--return for their third varsity seasons. Iacino, a third baseman who led St. Genevieve in walks, will be the leadoff hitter. Smith, an all-league selection at shortstop, hit .306 and led the team in stolen bases. Nickels batted .302 last season and had 13 runs batted in. He will alternate between the mound and first base. Kite, a catcher, led the team in hitting at .404. Senior Fred Flores (.362) and junior Fidel Jacobo will fill the remaining infield positions. Junior Javier Cruz (.250) and senior Pedro Gutierrez (.260) will share left field. Senior pitcher Mark Guardado, who was 1-1 last season, will be used more extensively this year. Junior infielder Sergio Ramos, senior outfielder Pete Miranda and junior pitcher Fernando Barba should receive substantial playing time.

OUTLOOK: Smith, Nickels and Kite played on the Panorama City American Legion team this summer and Smith believes that experience will pay dividends this season. St. Genevieve’s pitching is untested. “We have excellent defense and should be hitting real well, but we don’t have a dominating starter.”