Powell Reaches Greater Heights On the Mound

At 6-feet-3 and 215 pounds, sweet-swinging Corey Powell was a pitcher’s nightmare during his years at Patrick Henry High and Grossmont College in the late 1980s.

Never in his wildest dreams did he imagine becoming a pitcher. He hated the position.

“I threw a little my junior year at Henry, and I decided I didn’t like it,” said Powell, who hit eight home runs his senior year in high school and a school-record tying 22 in two years at Grossmont. “At Grossmont, I threw maybe 32 innings, but I hated it.”

It’s funny how a little knowledge and success can change a person’s perception.

After going 3-1 last year in rookie ball, Powell is 10-6 with a 2.50 earned-run average this season for the Montreal Expos’ single-A team in Rockford, Ill.

He now loves pitching.

“It’s great,” he said. “I love being out there on the mound. Before, all I could think about was hitting. But now that I’m starting to learn how to pitch, I like it more. I wouldn’t want to be doing anything else . . . except, of course, playing in the big leagues.”

Powell was drafted out of high school by the Red Sox as a hitter, but he turned down their offer. The Expos drafted him the following year, but told him they wanted him as a pitcher. Powell couldn’t understand why and returned to Grossmont.

After his sophomore season, the Expos convinced Powell he would get an opportunity to hit as well as pitch in the minors, so he signed.

In 33 games, Powell hit .188 with one home run and 10 RBIs. His attitude toward pitching was changing.

“The more I learned, the more I liked pitching,” Powell said. “At the end of the season, I asked them to make a decision because I wanted to get better at one or the other. It was too hard to concentrate on both.”

The Expos chose pitching and sent Powell to their Instructional League team last fall. There, Powell made the transition complete.

“It’s incredible how much I learned there,” Powell said. “Before, I just threw the ball and hoped. Now, I actually pitch.”

Right Time, Right Place: Despite having thrown only 20 2/3 innings in his professional career, Dan Nerat is 7-1 for Southern Oregon, a single-A affiliate of the Oakland A’s.

Nerat, a graduate of Granite Hills High before attending William Penn College, also has a 2.18 ERA.

Wrong Place, Wrong Time: San Diego’s Troy Kent is 5-12 despite a 2.99 ERA and a 2-to-1 strikeout-to-walk ratio for single-A San Bernardino in the Seattle Mariners’ chain.

Just Win, Baby: Despite a career ERA of 4.01, Clairemont High graduate Reggie Leslie was 16-7 and never had a losing record heading into this, his fifth, minor-league season.

This year, for single-A Charleston, W.Va., in the Reds’ organization, Leslie has all but assured himself of another winning record. He is 4-0 with a 1.44 ERA and 79 strikeouts in 75 innings.

Leslie is one of a number of former San Diego pitchers with a shot at a perfect record.

- Dann Eaton, a former UC San Diego pitcher, is 2-0 with the Cardinals’ single-A team in Springfield, Ill.

- Rigo Beltran, a former Point Loma High standout, is 2-0 with a 1.23 ERA for the Cardinals’ other single-A team in Hamilton, Canada.

- In rookie ball, Mt. Carmel High graduate Joe Brownholtz is 2-0 with a 2.59 ERA for the Rangers’ team in Butte, Mont.

- Randy Hennis (Patrick Henry) is 4-0 for triple-A Tucson in the Astros’ chain, but has been out with a sore shoulder for almost two months.

Milestone: Padre prospect Matt Mieske became the second player this season to reach 100 RBIs. Jim Tatum (Santana High), a former Padre prospect and currently Milwaukee Brewers property, was the first, and he now has 112.

As of last week, Mieske led all minor-leaguers with 138 hits and was ninth with a .555 slugging percentage for single-A High Desert.

Streak: Kevin Nielsen, a left-handed pitcher from San Diego State, yielded only one earned run in 25 innings recently for the Springfield Cardinals.