Seahawks Try to Regroup; Warriors Try to Rebuild : El Camino: Former Narbonne High coach Nick Van Lue takes over a team that was 27-48-1 the past two seasons.

El Camino College’s struggling baseball program may have gotten just what it needed in the off-season when one of the South Bay’s most successful prep coaches, Nick Van Lue, became the Warrior coach.

Van Lue, who was named The Times’ South Bay Coach of the Year last season after guiding Narbonne High to its first City Section 3-A Division title, must revive a program that has gone 27-48-1 the past two seasons.

Van Lue is no stranger to resurrecting programs. The Gauchos were one of the South Bay’s weakest teams when he became coach in 1989.

Before coaching at Narbonne, Van Lue, 45, was an assistant at Harbor College, San Pedro High and El Segundo High. He spent 10 years as an assistant to Jim O’Brien at Harbor, which became one of the state’s best community college programs.

Although the Warriors won their first three South Coast Conference games against Pasadena City College and are 5-5 overall, Van Lue most likely won’t have a notable impact until next season. Because he was hired in June, Van Lue had virtually no time to recruit.

“We have seven guys back from last year and I got a hold of a couple of guys,” Van Lue said. “We have a few kids with experience, but it’s been up and down so far.

“I had a good idea what it was going to be like trying to rebuild this program. The first year will be tough. We have kids with a lot of heart, but we don’t have a tremendous amount of ability.”

Outfielder Tony Pruett and shortstop Mike Aguallo are the most notable players returning from last year’s club, which finished 13-27 overall and 8-16 in the SCC under Glen LeVier.

Both players are graduates of North Torrance High. Pruett, who was drafted by the Houston Astros last year, was a second-team All-SCC selection and Aguallo was a first-team All-SCC pick in 1991.

“We have a pretty good nucleus of freshmen and sophomores,” Van Lue said. “Our weakness is inexperience. We’re starting five to six freshmen in every game and they’re still making the mental mistakes that high school kids make.”

Pitching appears to be El Camino’s strength. Sophomore left-hander Jason Wayt, a transfer from Fresno State, is a power pitcher who has 25 strikeouts in 16 innings this season. The 6-foot-4, 215-pound Wayt, a graduate of El Segundo, is also one of the Warriors’ best hitters.

“He’s a power guy who can do it all,” Van Lue said. “He keeps batters off-stride because he’s a very smart pitcher with outstanding control.”

Keith Metoyer, a sophomore from Serra, and freshman Andy Zinniger, from South Torrance, complete the starting rotation. Sophomore Benito Chavez and freshmen Arron Fear and Octavio Lopez are the best relievers. Chavez and Lopez are graduates of Leuzinger and Fear is from Carson.

“During winter (drills) our pitching was average, but lately it’s been very good,” Van Lue said. “I’d say it’s our strong point.”

El Camino has depth at catcher with sophomore Miguel Galaz (Mary Star) and freshman Garret Quaintance (El Segundo). Quaintance was a Times’ South Bay All-Star as a senior at El Segundo in 1990 when he batted .442 with six home runs. He sat out last season.

“They’re both very good players,” Van Lue said. “Defensively, Garret is one of the top five junior college catchers around.”

The rest of the infield consists of freshman Tom Dallen (West Torrance) at first base, freshman Dane Cowing (West Torrance) at second, Aguallo at shortstop and freshman Moises Barba (Hawthorne) at third. Dallen was a kicker on the Warrior football team.

Anthony Mosby (Hawthorne) starts in left field and Andre LeVias (Long Beach Wilson) is the center fielder. Both are freshmen. Sophomore Armando Flores (Torrance) starts in right field.

Freshmen Marlon Hamilton, Damon Terrell (Serra) and Martin Macias (West Torrance) are the top reserve outfielders. Macias will also pitch.

Van Lue knows it will be difficult to recruit against Harbor, which has won three state titles and made it to the state final three other times.

“Kids want to go to an established program and (Harbor is) an established program,” he said. “But I’m going to turn that around. We’re going to make them want to come here, not go out there. There’s plenty of players in this area to draw from.”

Van Lue is confident that El Camino can be a contender as early as next season.

Van Lue is assisted by Bob Grant and Joe Cortez. Grant, a former South Torrance baseball coach, was a City player of the year as a catcher at Westchester. Cortez played at Harbor while Van Lue was an assistant there and was an assistant to Van Lue at Narbonne.