PREP BASEBALL 1992: SOUTH COAST LEAGUE

CAPISTRANO VALLEY

1991 RECORDS: OVERALL: 21-10-1 LEAGUE: 8-7-1

COACH: RECORD AT SCHOOL Bob Zamora: 232-120-2

RETURNING STARTERS YR. POS. B-T Scott Patton Sr. P-CF R-R Tim Lyons Sr. SS-3B R-R

OTHER TOP RETURNERS YR. POS. B-T Ethan Wyckoff Sr. P-INF R-R

TOP NEWCOMERS YR. POS. B-T Brian Benner Jr. 3B R-R Brian Epps Sr. 1B R-R Matt Harrison Sr. P R-R Mel Morse Sr. C R-R

OUTLOOK

When Capistrano Valley, which finished third in the always tough South Coast League, went on to win the Southern Section 4-A championship last season, it surprised many observers. When Patton, who went seven for seven in the semifinals and final and was the winning pitcher in the title game, wasn’t selected to the all-section team, it angered Zamora. Now, Patton is just about all Zamora has to remember of ’91. That’s why he figures the Cougars will be battling just to stay out of last place. Time will tell if he’s simply sandbagging, but count Patton and Lyons as the only holdovers from the title team. Patton is a terrific athlete. He was the starting quarterback on the football team for two seasons and hit .398 with four home runs and 21 RBIs and had a 7-4 record with a 2.48 earned-run average and 37 strikeouts, but he’s probably not enough to lead a repeat of ’91. Lyons hit .181 with one homer and 12 RBIs, and the Cougars will be helped by the return of Wyckoff, who missed all of ’91 with an injury. Wyckoff was 4-2 as a sophomore. Pitching will be a strength for the Cougars. Varsity experience will be a weakness. But Benner hit .356, Epps .380 and Morse .325 on the junior varsity, and Harrison was 5-1 with a 1.66 ERA and hit .297.