HIGH SCHOOL BASEBALL / SOUTHERN SECTION PREVIEWS : MARMONTE LEAGUE

Agoura

COACH: Bart Morefield, 2nd season

LAST SEASON: 3-17; 8th in league, 0-14

PLAYERS TO WATCH: Senior Eddie Gillis, a second-team All-Marmonte League selection last season who batted .446, will play second base and pitch. Junior Jason Warren, a two-year letterman, will be the Chargers’ No. 1 starter. Senior Brian Richards, who started in left field, moves to shortstop. Sophomore Brad Wright, who batted .238, will play first base and pitch. Senior Brent Finch, who didn’t play last season, will start at third base. Joe Smith, a returning letterman, is a hard-hitting sophomore who will play several positions. Freshmen Matt Gershon (catcher) and John Dalrymple (outfielder) will see playing time. Senior Chris Sale will catch and play outfield.

OUTLOOK: Agoura struggled in 1991, its first in the Marmonte League, and is searching for a league win. Although the Chargers might be improved, their search will be just as difficult this season. Morefield is confident that a tougher preseason schedule will better prepare Agoura for league play. “But we have a tough row to hoe,” he said. “We have a solid infield and we play some good defense, but our pitching needs to come around. We have a real lack of experience on the varsity level.”

Camarillo

COACH: Jack Willard, 3rd season

LAST SEASON: 14-8; 5th in league, 7-7

PLAYERS TO WATCH: Senior second baseman Andy Hall, who batted .378 in league play and .359 overall, moves over from third base. Senior right-hander Robby Lanouette will pitch and play first base. Lanouette is contending for the No. 1 spot in the rotation with senior right-handers Geoff Gordon and Chris Gregg, both returning lettermen. Catcher John Freedman, a junior, started during the early part of last season but struggled. Junior center fielder George Lopez, who was a part-time starter, will bat leadoff. Sophomore Jake Spahr will play first when Lanouette pitches and outfield when Lanouette doesn’t. Sophomore Bennett Wutkee will start at shortstop. “He’s been kind of a pleasant surprise,” Willard said. Freshman outfielder Matt Buttell was impressive during a scrimmage against Hueneme. Senior outfielder Garrick Moss is a returning letterman.

OUTLOOK: The bulk of last year’s team, including workhorse Dan Haas (9-4) and six of the Scorpions’ top seven hitters, have graduated. The Scorpions are talented, but are young and inexperienced. Their pitching is unproven. “We’re looking for somebody to step forward like Haas did last year,” Willard said. “We have more depth, but we don’t know if we have anybody as talented as he was.” Camarillo’s outfield is fast and strong-armed.

Channel Islands

COACH: Don Cardinal, 26th season

LAST SEASON: 16-6; 3rd in league, 10-4

PLAYERS TO WATCH: Senior Angel Aragon, a third-team 5-A Division selection, was 10-2 with a 1.98 earned-run average while batting .380. Aragon, who struck out 85 in 80 innings, has signed a letter of intent with Cal State Long Beach. Senior catcher Jose Gastelum batted .425 and drove in 24 runs. Senior George Macias, who batted .368, will start at shortstop. Sophomore Johnny Olivares, who started at shortstop and batted .286, will move to third base. Senior Alex Zavala, a returning letterman, will start in the outfield. Junior Sam Monroy, a part-time starter last season, will start at second base. Senior utility player Chris Fullmer will pitch and play the field. Senior James Robinson, a returning letterman, will play infield and outfield. Junior Brian Ortiz, who led the JV team in hitting with a .389 average, will serve as the designated hitter. Sophomores Javier Rios, Rene Sanchez, and Ysidro Alfaro will add depth. Junior catcher Fred Griscavage is a defensive specialist. Junior Robert Peterson will play infield. Junior Adrian Castallon will play outfield. Junior Peter Hernandez will play outfield and pitch and senior Manuel Martinez will add depth to the pitching staff.

OUTLOOK: Behind Gastelum, Aragon, and Macias, Channel Islands again will be a strong-hitting team. Aragon is the league’s top returning pitcher and will carry an inexperienced pitching staff that may need Gastelum as a No. 2 starter. The graduation of Jacob Cruz (.443, eight home runs, 25 runs batted in) leaves the Raiders with a large void to fill. But the Raiders might have more depth than last season’s team, which reached the second round of the 5-A playoffs, and they are expected to provide Simi Valley with one of the Pioneers’ stiffest challenges. “We hope to chase them boys over in Simi Valley,” said Cardinal, who has hinted he might retire at season’s end. “I don’t think anybody is going to beat them, but we’re going to try.”

Newbury Park

COACH: Gary Fabricius, 6th season

LAST SEASON: 8-16; 7th in league, 4-10

PLAYERS TO WATCH: Senior catcher Robert Fick batted .459 last season, the fifth-best average among Southern Section hitters in the region. Senior right fielder Jeff Hook, who throws right-handed and hits left, batted .300. Hook, 6-foot-3, developed as a pitcher over the summer and will contend with senior left-hander Bryant Fick (3-4, 3.35 ERA) for the No. 1 spot in the rotation. Senior Jason Patterson will split time between pitching and playing on the varsity golf team. Junior David Lamb, who batted .299, is one of the smoothest shortstops in the league and also might pitch. Sophomore Keith Smith, who passed for 2,409 yards as the school’s quarterback, is a talented athlete who might play several positions. Senior Mike Marsden, a returning letterman who played third base and outfield, might start in left field. Senior Steve Acosta, who was ineligible last season, will start in center field. “He has good wheels and some power,” Fabricius said of Acosta. Senior Zack Sutton, a part-time starter at third base, will play either third or left field. Junior Daniel Kadosono, who hit cleanup on the JV team, might play in the outfield. “We’ll get him on the field somewhere,” Fabricius said. Sophomore Rich Adams is vying for a starting spot at first base with seniors Jason Evans and Jason Buckley. Junior Jason Tubb with play either second base or designated hitter. Junior Jason Toohey might play outfield.

OUTLOOK: Newbury Park has some of the region’s finest young talent in Lamb and Smith and the Panthers are expected to improve on last year’s record. Robert Fick is a tough out, and the rest of the Panthers should follow. “We think we’re going to hit some people,” Fabricius said. “But we need to get some people out. We have depth, but whether it’s enough to compete in this league is another story.”

Royal

COACH: Dan Maye, 3rd season

LAST SEASON: 17-6; 4th in league, 8-6

PLAYERS TO WATCH: Senior Dave Landaker, a second-team 5-A Division selection, could be the region’s finest shortstop. Landaker, who already has caught the interest of several professional teams, batted .408 and stole 15 bases. Senior catcher Shane Slayton, who batted .362 and drove in 28 runs, provides Royal with power. Slayton (6-0, 220) will bat fourth. Senior Paul Taylor, a hard-throwing right-hander, was 4-1 and batted .375 with a team-leading five home runs and 22 RBIs at first base. Junior Dave Brown, who was injured the last half of last season, will start in left field and bat second. Junior Eugene Strojek, who replaced Brown, is a left-handed hitter who will bat leadoff and start in center field. Senior Chris Badia, a returning letterman, will start at second base. Junior Mike Wolford will start at third. Junior Brian Del Monte will start at first when Taylor pitches. Senior Ryan Martinez, who was a part-time starter, will start in right field. Senior utility player Matt Goebel may fill the No. 2 spot in the rotation.

OUTLOOK: Royal enjoyed its most successful season in 1991 and again is expected to contend for a 5-A playoff spot. Finding a strong No. 2 pitcher will be the key to Royal’s success. “Taylor is our only legitimate pitcher returning,” Maye said. “Finding a No. 2 pitcher weighs in our balance.” Hitting and defense should not be a problem, and Landaker is talented enough to carry the Highlanders. “We’ll be disappointed if we’re not among the top three teams in the league,” Maye said. “But pitching is the key.”

Simi Valley

COACH: Mike Scyphers, 14th season

LAST SEASON: 22-5; 1st in league, 12-2

PLAYERS TO WATCH: Senior first baseman Aaron Fischer, a first-team 5-A Division player who batted .473 with nine home runs and a region-leading 38 RBIs, will miss at least three weeks because of an ankle injury. Junior Kevin Nykoluk, who batted .400 and was Cal-Hi Sports sophomore player of the year, moves from right field to center. Junior shortstop Ryan Briggs, who struggled at the plate, is a defensive standout. Sophomore third baseman Ryan Hankins, who batted .376 last season, is out indefinitely with a torn ligament in an ankle. Senior Pat Queenen will replace Hankins. Junior right-hander Bill Treadway, a two-year letterman with an 11-4 career record, is on track to surpass the school record for wins (20). Yet he must battle sophomore Bill Scheffels (6-3, 190), a hard-throwing transfer from Alemany, for the No. 1 spot. Adding depth are junior right-hander Trevor Leppard, the top pitcher on last year’s JV team, and senior left-hander Chris Devlin, a returning letterman who threw just 13 innings. Nykoluk also will relieve. Junior Aaron Whitley, who bats left, will start in right field and bat second. Junior Jason Alcala, who stole 35 bases for the JV team, will start in left field. The Pioneers are still looking for a starting catcher between senior Lenny Valbuena, a defensive specialist, and junior Jason Houchen, a strong hitter. Senior Chris DeLaTorre and juniors Tevin Nelson and Britten Pond are vying for the starting spot at second. Bryan Kraft is a left-handed power hitter who may serve as designated hitter.

OUTLOOK: Although first-team 5-A Division utility player Brian Vasey graduated, Simi Valley is probably headed toward another 20-win season. Simi Valley has enough hitting, speed, defense and pitching to contend for a Southern Section title. The injuries to Fischer and Hankins are critical, but the Pioneers are expected to win their ninth league title under Scyphers and sixth in the past seven seasons.

Thousand Oaks

COACH: Jim Hansen, 18th season

LAST SEASON: 18-7-1, 2nd in league, 10-3-1

PLAYERS TO WATCH: Center fielder Jim Chergey, who stole 13 bases last season, is a returning starter. Returning lettermen include senior first baseman Kirk Pederson and senior shortstop Jeff Olin, who will be out 2-3 weeks because of a shoulder injury. Sophomore Matt Elam will fill in for Olin and junior Andy Wilson will start at second base. Junior Jamal Nichols will play third base and pitch. Freshman Bill Sperry will start in left field and sophomore Jason Bazo will start in right. Junior Buzzy Ketchum will start at catcher. Senior right-hander Craig Arnold, who threw only four innings last season, is the Lancers’ No. 1 starter. Junior right-handers Clint Harris and Bobby Novelli and freshman right-hander Tim Barron add depth to the pitching staff.

OUTLOOK: The Lancers are rebuilding after losing eight starters to graduation from a team that reached the second round of the 5-A playoffs. Chergey, who provides Thousand Oaks with strong hitting and speed, is one of the league’s best outfielders. Several young players must develop--and quickly--if the Lancers are to contend for a playoff berth. “It’s going to be a real challenge,” said assistant Garth Marcus. “We don’t have one outstanding pitcher and we don’t have the power we’ve had in the past.”

Westlake

COACH: Rich Herrera, 4th season

LAST SEASON: 10-14; 6th in league, 4-9-1

PLAYERS TO WATCH: Senior first baseman Rico Lagattuta batted .388 and drove in 27 runs last season. Lagattuta, an All-Marmonte League and All-Ventura County selection, will bat fourth and also fill the No. 2 spot in the pitching rotation. Senior John Snyder (3-4, 3.31) struggled with control problems but is a hard-throwing right-hander who is Westlake’s No. 1 pitcher. Senior right-handers Tony Dellamano and Scott Singleton provide pitching depth. Senior David Hayes will play second base and freshman Mike Melucci will start at shortstop. Senior Keith Wilson, who batted .257, will start at third. Senior Tim Wootton, who batted .242, will start in left field. Senior Ty Varing will play center and senior Kris LaFave will start in right field. Senior Josh Kurcezski will be behind the plate. Juniors Jason Teahan, Bob Bogle, Brew Johnson, Rob Murray and John Ybarra will add depth.

OUTLOOK: Although 12 players return, only four saw a significant amount of playing time. Lagattuta and Wilson provide power. Snyder, whose fastball approaches 85 m.p.h., and Lagattuta present a formidable 1-2 punch. “I have more confidence in our pitching staff than I have in any other season,” Herrera said. The Warriors are expected to improve on last year’s record and contend for a 5-A playoff berth.