HIGH SCHOOL BASEBALL / SOUTHERN SECTION PREVIEWS

Calabasas

COACH: Rick Nathenson, 1st season

LAST SEASON: 8-10-1; 4th in league, 4-7-1

PLAYERS TO WATCH: These are new-look Coyotes. Only five players return and former Coach Bob Wade took an assistant’s job at Harvard-Westlake. Of the four returning seniors, Brian Bruskrud has the most experience. He was 3-3 on the mound and hit .300 as a part-time shortstop-second baseman last season. David Jacobs, a junior, started regularly at third base after being called up from the junior varsity midway through the season. He will play first base and might bat cleanup. Senior Brian Schmidt, who played sparingly last season, will play center field and supply long-inning relief. Senior Steve Kaufman started occasionally at third base last season and will be a utility infielder and designated hitter. The other returning senior is outfielder Eric Lyles, but he has mononucleosis and is out indefinitely. Three other seniors have joined the team. Dan Rosenbloom probably will start in the outfield and Mike Reilly will fill in at third base and designated hitter. Left-hander Jesse Caloca transferred from Elsinore High where he posted a 5-2 record last season. Sophomore Josh Morton, who also played with the varsity and hit .500 in 10 junior varsity games last season, will start at third base and pitch in relief. At second base is junior Mehul Taylor, a junior varsity player last season noted as a spray hitter who can steal bases. Joining Rosenbloom and Schmidt in the outfield is right fielder Mark Warshaw, a co-MVP on the junior varsity last season. Junior Tim Wayne, the other co-MVP, will catch. Sophomore right-hander Bhret Haessig, junior right-hander Todd Cignarelli (the quarterback on the football team), junior left-hander Zach Margolis and junior right-hander Colin Fields add depth to the pitching staff.

OUTLOOK: Nathenson was coach at Calabasas in 1976 and 1977. After a long stint as English department chairman, he returned to coaching, spending one year as freshman coach and two as junior varsity coach. This team has seven seniors, seven juniors and two sophomores, most of whom played under Nathenson. “The way I look at us,” he said, “we’re really an unknown team. We’re really young.” That could make another 4-7 league finish a realistic expectation.

Fillmore

COACH: Tom Ecklund, 19th season

LAST SEASON: 18-4; 1st in league, 9-2-1

PLAYERS TO WATCH: The Flashes lost seven players to graduation and have three seniors, 11 juniors and one sophomore. “I’m still looking for that leadership position, someone to step in,” Ecklund said. He also is looking for players. “We’re doing experimenting in the infield and some of the outfield positions,” he said, “and pitching.” That covers it. The top two pitchers are gone, so senior right-handers Phillip Chessani and Jose-Luis Lomeli must step forward. Ecklund would like to use a rotation of two or three pitchers, and other candidates are junior right-handers Haime Duran and Louie Garza, and left-handed senior Ryan Satterfield. Lomeli might share third base with junior Jerry Sandoval. The middle-infield positions could go to two of four players, including Lomeli and juniors Raul Ruiz, Richard Preciado and Joe Brant. Satterfield or junior Jason Foy will play first base. Chessani caught last year. Others competing are Foy and Issac Jimenez. Competing for outfield berths are senior Robert Muniz and juniors Garza, Duran, Phillip Hurtado and Sammie Venegas.

OUTLOOK: “We’re a very young ballclub,” Ecklund said, “and right now we’re practicing like a very young ballclub.” If history is any indication, that will change. The Flashes won the Frontier title last year in their first season in the league. Under Ecklund they have won four Southern Section titles. Said Santa Paula Coach Henry Jacinto: “I think Fillmore is the team to beat.”

Santa Clara

COACH: John Wood, 1st season

LAST SEASON: 15-7; 2nd in league, 9-3

PLAYERS TO WATCH: Wood and Tom McConville, who handles administrative duties while assisting on the field, are still evaluating talent. Darin Nowak, a senior who did not play last season, has been penciled in at first base. Second base “is up for grabs,” McConville said, with as many as four players competing. Returning at shortstop is junior Armando Maciel, who hit .442 last season. “He’s probably the best player on the team,” McConville said. Platooning at third base are junior Eric Starna and sophomore Fernando Garcia, both of whom also pitch. Two senior outfielders return: Justin Villa and Marco Noriega, although Noriega suffered a severely bruised elbow during the soccer team’s final playoff match and will be out a few weeks. Senior Greg Macen is the third outfielder. Senior Chris Macias, the quarterback on the football team and a guard in basketball, will catch.

OUTLOOK: Wood and McConville replace 10-year coach John Lorenzana, who retired after last season. Wood stepped down as an assistant at Hueneme and McConville has just finished his last season as Santa Clara girls’ basketball coach. “It might take us a while, but fundamentals will be stressed,” McConville said. “Pitching, we’re not sure if were gonna have anything.” Coaching aside, this is a rebuilding year. Only three starters return from a team that finished a half-game behind Fillmore.

Santa Paula

COACH: Henry Jacinto, 1st season

LAST SEASON: 11-12-1; 3rd in league, 7-5

PLAYERS TO WATCH: The Cardinals have lots of experience in pitching and the outfield. Senior right-handers Eddie Rabago and Alex Frutos, the Nos. 2 and 3 pitchers, return. Three prospects from junior varsity are junior left-hander Brian Whittaker and junior right-handers Joe Aguilar and Danny Alcantar. Right-handed freshman Eric Flores also will get a look. Jacinto will use five or six pitchers in the beginning of the season, then pick four by the time league season starts. The middle infield is strong with returning three-year starter Art Marcelo at shortstop and sophomore Joseph Jauregui, who started several games at the end of last season, at second base. First base and third base are uncertain, with four players competing at each position. Joey Ramirez, also a standout basketball player, anchors the outfield. But he suffered a broken right hand during the basketball playoffs and will miss several weeks. Without Ramirez, Jauregui will move to center field, Marcelo to second and Alcantar to shortstop. Senior Efrain Munoz is the left fielder and Whittaker is in right. Catching is a weak link, and Rabago might be pressed into duty there. Senior Alex Oviedo, who did not play last season, might fill in as well. “He’s hitting the ball right now,” Jacinto said, “but time will tell if he can hold down the defensive portion of being a catcher.” Flores is another catching prospect.

OUTLOOK: Three-year starters Marcelo, Ramirez and Rabago provide experience, and Jacinto likes his younger players. “These juniors and sophomores have played a lot,” he said. Jacinto, head coach for eight years before stepping down in 1988, was Santa Paula’s pitching coach last year. He returned to the head coaching job after Mark Magdaleno took an assistant’s position at Cal Lutheran. In a season in which three league teams have new coaches, Jacinto inherits the most talent. Yet, he says, it won’t be enough to dethrone Fillmore.

Nordhoff

COACH: Steve Blundell, 2nd season

LAST SEASON: 0-22; 5th in league, 0-12

PLAYERS TO WATCH: The rebuilding process under Blundell began last season. Several inexperienced players will take the field. Enrique Beltron, a sophomore who played sparingly last season, will play first base along with junior Ryan Cuthbert, a first-time varsity player. Senior Jim Barrett or sophomore Mark Sebek, who has not played high school baseball, will play second. Mike Rodriguez, another first-time varsity player, is the shortstop. The starting third basemen is left-handed senior Chris Breck. When he pitches, sophomore Brian Roney will fill in. A returning starter is catcher Blair Widders. Another returner is junior center fielder Jeff Roberts. In left field is junior Adam Blundell, the coach’s son who played the last three games last year after the track season. In right field will be either sophomore Rusty Darter or senior John Milan.

OUTLOOK: Blundell remains optimistic. “I feel much better,” he said. “Everybody returned but two.” Stability does not come overnight. Blundell set a goal of finishing .500. One indication that the progam might be on the upswing is a renovation of the facilities behind the school. Two youth league fields were added over the summer, and four existing fields were upgraded. Varisty field renovations include a new press box, snack bar, bleachers and dugouts. Money for the work was donated, and opening ceremonies will be April 4.