HIGH SCHOOL BASEBALL / SOUTHERN SECTION PREVIEWS : SAN FERNANDO LEAGUE

Bell-Jeff

COACH: Sab Manente, 2nd season

LAST SEASON: 6-16; tied for 4th in league, 3-7

PLAYERS TO WATCH: Manente was hoping for more rain this week. John Bullock, the starting catcher who hit .285 last season, broke his left wrist and will be out three weeks. And four seniors need more preparation because the basketball season did not end until the Southern Section semifinal round Tuesday: Brian Lee (a first baseman who led the Guards with a .368 average last season), pitcher Bobby Machuca, Nestor Villanea (.310) and Ignacio Castro. The Guards also have four players who are academically ineligible. So it will help that three players transferred from a boys’ school that closed. Junior Elder Aguilar “looks promising as a pitcher and overall,” Manente said. Speedy senior infielder Edgar Leon and junior outfielder Jose Quinteros are other transfers. Yet another, junior Andy Martinez from Mercy, will be platooned at shortstop. Up from junior varsity are David Gomez, a right-handed pitcher, and Will Barnett, a long-ball threat who will play third base when not pitching. A freshman to look for is John Pollock, a swift outfielder. Another newcomer is senior first baseman-outfielder Keith Barrett.

OUTLOOK: Last year there was a new coach, and this year seemingly everyone else has been replaced. Gone are all-league players Anthony Pawluc, Brett Lindsay and Tony Cesta. But Manente likes his pitching, infield defense and speed. “I think eventually we’ll be a stronger team,” he said. “We have a good shot of reaching the playoffs, at least finishing third.”

Harvard-Westlake

COACH: Jim Brink, 12th season

LAST SEASON: 9-15; 3rd in league, 5-5

PLAYERS TO WATCH: Start with senior right-hander Greg Peters, a quarterback on the football team and guard on the basketball team--”An All-American kind of guy,” Brink said. Peters (5-5, one save) pitched a no-hitter against St. Francis and led the Wolverines with 62 innings pitched. Right-handed Adam Richards will play third base when not pitching. The top newcomers are right-handed juniors Tyler Atwood and Damon Lapa and left-handed sophomore Scott Garson. Left-handed senior Rob Venick, another basketball player, rounds out the staff. Juniors Kevin O’Malley and Jon Schaeffer at battling at catcher. Returning is first baseman Brian Given. Junior Don Camacho is a new starter at second and third-year varsity player Max Sank plays shortstop. Sank, a senior, hit .373 with 27 runs, 12 runs batted in and 13 stolen bases. The only returning starter in the outfield is right fielder Ryan O’Meara, who had 29 RBIs in 1991. Tarlin Ray, a guard on the basketball team and a late-inning defensive replacement last season, will play center field. Junior Todd Lemkin and seniors Brendan Koerner and Dan Linde are possible right fielders.

OUTLOOK: Brink likes his team’s depth. “I think we’ll definitely be improved in terms of depth, both as a defense for injuries and in terms of backing people up,” he said. There is experience on the mound, but the earned-run averages of Peters (5.19) and Richards (6.19) must be lowered. “It won’t be an overpowering pitching staff but they will throw strikes,” Brink said. The middle of the lineup from last season is gone, but this team might be quicker.

St. Francis

COACH: John Yakel, 2nd season

LAST SEASON: 11-11; 2nd in league, 6-4

PLAYERS TO WATCH: Six starters return from the league runners-up. The infield is experienced. Senior first baseman Adrian Lelea, the cleanup hitter, led the Golden Knights with four home runs. Senior second baseman Yves Brancheau, the leadoff hitter, led the team with a .375 average. Junior Rudy Martinez, who bats third, will play shortstop and sophomore Kirk Hagge will play third base. Martinez and Hagge switched positions from last season. Martinez, a switch-hitter who drives the ball to the alleys, led St. Francis with 14 doubles. Hagge hit .305 as a freshman after being pressed into varsity action because of preseason injuries. The catcher is senior Tim Caraher, a designated hitter the past two seasons. Another starter who has switched positions is center fielder Brew McGoldrick, who played left field last season. Sophomore Dan Vir will play left field and senior Chris Barnes will play right. Two year letterman John Workman, a senior right-hander, heads the pitching staff. “He’s going to be our ace,” Yakel said. Senior right-hander Paul Silva, a reliever in 1991, is the second starter. Senior Bill Young, brother of major leaguer Matt Young, is the reliever.

OUTLOOK: Experience is there but depth is not. “We’re pretty thin,” Yakel said. “We’ve got quality people (at each position) but we’ve only got one.” Still, the Golden Knights are a favorite to follow El Segundo in the league race.

St. Genevieve

COACH: Scott Smith, 3rd season

LAST SEASON: 9-10; tied for 4th in league, 3-7

PLAYERS TO WATCH: The best player is Sergio Ramos, so good that Smith says, “We can put him at about any position.” The Valiants need a catcher to replace the graduated Bobby Kite, so that’s where Ramos will play. He moves from third base, bringing a 15-game hitting streak into the season. And he also pitches. Two other hitters to watch are senior center fielder Javier Cruz (.340) and senior shortstop-pitcher Fernando Barba (.320). Mike Mirolla will play left field when he returns in a week or so. Mirolla, also a running back, suffered a leg injury during football season that has not healed. Other players are first-year starters. Junior Jeremy Iaccino replaces his brother Cary at second base. Senior shortstop Fidel Jocobo, who hit .280 as a sophomore third baseman, returns after a year of academic ineligibility. Other starters are junior first baseman John Hoffman, senior third baseman Hector Mendoza and senior right fielder Alex Montalvo. Junior Ernie Gutierrez will fill in at first base and catcher, and cousin Eddie Gutierrez is a utility infielder.

OUTLOOK: The Valiants lost four three-year starters, so there are holes to fill. Ramos hit .440 and pitches well, but is it enough? Said Smith: “If we can get somebody to catch his knuckleball . . .”