HIGH SCHOOL BASEBALL ’92 : El Segundo Is the Team Everybody Is Trying to Defeat : Preview: The Eagles have plenty of pitching and hitting as they welcome back Coach John Stevenson.

Will El Segundo be able to rebound from a semifinal loss in its own preseason tournament to win another San Fernando League championship?

Will Redondo’s tag-team pitching tandem of Ted Silva and Frank Bignami be enough to wrest the Ocean League title from Beverly Hills?

Who will win the unofficial, statistical battle of the South Bay super-catchers, El Segundo’s Jeff Poor or Torrance’s Jason Kendall?

Will Kendall’s hitting streak, currently at 37 games, ever end?

Will Carson’s 235-pound twins Eran and Eric Taulua cause opposing coaches to complain to the umpires that the Colts are batting the same guy twice in the lineup?

Will this be the year of the Gargantuan pitchers? Will the sight of 6-foot-6 Mac McKinney of Chadwick, 6-4 Matt Gangawere of El Segundo, 6-4 Brian Bowles of Peninsula or 6-5 Chris Steinbacher of St. Bernard staring down from the mound be too much for opposing batters to handle?

These are some of the questions as the high school baseball season begins league play this week.

There is no surprise to The Times’ choice as the area’s No. 1 team going into the 1992 season: The El Segundo Eagles return seven starters from last season’s 25-5 San Fernando League championship squad.

A semifinal loss to Millikan in the preseason El Segundo tournament has done little to discourage Eagle Coach John Stevenson.

“The important thing is what you do after the loss,” Stevenson said. “Do you bounce back, or go into a funk?”

Stevenson, the state’s winningest baseball coach with a record of 684-252 and six Southern Section titles, has bounced back this year after a heart attack and triple-bypass surgery in May forced him to sit out the last part of the season.

“It’s nice to be back,” Stevenson said. “I didn’t like being away from the game.”

The Eagles would like to welcome Stevenson back with another San Fernando League championship, for which they appear to be the favorites.

Other South Bay teams that should contend for league titles include Torrance in the Pioneer League, Redondo in the Ocean League and Chadwick in the Prep League.

These are The Times’ Top 10 South Bay teams:

1. El Segundo (25-5)--The top-ranked team in the 3-A Division preseason poll, the Eagles appear to have no glaring weaknesses.

They have pitching, starting with the lanky Gangawere (10-1 with a 2.69 earned-run average last year) and junior Jamin Kear, who was 1-0 in limited action last year.

They certainly have the hitting, with Poor and center fielder Chris Feeny coming off stellar junior years.

Poor was one of only three juniors on The Times’ South Bay all-star team last year after bashing an area-best 11 homers and 54 runs batted in to go with a .475 average. Feeny batted .410 with 25 RBIs.

First baseman Tracy McAndrews batted .366 as a junior last year, which would have been big news anywhere else but El Segundo, where it was good for fifth on the team.

2. Torrance (21-6)--The Tartars have struggled to a 1-3 start in nonleague games but will be contenders as long as Kendall’s name is etched in the cleanup spot in the batting order.

While Torrance has reeled behind some disappointing pitching thus far, Kendall has begun his quest for player-of-the-year honors in nice fashion. His state-record, 37-game hitting streak is still intact, and he is batting .643 through four games.

Kendall can do almost anything he wants on a baseball field, but even he can’t overcome a performance like the Tartars’ pitching staff gave Saturday in a consolation game in the El Segundo tournament. La Mirada, the second-ranked team in the 3-A Division, pounded the Tartars in a 15-7 victory.

Once you get past Ralph Martinez, a first-team All-Pioneer League performer last year with a 7-1 record and 3.00 ERA, the Tartars’ pitching corps is thin. The performances of Todd Reinert and David Fogle, the Tartars’ second and third pitchers, may be the keys to the season.

3. Redondo (16-11)--The Sea Hawks, with five returning starters from last year’s third-place Ocean League finish, hope to battle Beverly Hills for the league championship this season.

There is no doubt where the Sea Hawks’ strength lies: their two starting pitchers. Silva was 4-2 with a 1.57 ERA last year, and Bignami was 6-4 with a 1.86 ERA. Both averaged better than a strikeout an inning.

But Redondo’s starting lineup is questionable. It is highlighted by shortstop Jay Uhlman, who batted .364 with 19 RBIs in 1991. Catcher Jeremy Veasey, a returning starter, will provide another big bat as well as some stability.

“We haven’t gotten on a roll yet offensively,” Sea Hawk Coach Tim Ammentorp said. “We haven’t been aggressive enough--we’re waiting for the big inning to happen.”

So far in 1992, Silva has been brilliant but Bignami has struggled. The Sea Hawks are 3-2 with their league opener schedule for Friday.

“I have no doubt that Bignami will come around,” Ammentorp said. “The same thing happened with him last year.”

The Sea Hawks were ranked sixth in the 4-A Division preseason poll.

4. Peninsula (first year)--The Panthers will benefit greatly from the merging of Palos Verdes, Rolling Hills and Miraleste. The merger gives Peninsula four 1991 All-Bay League players: catcher Scott Poe, first baseman Jason Brown and outfielders Darwin Balthazar and Mark Whiley.

With all those bats in the lineup, it’s no wonder that Peninsula Coach Gil Eberhard is disappointed with the Panthers’ 2-3 start.

“We just haven’t been able to score much,” said Eberhard, who coached Palos Verdes last year and will share the Peninsula job with Garry Poe, who coached Rolling Hills.

“We haven’t swung the sticks as well as we anticipated.”

Peninsula’s weakest area was thought to be its young pitching staff, but sophomores Brian Bowles and Arin McCarthy have pitched well at times this season. Bowles pitched two-hit ball for five innings in a 6-3 victory over Muir last week, and McCarthy got the win in a 7-4 victory over Beverly Hills on Monday.

5. St. Bernard (13-10-1)--The Vikings had a rough time last year after moving from 2-A to 5-A, and this year could be even tougher as they return only two starters.

But the Vikings are 5-1 in nonleague games, which is testimony to how good the Mission League is.

Those two returning starters--Grant Hohman and Phil Ruhl--are fourth-year starters and excellent athletes. Hohman batted .355 with 21 RBI last year despite being bothered by a dislocated thumb; Ruhl, who was been first-team all-league in two of his three seasons, batted .418 with seven homers and 24 RBIs last year. He will be moving from first base to third this season.

Keep your eyes on Brian Richardson. He is an unknown quantity after being ineligible last season because of poor grades, but he batted .450 with 11 home runs during the Vikings’ 20-game summer season. He is being scouted by USC and Cal State Long Beach.

Six-foot-five senior Chris Steinbacher, who also had an excellent summer season, anchors the pitching staff.

“This is by far the hardest-working, most dedicated team I have had in my six years at St. Bernard,” Coach Bob Yarnall said.

6. West Torrance (17-10)--With a revamped pitching staff and only four returning starters, the Warriors are facing somewhat of a rebuilding year.

The Warriors’ success will depend largely on how well Steve Sarkisian and Josh Bendik--both of whom were All-Pioneer League last year with batting averages well above .300--adjust to their new duties as starting pitchers.

Sarkisian was a second-team all-league choice in 1991 as an infielder, and Bendik was first-team all-league as a designated hitter. But Coach Harry Jenkins needed pitching and asked the players to switch positions.

“They’re great competitors, but they’re untested,” said Jenkins, who has won 10 league titles in 21 years at West. “They should be able to keep us in most games.”

Stephan Wilson, who was 3-2 last year, is expected to return soon from arm therapy. If he does, that could drastically improve the Warriors’ chances of competing with Torrance for the league title.

West’s strengths will be hitting and defense.

7. Mary Star (14-10)--As always, the Stars will be small and speedy. But as their 5-1 record so far in 1992 shows, they aren’t to be taken lightly.

Richard Loquellano, a 5-foot-7 senior, lead the pitching corps after a 2-1 record and 4.05 ERA in 1991.

Eddie de la Portilla, another 5-7 senior, returns to anchor the outfield and the batting order. He batted .327 last year with 10 RBIs.

Although Ray Estrada, Mary Star’s first-year coach, will have six returning starters, it is still a very young team, especially in the infield, which will consist of freshmen at first and second, a sophomore at third and a junior at shortstop. The sophomore, Gary Sloan, batted .300 with a homer and six RBIs last year as a freshman.

Designated hitter James Gregorio has been impressive in the early season: he had three hits in seven at-bats with two RBIs as the Stars swept a nonleague doubleheader from Verbum Dei last week.

8. Chadwick (18-5)--Coach Jim Drennen has five starters back from last year’s Southern Section runners-up, including All-Southern Section pitcher McKinney, a 6-6 fireballer who was 11-2 in 1991, and All-Southern Section shortstop Chris Gordon, who batted .471 with 23 RBIs and 34 stolen bases.

The Dolphins’ pitching will be sound, with Rory Laverty, who was 6-2 last year, joining McKinney as a starter.

Chadwick was ranked No. 6 in the Small Schools Division preseason Southern Section rankings. Pasadena Poly, which will likely battle the Dolphins for the Prep League title, was No. 3.

9. San Pedro (15-7)--Graduation has practically decimated the Pirates’ lineup, which returns only two starters. The good news is that the Pirates’ junior varsity team tied Carson for first place in the Pacific League in 1991 and most of that talent will be on the varsity this year.

The Pirates’ best hitter is catcher Jose Duarte, who batted .380 last year and was one of the area’s best defensive catchers. Also returning from the 1991 Pacific League runners-up is slick-fielding third baseman Luis Montes-De Oca, who batted .311.

Right-hander Mark Miller, who was 2-1 with a 2.85 ERA in 1991, and the aptly named Larry Cannon, a hard-throwing left-hander who played JV last year, are San Pedro’s top pitchers.

10. Mira Costa (12-13)--The Mustangs may have been below .500 last year, but they were 8-4 in the Ocean League, good enough for second place. This year, with six returning starters, they can challenge Redondo and Beverly Hills for the championship.

The Mustangs are 3-2 so far in 1992.

Although overshadowed by the South Bay’s super-catchers Kendall and Poor, Mira Costa’s Greg Gilmer had impressive numbers in 1991. Besides his hefty .357 average, he also threw out 41% of runners stealing.

Designated hitter Shawn Wright also packs a big bat--he went three for four with three RBIs in a 7-1 victory over Bell Gardens last week in the El Segundo tournament.

The ace of the Mustang pitching staff is left-hander Joel Garber, who was a second-team all-league choice in 1991 after going 4-4 record with a 3.46 ERA.

Players to Watch

Player School Pos. Key 1991 stats Josh Bendik West Torrance P/1B .320 BA, 21 runs Frank Bignami Redondo P 6-4, 1.86 ERA Jason Brown Peninsula 1B .367 BA, 17 RBI Jason Cole Carson P 7-2, 1.69 ERA Jose Duarte San Pedro C .380 BA Chris Feeny El Segundo OF .410 BA, 25 RBI Matt Gangawere El Segundo P 10-1, 2.69 ERA, 49 Ks Joel Garber Mira Costa P 4-4, 3.46 Greg Gilmer Mira Costa C .357 BA Mike Hayes Westchester 3B .486 BA Grant Hohman St. Bernard SS .355 BA, 21 RBI Jason Kendall Torrance C .477 BA, 4 HR, 49 RBI Ralph Martinez Torrance P 7-1, 3.00 ERA, 45 Ks David Mauney Carson OF .364 BA, 17 RBI Mac McKinnie Chadwick P 11-2, 2.04 ERA, 74 Ks Jeff Poor El Segundo C .475 BA, 11 HR, 54 RBI Eddie de la Portilla Mary Star SS/OF .327 BA Phil Ruhl St. Bernard 3B .418 BA, 7 HR, 24 RBI Ryan Shannon Torrance SS .372 BA, 15 RBI Ted Silva Redondo P 4-2, 1.57 ERA Chris Steinbacher St. Bernard P 8-2, 1.10 ERA Eric Taulua Carson DH .435 BA, 12 SB Jay Uhlman Redondo SS .364 BA, 19 RBI Al Watson Westchester SS .404 BA, 23 RBI, 23 SB

South Bay’s Baseball Top 10

Selected by Times Sportswriters

Rank, School, League 1991 Record 1 El Segundo (San Fernando) 25-5 2 Torrance (Pioneer) 21-6 3 Redondo (Ocean) 16-11 4 Peninsula (Bay) NA* 5 St. Bernard (Mission) 13-10-1 6 West Torrance (Pioneer) 17-10 7 Mary Star (Santa Fe) 14-10 8 Chadwick (Prep) 18-5 9 San Pedro (Pacific) 15-7 10 Mira Costa (Ocean) 12-13

* This is the first year of baseball for Peninsula, which was created last year by a merger of Miraleste, Palos Verdes and Rolling Hills.