Back IN THE Swing : Welles a Hit at Pierce After Being Shelved as a Batter at Arizona State

Planted firmly in the batter’s box, Robby Welles projects an aura of aggressiveness that seems more suited for the football field than the baseball diamond.

At 6-foot-4 and 195 pounds, the Pierce College sophomore doesn’t hide his intentions--he takes huge swings designed to punish a baseball. When Welles connects, the result is enough to attract more than passing attention.

“He’s like a raw, green kid with a lot of potential,” said George Genovese, the Southern California scouting supervisor for the San Francisco Giants. “He’s got all the earmarks of being a good ballplayer.”

Thus far, those earmarks have produced a .361 batting average, a school-record-tying 10 home runs, seven doubles and 37 runs batted in in 21 games for a Pierce team that is 18-2-1 and atop the Western State Conference standings at 10-1.

“I think I’ve proven myself, but I could be doing better just by cutting down my swing and not trying to hit so many home runs,” said Welles, 19, who has struck out 17 times in 83 at-bats.

But it is no accident that Welles has approached each at-bat with the eagerness of someone who has been waiting in the on-deck circle for a year. The Beverly Hills High graduate transferred to Pierce last September after spending his freshman season as a seldom-used pitcher at Arizona State.

“I’m just excited to be swinging the bat again,” he said. “I’ve got to go where my heart is and I wanted to swing the bat.”

One who is thankful Welles followed his heart is Pierce Coach Bob Lofrano, who was more than willing to let Welles display his ability at the plate.

“From Day 1 it was pretty evident that he could swing,” Lofrano said.

Yet, according to Welles, he transferred to Pierce primarily because his hitting abilities were ignored at ASU.

An All-Bay League pitcher-outfielder at Beverly Hills, Welles was selected as a pitcher in the 26th round of the 1990 amateur draft by the Minnesota Twins. He turned down the Twins’ offer to accept a full scholarship to Arizona State with the expectation that he would be given the opportunity to hit as well as pitch.

But on the first day of practice with the Sun Devils, Welles wasn’t included in any hitting groups and he soon learned that the ASU coaching staff wanted him to concentrate solely on pitching.

“I was kind of like in a state of shock,” Welles said. “I mean, they didn’t give me a chance to swing the bat and they recruited me as a hitter too. That’s what I really didn’t understand.”

Arizona State Coach Jim Brock, a veteran of 20 years at ASU, viewed the situation differently.

“Pitching is basically what we recruited him to do,” said Brock, whose team was ranked No. 1 in the preseason. “At that time you could not project him at all as a (Pacific 10 Conference Southern Division) hitter and outfielder.

“We just really didn’t see him as a good enough hitting prospect as a (designated hitter) or with enough speed to play the outfield. He was kind of caught in the middle.”

Welles reluctantly accepted his role as a full-time pitcher but he appeared in just three of ASU’s 62 games in 1991, yielding two runs and seven walks in 2 1/3 hitless innings.

“I was kind of frustrated by then,” he said. “My pitching wasn’t going well and I really wanted to swing the bat.”

With Brock’s consent, Welles and the Sun Devils parted company that summer and Pierce had a new No. 5 hitter a short time later.

While he has taken a step down from NCAA Division I baseball, the opportunity to again swing the bat was worth the change, Welles said.

“I’m hitting the ball a lot farther now and I’m developing more as a hitter because that’s what I love doing,” he said. “I like pitching, but I don’t like playing once a week.”

Welles’ penchant for hitting goes back to his days as a youngster, when his father Richard pitched him batting practice for hours at a time at a park in Beverly Hills.

Although Robby Welles says his family doesn’t reside in the “rich part” of Beverly Hills, he does not deny that growing up in that city had its advantages. After all, how many 11- and 12-year-old baseball players get to take batting practice in actor James Caan’s personal batting cage?

“(Caan) had a batting cage at his mansion in the hills and he used to work out with Robby,” said Richard Welles, a screenwriter who has known Caan for years. “He used to give Robby pitching instructions and they would hit in the batting cage.”

Because of a tender shoulder that developed during the fall season, Welles has yet to pitch for Pierce in the regular season. He was given permission to resume throwing earlier in the month and is close to making his ’92 pitching debut.

“I still get calls from scouts who want to know when he’s going to throw,” Lofrano said. “Anyone who was drafted out of high school obviously (has talent). We’re looking forward to utilizing him on the mound.”

When Welles transferred to Pierce from Arizona State, he joined four other Division I bounce-back players--including former ASU teammate Brian Smith--on a team that already featured four returning all-conference players.

The Brahmas, who reached the Southern California regional final last year, have won two tournaments this season and they scored 30 runs in a WSC game against Oxnard last month.

“It was just exciting to have all these guys come together on one team,” Welles said. “I don’t know how it happened. But it was like we knew from the start that this was going to be a special season.”

For Welles, the season began in grand fashion. He hit a grand slam in his first at-bat and added a three-run homer an inning later against Glendale on Jan. 31.

Averaging a home run every 8.3 at-bats, Welles has not wasted much time establishing himself as a pro hitting prospect and he allows that he is looking forward to the June baseball draft.

But questions remain about his defensive abilities.

Genovese has coached Welles since his junior year in high school on a Giant scout team and thinks Welles has the athletic ability and arm strength to adjust to several positions.

“He has the possibility of (becoming) a catcher,” said Genovese, who converted former first-round draft pick Mike Lieberthal of Westlake High from a shortstop to a catcher. “What you have to do with a kid like Welles is project him down the road when he fully develops (physically).”

The idea sits well with Welles, who developed a quick-release arm motion as a high school quarterback in 1989. He threw for more than 1,000 yards in just six games as a senior in a season that was cut short because of a Beverly Hills teachers strike.

“I look at it (catching) and I guess it all adds up,” said Welles, whose catching experience consists of a handful of innings for the Giant scout team last year. “As a (former) quarterback I’ve got a quick release and quick feet. Plus I really want to catch.”

With Pierce in the midst of the WSC title race, Lofrano has no intention of experimenting with Welles at catcher. Brahma freshman Adam Pearlman has become a fixture behind the plate.

As far as Welles is concerned, any role he plays at Pierce is fine--as long he sees his name penciled in in the batting order.