He’s King of the Swing : Peninsula’s Campbell Has Proved His Might at the Plate

One by one, Peninsula High’s baseball players marched through the gate at Sentinel Field in Inglewood on Tuesday. They saw a neglected field, spotted with weeds and dandelions, and trash gathered against the outfield fence.

Wind blew dirt and pebbles around a patch of ground in right field, where Peninsula’s Brett Campbell would soon take his regular position.

“We played here last year and it was a little better than this,” Campbell said as the Panthers prepared to play Inglewood. “It’s going to be tough, but you’ve got to deal with it. You’ve just got to concentrate a little bit more.”

Campbell, a 17-year-old senior, was fortunate enough not to see a bad hop throughout Peninsula’s 6-3 victory. He also batted two for two, both singles, drove in two runs, stole two bases and walked twice.

The 6-foot-3, 175-pounder has been a mainstay for the Panthers all season. He leads the team with a .507 batting average (33 for 65), four home runs, 28 runs batted in and eight doubles. He has six stolen bases. Campbell’s play has helped the Panthers (16-5) to a second consecutive Bay League title with a 10-1 record.

“He’s gone way beyond what I thought he would be,” Peninsula pitcher Arin McCarthy said of Campbell. “I knew he’d be good, but geez. I’m sure he’s shocked a lot of people.”

Last year, Campbell was primarily used as a pinch-hitter because Peninsula had 16 seniors on the team. After the season, the right-handed batter and thrower decided he didn’t want to sit on the bench again.

He played on Peninsula’s American Legion team last summer, batting close to .500. In July, he was invited to participate in the heavily scouted Area Code League on the 310 team in San Jose. He was impressive enough for the Dodgers to ask him to play for its scout team from September through December.

“I was really excited,” Campbell said of making the Dodger scout squad. “I worked my butt off to make the team.”

Suddenly, colleges from all over the country became interested in Campbell. However, growing up in Palos Verdes Estates, he wanted to remain in Southern California. A few weeks ago, Campbell signed a letter of intent with Loyola Marymount.

“It was one of my first choices,” he said.

Campbell also considered Pepperdine, where his father, Craig, played first base in 1960 and ‘61, and where his sister, Jennifer, attends.

“It’s a little surprising,” said Peninsula Coach Garry Poe of Campbell’s decision to buck Pepperdine. “But by the same token, he wanted to go where he’d have the chance to play right away.”

Campbell’s father, who owns an advertising agency in Westwood, said he would have been pleased with either school for his son. But he acknowledged that Loyola’s Westchester campus will be more convenient to watch his son play.

“I’m a little bit of a baseball junkie, so I’m glad he decided to go to Loyola,” Craig, 52, said. “That way I could stop by on my way home and watch a baseball game.”

Loyola Coach Jody Robinson said Campbell will be a candidate to start at third base. Campbell played third at times last season and on the Dodgers’ scout team. This season, Poe, in his second season at Peninsula after 26 years at Rolling Hills, put Chris Blandford at third.

“He has the physical ability to (play third),” said Robinson, in his second year at Loyola Marymount.

Robinson also said he was delighted with the diligent approach Campbell takes to improve his game.

“He works a lot on his own,” he said. “You can have all the tools, but you have to want to get better. That’s part of the makeup we liked about him.”

Pepperdine baseball Coach Andy Lopez said he doesn’t look forward to facing Campbell.

“He looks like he’ll be an outstanding hitter,” Lopez said. “He’ll be a force.”

Campbell is popular among his teammates. They like to go to parties and the beach together, and they enjoy surfing.

“He’s not the best one out there,” said Blandford, laughing about Campbell’s surfing ability.

He was not one of the better students either, but about a year and a half ago, Campbell said, he began to take his studies seriously. The effort has resulted in a 3.0 grade-point average, he said.

“I had to crack down if I wanted to go to a big college,” Campbell said. “You can’t have crappy grades. It’s my life ahead of me.”

Said Poe: “He’s matured as a student and I’m sure this is one of the things universities look at, how much has a young man improved. He knew that he needed to get himself in a position where somebody wanted him.”

Loyola wants him at third base, far from the weeds and dandelions and trash that surrounded him in right field Tuesday.