Cypress’ France Thinks Hard, Throws Hard

Aaron France, a sophomore pitcher at Cypress College, spends a lot of time thinking about his performance.

He pores over the scouting report, carefully considering the way he plans to pitch each hitter.

The results have been impressive so far this season.

He is 6-0 with a 1.53 earned-run average. France, a right-hander who relies on his fastball, change-up and curve, has 48 strikeouts and 15 walks in 47 innings.

But despite France’s success, Cypress Coach Scott Pickler said he still gets too caught up in the mental side of the game.

“He gets into his own head sometimes,” Pickler said. “He has no idea how good he can be . . . He really doesn’t understand how well he’s doing. He needs to throw to his own strengths more and worry less about the hitter’s weaknesses.”

France explains it this way: “Coach Pickler and Coach (Bill) Pinkham tell me that I’m a psycho sometimes. But I’m a perfectionist . . . The team’s No. 1 goal is to win the (Orange Empire) Conference and I want to help all I can.”

Cypress is 18-5, 5-2 in conference and a game behind first-place Riverside. France is expected to start against host Riverside at 2 p.m. today.

Considering his past, France can almost be excused for his struggles with success. In his three years of varsity baseball at Loara, the Saxons were 25-50. He was impressive at times but also had his share of poor outings. He was bothered by a sore right elbow that required surgery in October of 1990.

Pickler saw France pitch early in his senior year and was impressed with his velocity and fluid arm motion. A Toronto Blue Jays’ scout also took notice of France that season and he was drafted.

But France said he wasn’t ready to play professionally and enrolled at Cypress. He was the only freshman in the starting rotation and finished with a 5-3 mark.

Baltimore drafted France at the end of the season, but again he wasn’t ready to sign so he returned to Cypress.

Now he’s being recruited by Miami, Long Beach State, Arizona, Arizona State and the University of San Diego. Several professional scouts also are still interested.

He’s happy with his accomplishments but is quick to point out that two-thirds of the conference season remains. France, who has taken pitching lessons since he was 8, knows he faces some difficult decisions in the coming months about picking a college or accepting a professional offer.

“It’s hard for me to understand how playing baseball amounts to all this,” France said. “I’m just thankful I have the talent that it takes to get this far.”

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Track and field showdown: The five local men’s and women’s track teams--Fullerton, Golden West, Orange Coast, Rancho Santiago and Saddleback--meet in the first Orange County Classic starting at 9 a.mr. Saturday at Fullerton.

The meet was the idea of Jim Kiefer, Fullerton’s coach and men’s athletic director. Kiefer, with sponsorship help by the Fullerton Rotary Club, was finally able to get the meet started this year.

“This is something I’ve wanted to do for a long time,” Kiefer said. “It’s fun to bring everyone together like this. We can showcase the talent our county has to offer.”

The first final, the women’s distance medley relay, is scheduled for 9:20 a.m. A majority of the final events are between noon and 2 p.m.