Horton Isn’t Down About Rebuilding His Pitching Staff

George Horton knew he would have his work cut out rebuilding the Cal State Fullerton pitching staff for the upcoming baseball season. He just didn’t expect the job to be this big.

Horton, the Titan associate head coach who handles the pitchers for Coach Augie Garrido, faces an even more demanding challenge after the NCAA ruled last season’s Big West pitcher of the year, Matt Wagner, ineligible last week.

Wagner was the only starter back from the team that shared the conference championship, won the NCAA regional tournament at Oklahoma State and reached the semifinal round of the College World Series before being eliminated by Georgia Tech. Now, Horton is really starting from scratch. But he’s not dismayed going into the final week of fall workouts.

“I still think we have the makings of a solid pitching staff,” he said. “I just don’t know if it’s going to be as effective as some of the ones in the past have been. I don’t think we’ve been left without one returning starter since I’ve been here, though.”

One of the things Horton and Garrido are considering is moving top relief pitcher Ted Silva into a starting role when the season begins in late January. Silva, who pitched for the U.S. national team last summer, had 13 saves with a 4-4 record and a 2.29 earned-run average last season. He is the team’s most proven returning pitcher.

“It’s a different role, but there’s no reason he can’t do it,” Horton said. “He was a starter as well as a relief pitcher in high school. Although the endurance factor is different, his arm is strong enough to be a starter.”

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Horton also is encouraged by the practice performance of junior right-hander Jon Ward.

“Jon has had an outstanding fall,” Horton said. “He’s showed signs of what we hoped he’d be doing all along. He’s finally hit the level of consistency that we’ve been looking for the last couple of years.”

Ward has been troubled by injuries in the past. “He’s had a series of back, knee and arm troubles,” Horton said. “This fall he’s been relatively injury-free and that’s probably been a big factor. His mechanics are more consistent, and his endurance has been better. He’s really excited again. In the past, some of his frustrations wore on him.”

Ward still is bothered by a slight tear in cartilage in one knee and might have arthroscopic surgery to be certain everything is all right. “If he has that, he would only be out about six weeks, and he will have time to recover before we resume practice Jan. 3,” Horton said.

Horton said pitching this summer for Anchorage in the Alaskan Collegiate League helped Ward.

“He did well there, and he’s continued improving during the fall,” Horton said. “We’ve been working with him lately on getting the ball to move more.”

Even if Silva and Ward take over two of the starting spots, the Titans still will be looking for more pitching help from transfers Tom Dillon, Mark Chavez, Steve Cardona and Tom Dixon. “If some of those transfers don’t come along to play a significant role for us, we could be in trouble,” Horton said.

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Big West Conference expansion that will add Idaho, Boise State, North Texas and Cal Poly San Luis Obispo when Nevada Las Vegas and San Jose State leave the conference in 1996 won’t mean much change for baseball other than reduction in the number of conference teams by one.

Of the four new schools, only Cal Poly San Luis Obispo has a baseball program.

Long range, however, Garrido said he favors a regional federation for baseball, rather than competition strictly along conference lines.

“I think after all the dust settles, they can eventually address what is best for baseball,” Garrido said. “The NCAA has been putting increased emphasis on keeping the student-athlete in school as much as possible, and to reducing travel for financial reasons, so a federation approach may be the best answer.”

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The injury problems continue to pile up for Titan soccer Coach Al Mistri.

Tony Jaime has a broken rib from a collision in Sunday’s loss to New Mexico, and J.B. McCormack is sidelined because of an ankle injury.

Fullerton also will be without Alfred Partida in Friday’s game at UCLA because of a red card given him in the New Mexico game. The Titans also play at UC Irvine Sunday.

“We’ll be going into the most difficult part of the season in our weakest condition of the year,” Mistri said.

The men’s team is 8-5-1 after beating Nevada Las Vegas, 3-0, and losing to New Mexico, 4-2, last weekend.

The women’s team, which is 4-5-1, also has had some injury problems. Goalkeeper Jennifer Bryant has a foot injury and her backup, Heidi Clauss, has a dislocated thumb, but both are expected to play in today’s game at UC Santa Barbara.

Titan Notes

Two Titan baseball players, outfielder Mark Kotsay and catcher Brian Loyd, are scheduled to play in the “Field of Vision and Dreams” charity all-star baseball game Oct. 30 at Blair Field in Long Beach. The event, in which some top college players from the area will meet a team of pros, will benefit the Children of Promise Foundation. It conducts programs for fatherless boys. The event has been approved by the NCAA . . . The Titan women’s basketball coaching staff will conduct a coaching clinic beginning at 9 a.m. Saturday in Titan Gym. Coach Deborah Ayres will conduct the clinic with help from former coach Maryalyce Jeremiah, now associate athletic director, and assistant J. Kelley Hall . . . “Midnight Madness” that opened basketball practice for the men’s and women’s teams Friday night at Fullerton attracted an estimated 1,000, most of them students.