COLLEGE BASEBALL PREVIEWS : Mutz Is Hoping He Can Mastermind a Reversal

Earl Weaver’s recipe for winning baseball was simple: pitching, defense and three-run homers.

Subtract the three-run homers, and you’ve got The Master’s baseball team. Not bad, considering last season the Mustangs were without all three.

It didn’t take long for first-year Coach Jack Mutz to figure out what the Mustangs needed to do to improve on last year’s dismal 14-32-2 record.

“As soon as I was given the position as head coach, I looked at the pitching staff and said we really need to get some guys who can pitch and we need some guys with some maturity in the middle of the field,” said Mutz, a Mustang assistant the previous nine seasons.

Mutz has 19 new faces on the team, and he’s optimistic they can improve on last year’s shoddy pitching and defense statistics.

“In the 10 years that I’ve been here, this is the most excited I’ve been about a team,” he said. “And not because I’m the head coach, but because of the quality of players we have.”

The Mustangs, who open their season Saturday with a noon doubleheader at home against Cal Poly Pomona, had a 5.49 earned-run average last season, but that was only part of the problem. Master’s allowed 240 earned runs and 98 unearned runs. The team averaged 2.4 errors, with much of the problem coming from a pair of freshmen up the middle.

Second baseman David Scott made 17 errors and shortstop Jeff Terrell had 23. Both transferred in the off-season, prompting Mutz to fill those crucial positions with more-experienced players. Junior Matt Huter, a transfer from Treasure Valley College in Oregon, will play shortstop and junior Jayme Riggio, last year’s starter at third base, will play second.

But Mutz’s hopes for improvement hang primarily on the pitchers. Besides recruiting new arms, he recruited a new pitching coach, former major league pitcher Pete Redfern.

“I just picked up the phone and called him and 15 minutes later he called me back (and took the job),” Mutz said. “It’s been fantastic. It’s given our pitching staff credibility.”

Redfern, who had been pitching coach at Chatsworth High, has instituted a rigorous training program for the pitchers. They call it “Camp Death.”

“They are in such great shape it’s unbelievable,” Mutz said. “They have set the standard for our team. They have told the rest of the players, ‘We hope you can keep up with us.’ ”

The two returning starters are senior Ryan Dowhower (2-5, 5.08 ERA last year), whose season was curtailed by a shoulder injury, and sophomore Mark Balch (1-6, 6.18). Newcomers Matt Roper, a junior transfer from Fresno City College, and Paul Gomez, a junior transfer from Sonoma State, will fill out the rotation. All are right-handed.

The team’s closers will be side-arming brothers John and Doug Maggiora from Saugus High. Doug, a junior, transferred from Nicholls State in Louisiana. John, a freshman, pitched a no-hitter for the Centurions and made the All-Foothill League team.

The most-promising future among the everyday players belongs to freshman Derek Bell. The Bakersfield High graduate is a solid third baseman with a strong arm who will bat fourth or fifth.

“I’ve been here for 10 years and I believe he’s the best freshman we’ve had,” Mutz said.

The Mustangs will start two other newcomers besides Ball and Huter. Dan Prentice, a freshman from Shafter High in Bakersfield, is the fastest player on the team and will bat leadoff and play right field.

Last year’s starting catcher, Mike Quinlan, recently underwent rotator cuff surgery and will miss the season, leaving the job to freshman Jeff Bennett from Newbury Park High or sophomore Jim Young, a transfer from Hancock College. Though the two are likely to share the job, Mutz said this week that Young has a slight edge.

Senior first baseman Matt Henzie (.267, 32 runs batted in) will bat third, and senior left fielder Mark Vail (.291), who led the team with 37 RBIs, will hit fourth or fifth.

Sophomore center fielder Garrick Moss (.284) and junior designated hitter Justin Miller (.310) fill out the starting lineup.

Because the Mustangs are an NAIA independent team, they will compete with five other independents for two at-large spots in the NAIA Far West Regional playoffs. The berths will be determined by a vote of NAIA coaches.

Mutz hopes the coaches will take into account strength of schedule. Among the toughest opponents will be UC Riverside, the nation’s eighth-ranked Division II team, and Cal Lutheran and UC San Diego, both ranked in the Division III top 10.