Klitsner Has a New Mission : Baseball: Free Spirit joins four neighbors and Bakersfield in WSC’s South Division.

There’s a new kid on the Western State Conference block and he wants the other guys to come out and play baseball with him.

The newcomer is Mission College, which has moved from the Southern California Athletic Conference to the six-team WSC South Division, which includes five Valley-area schools.

“I’m looking forward to going into the WSC,” said John Klitsner, Mission coach. “It’s going to be a new challenge for us. Good facilities, good coaching, good athletes. It’ll be great.”

Klitsner, in his seventh season with the Free Spirit, has built a solid program at Mission. His team won the conference title last season and finished second to Cerro Coso the year before.

Last season, Mission was 26-17 after losing to Rancho Santiago in a best-of-three first-round series in the Southern California regional. In 1993, the Free Spirit was 25-15.

Those are excellent records but critics argue that the SCAC was weak and wonder how Mission will fare in its new conference.

True, the Free Spirit no longer will feast on perennial doormat Compton six times during the season, but Klitsner believes Mission could challenge for the division championship.

“Potentially, we’ll have the type of pitching that will keep us in every game,” Klitsner said. “That’s kind of exciting. As long as we can back (the pitchers) up offensively and defensively, I think we’ll be right in the hunt in this (division).”

They better pack plenty of ammunition.

This season, the WSC South looks like a free-for-all. Defending co-champions Pierce and Bakersfield have pitching, Canyons is deep in that department also and Valley is no pushover. Glendale is young and might be the only team with no real chance.

In the North, Moorpark and defending champion Cuesta are the early favorites for the title, with Oxnard, Santa Barbara and newcomer Hancock in the chase. Ventura will make some noise with the bat but might be too thin on pitching to seriously challenge.

Mission, however, has several strong arms.

The team’s ace again will be right-hander Ray Rivera, the SCAC’s most valuable player and an all-state selection last year when he was 12-3 with a 2.78 earned-run average. The former San Fernando High standout, who already signed a letter of intent with San Francisco, relies on control and keeping batters off balance.

“Now it’s the time to prove he’s for real,” Klitsner said.

Rivera will be joined in the starting rotation by sophomore right-hander Robert Ballester (6-2, 3.07 ERA) and right-hander Jose Villafana, who last pitched at Sylmar High in 1992, where he was 4-5 with a 2.90 ERA. Sophomore right-hander John Romero (5-5, 5.14 ERA) also will figure in the equation.

The Free Spirit will have solid defense in the middle of the infield with returners John Toven (.239, 19 stolen bases in ‘94) at shortstop and Rene Rodriguez (.265, 19 RBIs) at second base, but the offense might be suspect. Mission slugged 44 home runs and scored 347 runs last year but every power-hitting position player from that squad has graduated. Designated hitter Francisco (Chief) Flores (.297, five home runs, 37 RBIs), is academically ineligible.

Klitsner hopes third baseman Jerry Delgado (.326, 26 RBIs at Poly High last year), outfielder Art Diaz (.447, seven triples, three home runs, 32 RBIs at Sylmar) and left-handed-hitting first baseman Doug Jarvis, a transfer from UCLA, can provide some sock.

If the hitters develop, Mission could stir things considerably in the WSC South this season. And that kind of competition, says Canyons Coach Len Mohney, will be good for the division.

“I love it,” Mohney said. “It’ll make our division a dogfight.”

* TEAM PROFILES: C14