SMALL COLLEGE BASEBALL PREVIEWS : Master’s Seven Will Have to Be Magnificent

Pitchers at The Master’s College need not worry about getting buried in the bullpen. It’s tough to get lost when the worst a guy can be is No. 7 on the staff.

Of course, winning is also tough with only seven pitchers. Especially when all of them are right-handers.

“A couple of guys left [the school] and it was too late to sign anybody else,” Coach Jack Mutz said.

Handling the staff is second-year pitching coach Pete Redfern, a former major league pitcher and longtime Chatsworth American Legion coach.

“We love having him there,” Mutz said of Redfern. “We didn’t have one pitcher miss a turn last season. There was not a single arm problem.”

A repeat of such good fortune might be necessary. But Mutz believes that what Master’s, 19-18 last season, lacks in numbers it makes up for in quality.

Lance Wallace, a junior transfer from Marin College, sophomore Steve Rogers and freshman Britt Cornell form the rotation with junior Mark Balch and freshman Brett Darnell to get occasional starts.

Brothers Doug and John Maggiora are the short relievers. Doug, a senior, was 2-0 with a save last season and John, a sophomore, was 3-1 with three saves.

The Maggioras, Rogers, second baseman Jayme Riggio, third baseman Danny Cato and designated hitter Justin Miller all are from nearby Saugus High.

Riggio, a senior who batted .267 last season, combines with senior shortstop Matt Huter and sophomore catcher Jeff Bennett to give the Mustangs experience up the middle.

The entire defense is strong, a carryover from last season when Master’s led the NAIA with a .971 fielding percentage.

Huter and Bennett are also the top returning hitters. Huter led the team with a .391 batting average, .529 slugging percentage and .535 on-base percentage. Bennett, who played at Newbury Park High, batted .357 and led the team with 37 runs batted in.

Cato is a versatile player who has moved to third from the outfield because of the departure of Derek Bell, who left the school after batting .341 last season as a freshman.

Expected to provide some power is first baseman Eric Kowes, a 6-foot-2, 205-pound freshman from Woodland, Calif., and Miller, a junior who missed last season with a knee injury after batting .310 in 1994.

Jim Young, a junior in his second season at Master’s, is a strong defensive catcher who will allow Bennett to serve as designated hitter on occasion.

The outfielders are less proven. Garrick Moss, a junior from Camarillo High, is a strong defensive center fielder who has had trouble at the plate. Sophomore Dan Prentice, the team’s leadoff hitter, will play right field and sophomore Jeremy Schiedle and freshman Bryan Miller are battling in left.