Lopez Rides Easier Wave

It was like trying to play with a wet blanket draped over the shoulders. Mark Lopez felt a heavy burden he was unable to shake.

Finally, with the help of his family, a new coach and supportive teammates, the burden has been lifted, and Lopez is shouldering his share of Pepperdine’s march toward an NCAA baseball regional.

Lopez, a senior outfielder, endured all kinds of misery since leaving Chatsworth High in 1993. There were slumps, there were injuries, there was anguish and doubt.

“I felt like I was letting everyone down who had believed in me,” Lopez said.

He started the season having played in more games for Pepperdine than any other player on the roster, and possibly having experienced the most failure. In 93 games, Lopez had a .228 batting average with no home runs and 27 runs batted in.

Still, major league scouts watched him with interest. His above-average speed, stellar defensive ability and sweet left-handed swing made him a prospect. All he had to do was produce.

“This year, he’s not playing for the scouts or for his stats,” Coach Frank Sanchez said. “So, guess what happens?”

This: A team-leading .340 batting average, 11 doubles, five home runs, 33 RBIs and five stolen bases.

Lopez, 6 feet 1 and 180 pounds, recently was elevated to the No. 3 slot in the lineup. But just knowing he will be in the lineup every day is a welcome feeling.

“The last couple of years I was platooned, and sometimes I was hurt, so I never came to the ballpark knowing I’d be in there,” Lopez said. “Coach Sanchez told me in the fall the best nine will be on the field every day, so I was determined to become one of those nine.”

Sanchez, in his first season with the Waves after serving as an assistant at USC for 10 years, believes a set lineup is a productive one. So far, he has been right.

The Waves (28-17, 14-2 in West Coast Conference play) are batting .288 and six regulars are batting over .300. Last season, the Waves batted .269 with only 22 home runs.

For Lopez, 1996 was a lost season. He batted .196 in 22 games and missed 30 games with a pulled quadriceps.

“The whole season drained me mentally,” he said.

Although he had played the previous two summers in the Shenandoah Valley League in Virginia, Lopez took last summer off, working at camps and lifting weights. It was as if he took one long, deep breath before beginning his senior year.

“He knew this was his last chance, and that does something to you,” Sanchez said. “Mark’s work ethic has been exemplary. He’s making the best of his last opportunity.”

Lopez probably will be a middle- to late-round draft pick in June.

“I’ve always liked Lopez and I turned in reports on him even when he wasn’t producing,” one area scout said. “You always felt like it was just a matter of time with him.”

Chosen to the All-City Section first team as a junior and senior, Lopez batted .398 as a senior and helped the Chancellors advance to the City final against El Camino Real at Dodger Stadium.

Lopez led off the game with a single, triggering a five-run rally. Chatsworth eventually lost, 7-6, and the winning pitcher was Randy Wolf, now an All-American pitcher at Pepperdine. Lopez, a center fielder and relief pitcher, took the loss.

“Wolfy still teases me about that,” Lopez said. “The thing I remember most is that he struck me out swinging and I struck him out looking.”

Long Beach State and Pepperdine pursued Lopez, and he chose the Waves primarily because he wanted to play for Coach Andy Lopez (no relation), who led Pepperdine to the national championship in 1992.

However, the coach left to take a job at Miami after Lopez’s freshman year.

“I was pretty disappointed when Coach Lopez left,” Lopez said. “When you have a respect for somebody and outside things you have no control over take place, it’s tough. But I still remember all the things he taught me.”

Two seasons of struggle followed. With strong support from his family, Lopez stayed on track academically and is scheduled to graduate in December with a degree in accounting.

Lopez became self-sufficient at an early age. His parents moved to Virginia to open a restaurant when he was a sophomore at Chatsworth and he stayed behind and lived with his sister, Royce, and brother, Roy, who were in their 20s.

His parents have since returned to the San Fernando Valley and follow Lopez’s career closely. They’ve had plenty to cheer about.

“Everything that’s happening now is because of the support of my family and people believing in me,” Lopez said.

“When you dedicate so many hours of the day, so many years to something, you do it for yourself, but also for the people who support you.”