Stockstill Trying to Get on Wright Path to the Majors

Lake Elsinore Storm pitcher Jason Stockstill had to shake himself a couple times last fall to believe what he was seeing. His Katella High teammate, Jaret Wright, was pitching in the seventh game of the World Series.

“It was indescribable,” Stockstill said. “I mean, I had just played with him a couple years ago.”

Wright’s quick rise through the Cleveland Indians’ organization, Stockstill said, has him thinking more optimistically about his future with the Angels.

“Jaret surprised me he got there that fast,” Stockstill said. “I didn’t see it coming. I know that I could do that too. It might take me a little more time. I didn’t have all the advantages he did. He was a high first-round draft choice and his father [Clyde Wright] played in the big leagues.”

Stockstill, a Times all-county first-team selection as a senior, had some impressive credentials coming out of Katella. But they were nothing like Wright’s. Stockstill, 9-2 with a 2.17 earned-run average his senior season, had a fastball clocked in the mid-80s, a nasty changeupand he’s left-handed.

The Angels liked that package and selected Stockstill in the ninth round of the 1995 amateur draft. After three mediocre minor league seasons, Stockstill is beginning to show promise. In 15 starts with the Storm, he is 7-4 with a 4.76 ERA. In 81 1/3 innings, he has struck out 65 and walked 30.

Stockstill’s strikeout-to-walk ratio is significantly better than it was last year, when he struck out 116 and walked 86 in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. But Stockstill said he’s proudest of his ability to keep the ball in play. Last year, he led the Midwest League with 28 home runs allowed and was 7-14 with 5.38 ERA. This season, Stockstill has surrendered nine homers.

“Last year, I always had that one big inning that really killed me,” he said. “This year, I’ve been able to stay out of that for the most part.”

Stockstill said he has finally realized he’s not Jaret Wright. He doesn’t have a 95 mph out pitch.

“I was a power pitcher in high school, but now guys are a little better,” Stockstill said. “I’m facing the best player on every high school team I played. I had to learn how to use all my pitches. I’m finally learning how to fool the hitters, keep them off balance. Before, I wanted to throw all fastballs.”

His best pitch is still his changeup, but Stockstill said he is getting more hitters out now because of a two-seam fastball he added over the winter. Tim McMenamin, Katella’s baseball coach, noticed that a two-seam fastball is not all Stockstill has added.

“He’s getting bigger and stronger and he’s getting the ball up there a lot faster now,” McMenamin said.

“Jason wasn’t nearly as talented as Jaret in high school. He didn’t rely on a 94 mph fastball. But he had that same mental toughness. I think Jason learned a lot from Jaret about being a competitor.”

That competitive spirit came out when Stockstill was asked about his chances of making it to Anaheim in the near future.

“I know they’ve had a lot of injuries to their pitchers,” Stockstill said. “If I can just keep it up through the second half of the season, I think I can move up pretty fast.”

*

University High’s Steve Hagins wasn’t nearly as highly touted as Stockstill--partly because of a heart condition that scared scouts away--but he is making an impact with the Storm. Hagins, a 31st-round draft choice from San Diego State in 1997, is hitting .324 with eight home runs, 14 doubles, 34 runs batted in and a slugging percentage of .618. He joined Lake Elsinore a month into the season because he was still in Arizona on extended spring training.

Hagins made a smashing debut with the Storm by hitting three home runs against Bakersfield in his first game. He finished the week with five home runs and was named player of the week in the California League. Hagins, who is alternating between catcher and designated hitter, won that honor again two weeks ago.

Last year in Boise of the Short Class A League, Hagins hit .351 with 17 homers and 56 RBIs.

*

It wouldn’t be a surprise if Bret Barberie had to look at the front of his jersey to tell you what team he plays for.

This spring, Barberie signed a minor league contract with the Texas Rangers and is playing second base for the triple-A Oklahoma RedHawks.

Last season, Barberie, 30, was with the Mission Viejo Vigilantes of the independent Western Baseball League and hit .347 with 40 RBIs.

In 1996, he split time between the Chicago Cubs and their triple-A affiliate in Iowa. He was with the Baltimore Orioles in 1995, and in 1993 and ’94 with the Florida Marlins, who drafted him out of the Montreal organization. He got the Marlins’ first hit, April 5, 1993, off the Dodgers’ Orel Hershiser.

Before that, he played at USC, Cerritos College and Gahr High, and won a gold medal as a member of the U.S. Olympic team in 1988.

“I’m thinking about today’s game, not tomorrow or next week,” said Barberie by phone. “Wherever it takes me, I’m going to play as hard and as smart as I can. Hopefully, things will work out. If I [get called up], that’s fine. If this is [my last season], that’s fine. It’s been fun.”

Injuries derailed his career when he was in the Cubs’ organization.

“It started out with shin splints in spring training [in Iowa],” he said. “So I started running differently, then I hurt my back. And I was too dumb to sit out because I felt I had to be out there every day. I approached it like my Dad would have: If you can walk, you can play. And he never missed a day of work. Then I got a groin pull.”

The Cubs released him after the 1996 season, and he returned to Southern California.

“That was a tough year for me personally,” he said. “A turning point. I had to decide whether I was going to hang it up or keep going.”

Buck Rodgers, who had managed Barberie in Montreal, gave him a second chance with the Vigilantes.

“I knew someone in the [Vigilante] organization, and without me saying anything, they kind of knew I was available. So they contacted me,” Barberie said.

Barberie, who has played shortstop, second and third base, is batting .265 with three home runs and 31 RBIs for the RedHawks.

*

Times staff writer Linda Whitmore contributed to this report.