Perfect Swing Gave Glimpse of Arroyo’s Potential

Tim Arroyo smiles at the dubious reactions of his Cal State Northridge baseball teammates, who roundly dismiss his tale of experiencing the perfect swing.

“I don’t believe it.”

“It never happened.”

“You don’t have to lie to hang out with us.”

But it did happen two years ago, on a warm April afternoon at Kennedy High.

Arroyo had a pulled hamstring and couldn’t run very well when he stepped into the batter’s box in a game against Grant.

“I’m never going to forget it,” Arroyo said. “I was seeing the ball real good. I swung as hard as I could.”

The ball zoomed off his 28-ounce aluminum bat on a line to right field. It kept going and going, finally landing in the middle of Woodley Avenue.

“I just thought it was a one-hopper to the fence like they all are,” Kennedy Coach Manny Alvarado said. “We saw it bounce in the street. It was unbelievable.”

Added assistant Andy Montes: “It was amazing. All of a sudden, there was silence, then, ‘Hey, did that go over?’ ”

Montes bought a tape measure and documented the precise length of Arroyo’s home run--500 feet, 3 inches.

Take that, Mark McGwire. Eat your Wheaties, Sammy Sosa.

“That says this guy has some major-league power,” Alvarado said.

Arroyo, 6 feet 2 and 205 pounds, is a first baseman who hasn’t hit many home runs in his career. But when he does, they are usually dramatic and memorable.

He homered in the 1998 Bernie Milligan All-Star Game to help his West team win. And his first hit as a Northridge freshman last season was a grand slam against San Francisco.

“Hopefully, I can hit lots of home runs and not just one big, long one,” he said.

All signs indicate Arroyo is ready to become an elite hitter in his sophomore season at Northridge.

When the Matadors make their season debut Friday at home against Nevada, Arroyo will bat fourth in the lineup, an honor Coach Mike Batesole rarely bestows on a 19-year-old.

“He’s a gamer,” Batesole said. “He’s what makes teams win. I think he has a chance to be an excellent college player. That means he has to get better every year, and everybody is about to find out.”

As a freshman, Arroyo started 33 games, batting .328 with three home runs and 30 runs batted in. He played summer ball in Santa Maria, lifted weights in the fall and worked on plate discipline.

Quiet, even shy on the exterior, Arroyo burns inside with a competitiveness that inspires him to perform at peak intensity.

“I just want to win,” he said. “I don’t want anybody to beat me. I don’t want anybody to know they’re better than me. I want to show I can play with anybody. I get fired up. I love to be out there.”

Said Alvarado: “If he doesn’t make it, it won’t be from lack of trying. Wherever his potential lies, he’ll be two or three steps above that.”

Arroyo’s 500-foot home run remains a defining moment. Just like a surfer riding the perfect wave, his home run revealed natural talent. If only he could recapture that moment.

“I’ll always know what that feels like,” he said. “It feels like nothing off the bat and you could see everything--you could see the pitch coming in, you could see the back of the ball and the bat going through it. That was the perfect swing.”

Now Arroyo has a new goal--hitting the ball off the kinesiology building in right field at Northridge. That’s more than 800 feet. Is that possible?

“Never say never,” Alvarado said.

Eric Sondheimer’s local column appears Wednesday and Sunday. He can be reached at (818) 772-3422 or eric.sondheimer@latimes.com