Waves Try to Regain Magic of Their Swell 1999 Season
Not only is it a tough act to follow. The same ensemble must make the effort.
Pepperdine won its first nine games, 30 of its first 33, and after a short slump gathered steam again, advancing to an NCAA regional final by winning three games in 48 hours last season.
The Waves posted 10 victories over top-10 teams, were second in the nation with a .972 fielding percentage, batted .324 as a team, the second-highest mark in school history, and finished 46-16.
All this came while Coach Frank Sanchez was making a remarkable recovery from brain surgery.
Go ahead. Try to top that a year later.
“That was quite an accomplishment the players made last season and our goal really isn’t to make a comparison,” Sanchez said.
Still, those accomplishments are fresh in the minds of many of the Waves. All-American catcher Dane Sardinha, all the infielders except third baseman G.J. Raymundo and the entire outfield return.
Replacing Raymundo is Sardinha’s brother, Duke, a redshirt freshman who, like Dane, is from Kamehameha High in Honolulu.
All the returners batted .299 or better.
Dane Sardinha started every game and batted .365 with 15 home runs and 63 runs batted in. He is a junior projected to be an early first-round draft pick in June.
Shortstop Tony Garcia, a sophomore, hit 10 home runs and 15 doubles while batting .308. He made 23 errors, but an equal number of outstanding plays.
“Tony was a big part of our success,” Sanchez said. “He may be better this year.”
Center fielder Austin Evans, a 5-8, 150-pound junior, is the leadoff hitter. He became a starter about 15 games into last season and stole 20 bases in 20 tries while batting .362.
Second baseman Damon Katz, a senior, has improved dramatically every year. As a freshman third baseman he batted .179. He switched to second as a sophomore and batted .289 and last season, he hit .343 while starting every game.
Woody Cliffords, a sophomore left fielder from El Camino Real High, is recovering from a sprained ankle that might cause him to miss the opening series this weekend against USC. He batted .330 with 41 RBIs and 10 stolen bases.
First baseman Jared Pitney started every game, batting .314 and making only five errors. Chris Spieth, who batted .314, and Danny Garcia, who hit .299, platoon in right field.
Mike Falco, a freshman outfielder from Agoura High with excellent power, will get at-bats as a designated hitter. So will Daniel Haren, whose primary role is to be Pepperdine’s top pitcher.
Haren, a 6-4 sophomore right-hander, was 10-3 with a 3.08 earned-run average last season. He is able to get deep into games because he has excellent command of his pitches. Haren walked only 27 in 108 innings.
Jay Adams, 11-3 with a 2.56 ERA, has even better control, walking 19 and striking 91 in 119 2/3 innings. However, he had arthroscopic surgery on his shoulder in October.
“He’s on the mend,” Sanchez said. “People think those surgeries are minor. But when it’s you, it’s never minor. Jay has had no setbacks, but he is significantly below 100%.”
Question marks on the pitching staff are the reason the Waves are ranked No. 26 by Collegiate Baseball and are absent from Baseball America’s rankings.
Gone are Jay Gehrke, an All-American who had 18 saves and an 0.86 ERA, and Brad Tucker, who was 9-3 in 112 innings.
Noah Lowry, a sophomore left-hander from Nordhoff High who had 100 strikeouts for Ventura College last season, is certain to be handed the ball. So is Steve Schenewerk, an inconsistent senior who defeated USC, Cal State Fullerton and Long Beach State last year but finished 6-3 with a 5.78 ERA.
Several new pitchers must step up for Pepperdine to equal last season’s 46 victories.
“Across the country there are a lot of good teams, and a lot of them had 40 to 45 wins last year,” Sanchez said.
“If we deserve to be there, we’ll be there at the end.”
