Pacifica Graduate Barre Thriving at USC

Hard-hitting junior outfielder Brian Barre leads the USC baseball team against Cal State Fullerton in a nonconference game at 7 p.m. Tuesday at Goodwin Field.

Barre, a graduate of Pacifica High, was batting .326 for the Trojans (16-10) heading into this past weekend’s three-game Pacific 10 series at Arizona.

USC was No. 9 in Baseball America’s rankings last week, and Fullerton was No. 24.

Barre’s 22 runs batted in are already a career high and tie him for the team lead. He also has three home runs, including USC’s first grand slam since April 24, 1999. He hit it on Feb. 3 in the sixth inning of a 19-4 victory over Louisville.

On March 14 against San Diego, Barre stole home in the bottom of the ninth with the bases loaded, two outs and a 1-2 count on the batter, giving USC a 4-3 victory.

Last season, Barre had a career-best two-home run game on Feb. 15 at Cal State Fullerton. As a freshman reserve, he batted .240 with one home run.

At Pacifica, Barre earned 1998 All-Southern Section Division III first-team honors and was a two-time All-Garden Grove League first-team selection.

The Trojan roster also includes senior pitcher Rik Currier (Capistrano Valley), who earned All-America second-team honors and was the Pac-10 co-pitcher of the year last season, and was a preseason All-America first-team selection this season.

Currier is 4-1 with a 2.32 earned-run average this season. He had 141 strikeouts last year and is second on USC’s career list with 373. He has 44 this season and needs 47 to tie Cincinnati Red pitcher Seth Etherton (1995-98), a Dana Hills graduate, for first.

At Capistrano Valley, Currier was The Times’ Orange County player of the year as a junior in 1996, when he was 9-3 with a 1.56 ERA. As a first-team all-county selection his senior season, he finished 6-3 with a 2.33 ERA.

Sophomore Michael Morales, from Loara High, served as a team manager for the Trojans last year, but is playing this season.

On Feb. 18 at UCLA, Morales singled to right in the top of the 11th for the game-winning hit in a 5-4 victory.

He has appeared in nine games, going three for seven with two RBIs.

A KEANE PERFORMANCE

Dennis Keane, who recently finished his basketball career at Vanguard, has been named to the NAIA All-American third team.

Keane led the Lions in points, rebounds, steals and blocks last season. His 17.9 points per game made him the third-highest scorer in the Golden State Athletic Conference.

Keane, a graduate of Santa Margarita High, was also named to the all-conference team. In four seasons, he started 127 games for Vanguard and finished with 1,990 points and 674 rebounds.

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