Currier Delivers in Shadow of Prior

This has been a strange season for USC pitcher Rik Currier.

Currier is rolling along with a 10-1 record for a team that is ranked fifth in the nation, but his effort has been largely overshadowed by that of teammate Mark Prior, who is 13-1 with a 1.34 earned-run average.

“Yeah, it’s weird having the year I’m having and not being much recognized for it,” said Currier, a graduate of Capistrano Valley High. “But Mark is having a great year, and I’m happy for him. I’m just trying to keep focused on what I need to do.”

Currier said he thinks he’s pitching as well as he did last season, when he shared honors as the Pacific-10 Conference’s top pitcher with Stanford’s Justin Wayne.

Currier finished last season with a 15-3 record and 3.31 ERA. He won 10 of his last 11 starts and had victories in the super-regional against Georgia Tech and in the Trojans’ College World Series opener against Florida State.

“I think my game has improved over last season,” he said. “I have more confidence in all my pitches.” I feel comfortable throwing my changeup on any pitch count. I think my fastball is my best pitch, but the coaches seem to like my slider better.”

Currier had one of his best outings of the season Sunday, giving up only five hits and striking out 12 in a 7-0 shutout of Washington State.

Currier passed former USC pitcher Seth Etherton as the Pac-10’s career leader in strikeouts with 424.

Currier wasn’t selected in baseball’s draft last year, but he let scouts know he planned to return to school if he wasn’t taken in the first five rounds. “I wanted to take care of getting my degree first anyway,” he said.

Although Prior will likely be picked ahead of him in this year’s draft, Currier expects to get his chance to play professionally. Baseball America rates him the 100th best college prospect this season.

U.S. TEAM HOPEFULS

Orange County will be well-represented among the 51 players selected to participate in tryouts for the 2001 U.S. national softball team, May 30-June 3 in Chula Vista.

Arizona players invited are Toni Mascarenas (Pacifica High), Lauren Bauer (Foothill) and Lindsey Collins and Lovieanne Jung (Fountain Valley). Jung is sitting out this season after transferring from Fresno State.

UCLA’s Amanda Freed and Toria Auelua (Pacifica) were also chosen, along with teammate Natasha Watley (Woodbridge) and former UCLA player Julie Adams (Cypress).

Two Washington players, Kelly Hauxhurst (Westminster) and Jaime Clark (Foothill), will also be at the tryouts.

Others selected include Arizona State’s Nicole Thompson (Woodbridge), Notre Dame’s Lizzy Lemire (Woodbridge), Fresno State’s Nina Lindenberg (Canyon) and Cal State Fullerton’s Jenny Topping (Sonora). A former Fullerton player, Stephenie Little, was also selected.

Two 16-player teams will be chosen to represent the United States in international competitions such as the U.S. Cup in Honolulu, the Canada Cup in Vancouver and the Pan Am Qualifier in Maracay, Venezuela, during the 2001 season.

Fullerton’s Michelle Gromacki is among 12 coaches selected to participate in the program.

NOTEWORTHY

Washington’s Clark was selected Pac-10 and national softball player of the week last week. In four games, she batted .615 with two homers, four runs and seven runs batted in. She is batting .364.

After his surprising victory nine days ago in Ojai at the Pac-10 men’s championships, USC junior Ryan Moore has jumped 40 spots to 37th in the latest Intercollegiate Tennis Assn. rankings. Moore, a former star at Servite High, was not ranked in the top 100 three weeks ago. Moore’s ranking qualifies him for the NCAA singles championships later this month in Athens, Ga. Moore and partner Nick Rainey are 11th in the ITA doubles rankings and have qualified for the NCAA doubles championships.

Cal State Dominguez Hills’ Mara Caples, formerly of El Dorado High and Orange Coast College, has qualified in three events for the NCAA Division II track and field championships, May 24-26 in Edwardsville, Ill. She will run in the 3,000, 5,000 and 10,000 meters.

Cal Poly Pomona junior Lutz Braun (Brea Olinda) turned in the seventh-best time (9 minutes 13.53 seconds) in Division II in the 3,000-meter steeplechase at the UC San Diego Invitational.

Hillary Hamilton (Edison) started at third base for the softball team at Barry University in North Miami, Fla. She batted .248 with two homers and 19 RBIs.