Title Contenders Pack a One-Two Punch

La Quinta, loaded with pitching talent, won 25 games last season and entered the Southern Section Division IV baseball playoffs as the top seed. Then the Aztecs were promptly dismissed in the first round.

The early exit was no big surprise, really. Every team that qualifies for the playoffs usually has at least one dominant starting pitcher, which makes advancing past the first round a dicey proposition, even for a team as good as La Quinta was last year.

But teams with two or more stellar starters--a rarity in high school baseball--are at a distinct advantage once they reach the second round and beyond, where they can feast on teams that lack quality pitching depth.

Consider Villa Park, which last season won the Division III championship. The Spartans rode starters Brandon Averill and Dan Reid all the way to Dodger Stadium for the title game.

Reid may have started behind Averill in the rotation, but he got the call in the championship game against West Torrance. And he responded by combining with reliever Erik Averill on a three-hitter in the Spartans’ 5-1 victory.

“The teams that have a good chance to go all the way are the ones that have two or three guys who can pitch equally well,” Villa Park Coach Tom Tereschuk said.

Tereschuk’s Spartans are among a handful of Orange County teams--Sonora, Edison and La Quinta also come to mind--stocked with exceptional starters heading into this season’s playoffs, which begin today with wild-card games.

Reid has returned to the Villa Park rotation, and Erik Averill has moved into the other starting position vacated by his brother Brandon, now a freshman at UCLA. Reid will get the start in the Spartans’ first-round Division II game Friday, but that doesn’t make him the staff ace.

“We have two guys, and we don’t consider them No. 1 and No. 2,” Tereschuk said. “They both start and do a great job. We have total confidence in both of them.”

Reid is 8-1 with a 1.44 earned-run average, and Averill, who has rebounded nicely from a slow start, is 6-4 with a 2.45 ERA. They have similar pitching styles--each throws a fastball, change and curve--though Tereschuk said Reid is more of a power pitcher.

When it comes to power, few can match Sonora’s Brett Smith, whose pitches have been clocked as fast as 93 mph. Smith, who has 91 strikeouts in 66 innings, has teamed with Jacob Mendrin to give the Raiders one of the most feared rotations in the county.

“You have to have pitching to go deep in the playoffs,” Sonora Coach Pat Tellers said. “We think we have it. Jacob hits spots and tries to keep people off balance; Brett tries to overpower everyone. That’s his strength.”

Smith and Mendrin handled the starting duties exclusively until a couple of weeks ago, when Mendrin was sidelined with fatigue and tightness in his pitching forearm. That’s when sophomore Eric Hale stepped in and pitched well. For the season, Hale, primarily used in relief, is 7-0 with an ERA (1.13) that’s lower than Smith’s (1.72) and Mendrin’s (1.66).

Tellers hopes to go back to the Smith-Mendrin rotation in the playoffs, and the Raiders will need their top two pitchers at their best if their hitting slump continues. Sonora averaged 4.5 hits per game over the last two weeks, going 2-2.

Mendrin said he and Smith can get the job done in the Division III playoffs with minimal offensive support. “As long as we can get one run,” he said, “the pitching will come through and we will win.”

La Quinta has added incentive to win after its loss to Western in the first round last season broke a string of seven consecutive appearances in at least the quarterfinal round. And there’s ample reason to think the Aztecs can get it done: Their starting pitchers have a strikeout-to-walk ratio of 4.6 to 1.

Before the season, Coach Dave Demarest figured starters Ian Kennedy and Mike McKernan would put the Aztecs in great position for redemption in the playoffs. Then No. 3 starter Bryan Kelley, a transfer from Pacifica, proceeded to set the Garden Grove League on fire with his 1.46 ERA. Kelley’s crowning achievement came when he pitched a perfect game against Pasadena Muir.

“We have three No. 1 starters,” Demarest said. “Each of them feels like they’re No. 1 when they’re on the mound--and they are.”

But because all three pitchers can’t start in a two-man playoff rotation, Demarest has elected to go with Kennedy and McKernan and will utilize Kelley in relief. McKernan, a left-hander, will get the call in the first round if La Quinta faces a lineup loaded with left-handers, and Kennedy, a right-hander, will start if the Aztecs play a team stocked with right-handers.

Kelley, meanwhile, will have to wait for his opportunity out of the bullpen. “He went from being a No. 1 pitcher at one school to coming over here,” Demarest said, “and he knew he was going to have to pitch behind some guys.”

Edison starter Jeff Gilmore may pitch behind David Huff in the rotation, but both are equally effective. Gilmore pitched a two-hitter against Esperanza last Tuesday as the Chargers solidified their second-place finish in the Sunset League with a 5-2 victory.

“For every aspect of pitching that I do as well as David, there is an equal number of things he does as well as me,” said Gilmore, whose deliveries are often accompanied by grunts. “We learn a lot from each other.”

If Edison can get past its Division II first-round game, there may be plenty of grunting left for Gilmore. And lots of groaning for Charger opponents.

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Aces Alive

Edison, La Quinta, Sonora and Villa Park possess some of the deepest starting rotations in Orange County. Here are the rotations each team has employed this season: