Self-Imposed Solitude Works for Montrenes

Pete Montrenes spends time alone, kicking around his one-bedroom apartment in Oxford, Miss. He has found solitude there, a place to focus on baseball.

It’s a long way from his Fountain Valley home, both in miles and pace. The distractions and temptations that arrested his development as a pitcher in Southern California are gone. The results of his self-imposed exile are clear.

Montrenes, after two meandering seasons at USC, is the ace of the Mississippi staff. He was 10-4 with a 3.36 earned-run average this season before starting Friday in the Rebels’ 5-4, 10-inning loss to Oklahoma State in the New Orleans regional of the NCAA tournament. Montrenes gave up eight hits and four earned runs in 7 2/3 innings, walking four and striking out nine.

He led the SEC with 98 strikeouts. He tied for the conference lead in victories, needing one more to tie the Mississippi single-season record held by Rick Zibilich (1977) and Jamey Price (1995).

Clearly, the move to Oxford has been a wise one.

“I love L.A. and can’t wait to get back,” said Montrenes, a junior right-hander. “But I was too close to home at USC. There was too much social interaction. It was time for me to get away from home and grow up a little bit. I had to come to a slower place where the atmosphere was quiet to regain the focus I lost.”

Montrenes went to USC after going 12-3 with three no-hitters for Fountain Valley in 1998. But his potential never materialized with the Trojans.

He was 2-0 with a 5.77 ERA in 1999 and 3-1 with a 5.98 ERA last season. Montrenes knew the problem. Better still, he discovered the answer while pitching for the Chatham A’s in the Cape Cod League last summer.

“I got there and all I had to think about was baseball,” Montrenes said. “I was a little immature at USC. I put going out with my friends ahead of baseball. I needed to go to a place where baseball would be the No. 1 priority.”