Plouffe a Magician With Bat and Arm

When Trevor Plouffe steps into the batter’s box, the anticipation and excitement begins to build. He’s like a wizard preparing to wave a magic bat. Everyone thinks something special is about to happen.

It’s the same feeling when Plouffe is pitching. He’s neither unhittable nor unbeatable, but at his best, he exudes the aura of a teenager who belongs at a different level.

“We want him now,” said one college baseball coach.

College recruiters might never get the chance to work with Plouffe, a 16-year-old junior at Encino Crespi High, if he stays on his path of seemingly elevating his skills on a weekly basis.

Coach Scott Muckey keeps trying to figure out what to make of the 6-foot-1, 170-pound right-hander with a 3.8 grade-point average.

“As a player, it’s, ‘Holy Cow,’ ” he said. “We don’t know if he’s getting better or he’s just showing us stuff we haven’t seen before. He’s opening his bag of tricks.”

In a Mission League game against Mission Hills Alemany, Plouffe hit three home runs -- one to left, one to center and one to right. Then, in his last at-bat, he got a bunt single.

“The kid has developed into one of the premier players in Southern California,” said Alemany assistant coach Tim Browne. “If I’m Muckey, I mess with his transcripts so he doesn’t graduate. He’s special.”

On Tuesday in a Southern Section Division III wild-card game at Anaheim, Muckey’s plan was to give Plouffe a rest from pitching.

“We’ve got a big lead and it was, ‘Good, we don’t have to use him,’ ” Muckey said.

But Anaheim kept creeping closer, and Muckey waved for Plouffe to leave his shortstop position with one out in the sixth inning. He retired all five batters to save Crespi’s 11-7 victory, his second save in as many games. As a hitter, he had three singles and two runs batted in.

On the season, Plouffe is establishing standards that will be hard to match. He’s batting .500 with 48 hits, 46 RBIs, 13 doubles and 16 stolen bases. As a pitcher, he’s 10-1 with an 0.85 earned-run average and 84 strikeouts in 74 2/3 innings.

“I just went out and tried hard every game,” Plouffe said.

It’s not unexpected that Plouffe would have an MVP-type season. But his continued improvement is leaving people in a quandary as to what he does best.

Muckey doesn’t care.

“It’s not a problem with me if he’s a hitter or pitcher,” he said.

Plouffe’s teammates act as if they’ve been injected with adrenaline when he’s on the mound. They become energized and have a swagger that comes with knowing their pitcher is one of the best.

“When people go up against him, they seem scared and it gives us more confidence to play better,” outfielder Ollie Linton said.

The unluckiest team of the Division III playoffs might be Cypress. The Centurions’ reward for winning the Empire League is drawing Crespi (22-6) in Friday’s first-round game.

Crespi was third in the Mission League but 14-1 in nonleague games and plans to use Plouffe as its pitcher as long as he recovers well from Tuesday’s outing.

“I think he’ll be fine,” Muckey said. “We’ve been pretty careful with him. He’s bounced back before with great stuff. We won’t know until Friday.”

Plouffe’s hitting has him within five RBIs of tying the school record of 51 set by Jeff Suppan in 1993.

“They’re not pitching around me, so once you get the pitches, you put the ball in play and things happen,” he said.

Stanford, USC and UCLA figure to make him their No. 1 recruiting target for 2004. He seems to be handling the growing attention paid to him with humility and respect.

He also gets plenty of support from his girlfriend, Amanda Cassel, who knows something about pressure from outside influences. Her brother, Matt, is a quarterback at USC, and another brother, Justin, is the standout pitcher at Chatsworth.

“She knows sports,” Plouffe said.

“She comes to my games, knows what’s going on, sits through it and doesn’t complain.”

Plouffe is going to need help from teammates if Crespi expects to win a Division III championship, but no one should doubt his ability to create magic with his arm and bat.

Eric Sondheimer can be reached at eric.sondheimer@latimes.com