January 19, 1999
SAN DIEGO - The 1999 baseball season will be one of changefor San Diego State. Two-thirds of last year's starting field players havedeparted along with a couple of key reserves. Included in that group isthe entire starting infield plus an All-WAC outfielder.
In addition, the team's top starting pitcher and relief ace havealso been lost to graduation. Indeed, the upcoming campaign will atransition year for the Aztec program.
The 1998 season was a mixed bag for SDSU. Offensively, the team seta record by hitting .336. It was the highest Aztec average since theprogram attained varsity status back in 1936.
On the other hand, San Diego State pitching staff had one of itstoughest seasons in recent years as the squad's earned run average reachedits highest level ever. That problem was due primarily to the inexperiencein the pitching department, something that should be eased this seasonwith five hurlers who started at least five games in 1998 returning.
"The pitching is going to be more of a veteran staff this year,"said coach Jim Dietz. "With the cutbacks in fall baseball in recent years,it's taken us longer to develop college pitching at this level. Lastseason we had nine pitchers in their first season of Division I baseball,and the lack of experience showed."
Among the vets missing from the Aztec mound staff will be All-WAChonoree Chad Wanders plus reliever Ruben Aguilera who recorded eight savesas a senior last year.
Catching will be one of the Aztecs' strongest areas this season withreturning sophomore Brandon Rogers leading the way. Joining himwill be a freshman redshirt and a JC standout who should provide theAztecs with their best depth at the positions in several years.
The main area of concern for the SDSU coaching staff is in theinfield where significant losses came due to graduation. Among the topnames absent are All-WAC third baseman Alex Pelaez (.399, 16 HR, 69 RBI)and second baseman Kalin Foulds (.374, 58 SB) who led the nation in stolenbases in 1998.
"We have to rebuild the infield," noted Dietz. "We basically lostall four starters there although we do have a part-time starter back insenior Javier Ramos who can play at either first, second orshortstop.
"The outfield is a veteran group and we've added a couple of playersthere who could really shine this coming season. Even though we lost ourstarter in center field (All-WAC Damien Kolb: .383, 32 RBI) and a coupleof solid back-ups (Jason Pacheco, .323 and Tavares Comeaux, .318), we haveenough talent to make us solid in that area."
Pitching
This is one area that is expected to show improvement this season atSan Diego State. The staff was never able to get on track after a slowstart in 1998, but the experience gained from last season will make thisyear's Aztec mound corps a much better unit.
Three of last season's primary starters return and are expected tofulfill that same role in 1999. That trio includes seniorA.J. Samadani (4-2, 85 strikeouts in 78.1 innings) plus juniorsJeremy Cook (5-7, 6.60) and Aaron Harang (2-2, 2 sv, 6.91).
Expected to join the starting rotation is junior David Caron,a Canadian who pitched at North Idaho last season. A potential fifthstarter could be either one of two sophomores in Erick Eigenhuis orMike Garber. Eigenhuis tied for the second-most wins (five) on thestaff last season while Garber saw limited action as a freshman.
"Eigenhuis has looked very good in pre-season ball," said Dietz. "Hehad surgery to correct a minor problem and he's looked better than I'veseen him before."
The Aztecs will welcome back senior Jeff Dufek, who missedlast season due to injury. As a junior in 1997, Dufek posted a 4-2 recordwith nine saves. He is expected to be SDSU's closer this spring and couldeven share those duties with David Caron.
Among others expected to contribute is veteran senior JoeGaribaldi who started five games last season and will likely be amiddle reliever this spring. New faces include setup reliever BenNelson and freshman David Ingram, an all-state hurler fromWashington.
Catching
This is one area which appears to be solid in terms of talenteddepth. Three players will see most of the playing time behind the plate:sophomore Brandon Rogers, redshirt freshman Brian Manfredand junior college transfer Tyler Echelbarger.
Rogers was SDSU's primary catcher a year ago, starting 52 of theAztecs 57 games and hitting a respectable .311 with 38 RBIs.
"Last year, if Rogers went down it was tough to run practice becausewe only had two catchers," commented Dietz. "This season we have four thatcan do the job, so from that standpoint we're much better off than lastyear."
Manfred was set to share catching duties with Rogers in 1998, but aninjury in the pre-season caused forced him to redshirt in his first yearas an Aztec. The coaches feel he has the potential to be a standout at thecollegiate level.
The third candidate to fill in here is sophomore Tyler Echelbarger,a transfer from Cerro Coso JC where he led the state in hitting in 1998with a .533 batting average. When not behind the plate, Echelbarger couldsee action as the Aztecs' designated hitter.
"It really is Rogers, Manfred and Echelbarger as the leadingcandidates here," noted Dietz, "With any one of these three in the game,we won't miss a beat at the catching position."
A fourth catcher, Neville Hill, is also available. He was hishigh school team's offensive player-of-the-year as a senior.
Infield
Chances are that a new face will occupy each infield position forthe Aztecs on opening day.
Three athletes are vying for the starting role at first base. Thelone veteran there is sophomore Adam Kim who saw most of his actionlast season as a designated hitter. The other two candidates here are apair of freshmen: Ben Leuthard and Chad Chop. Leuthardearned all-state honors and was his league's player-of-the-year lastseason while Chop is an excellent hitter who was also a standout pitcheras a prep player.
"Leuthard's really been improving at first base and Kim looks goodat the position as well," said Dietz. "We'll likely move Chop to theoutfield in the future to get his hitting in the lineup because he has areally outstanding bat. It looks like a battle between Kim and Leuthardfor the starting job at first."
The second base spot will likely go to junior Matt Ricardywho joined the team in early January from Porterville Junior College wherehe hit .437 and was second in the state in doubles last year.
Veteran Javier Ramos will see action here as well and mayalso see playing time at first base as he did last season. Walk-onfreshman Carlo Cota will also get a look.
"Ricardy has looked good in the short time he's been here," notedDietz. "He's got a good lefthanded bat and is a real hard-nosed kid. Cotahas been impressive and of course Ramos is back as one of our few seniors.We're going to lose some of the speed we had last year in Kalin Foulds,but we'll get better hitting."
Shortstop appears to be a battle between incoming freshman ChrisDunwell and soph Edgar Gonzalez. Dunwell is a local product whowas the San Diego CIF Player-of-the-Year as a senior at Granite HillsHigh. Gonzalez saw limited playing time in his freshman season, but hasshown improvement.
"Shortstop has turned into an interesting battle between basicallytwo first-year players in freshman Chris Dunwell and soph Edgar Gonzalezwho didn't play much a year ago," commented Dietz. "Right now Dunwell hasthe edge because he's more consistent in his defense. Both have greatthrowing arms so it could go back and forth as the season goes on."
With the loss of All-WAC honoree Alex Pelaez to graduation, thestarter at third base will have some big shoes to fill.
Junior college transfer John Pashales appears to have theinside track on the starting spot here. Last year at Cerro Coso JC,Pashales hit .417 with 26 doubles while earning all-league andall-conference honors.
Other candidates at this position include Matt Thorne andBeau Barcus. Thorne joined the team in January after competing as adefensive back for the Aztec football team last fall. Barcus is areturning sophomore who is attempting to overcome tendinitis in hisshoulder and may redshirt this season.
"We thought Pashales would be the starter at third base this year,"said Dietz, "but Matt Thorne, a freshman walk-on from the football squad,is really a baseball player. He's impressed us in the short time he's beenwith us. Depending on how quickly he improves, he may have an impact downthe line."
Outfield
Two of SDSU's three starting outfielders from a year ago return inan area that appears to have good depth all around.
WAC Freshman of the Year Robert Womack will likely move fromthe right field position he occupied last season over to left field. Inreturn, last year's starter in left, Paul Lockhart, will make themove to right field. Womack hit .390 in his first collegiate season whileLockhart batted a solid .345 as a sophomore.
"We're pretty well set in left and right fields with Lockhart andWomack," said Dietz. "The center field position isn't quite settled yetand there's an interesting battle going on there for the starting spot."
That battle is between returning senior Ryan Hurd and sophomorenewcomer Billy Montgomery. Hurd saw action in the outfield and atthe DH position a year ago, hitting .270 and committing just one error in34 games. Montgomery, out of Cerro Coso JC, hit .360 with 43 runs scoredas a freshman in 1998.
"Ryan Hurd looks much better in center than in either left orright," noted the coach. "He gets such a good jump on the ball. But BillyMontgomery might be as good a defensive outfielder as we've had here in along time. He's really a player who can go and get a ball, and throwpeople out. He covers a lot of ground."
Others who will also see playing time in the outfield include SeanPierce, Dion Battee and Greg Brunswick.
Pierce is another walk-on from the Aztec football squad (widereceiver) who could see playing time in the outfield. Battee is a juniorwho has been a backup the past two seasons while Brunswick is a juniorcollege transfer who possesses some power with the bat. In addition,freshman Chad Chop may make the move from first base to the outfieldbefore the season is over.
SUMMARY
The Aztecs appear to have solid depth at every position althoughover half of the squad has not been tested at the Division I level. Provenathletes will be on the field at the outfield and catching positions, butthe infield will be the big question mark on a squad that lost starters ateach position there.
The pitching will be improved in 1999, but how much so won't bedetermined until the season gets underway. Four of the team's top fivepitchers (who accounted for over 50 percent of the team's innings) areback to add experience to a group that includes some talented newcomers.
SDSU will have to be ready early for a schedule that is arguably theschool's most challenging slate ever. The Aztecs will face four of the topfive teams in the nation in Collegiate Baseball's pre-season poll and atotal of nine schools that appear in that publication's Top 25. Thoseopponents (with pre-season ranking) include Wichita State (1), USC (3),Rice (4), Long Beach State (5), Cal State Fullerton (11), Texas Tech (13),UCLA (16), Oklahoma State (19) and Tulane (25). Also on SDSU's scheduleare Arizona (26) and Houston (33).
"With this schedule, we're going to have to be prepared to go fromthe opening day," said Dietz. "We have the potential to be a pretty goodclub, but everybody is going to have to perform and do well in theirassigned roles."
We'll be tested every time we step on the field and I would like tothink we'll improve every time out. Hopefully some of these tough earlygames will help get us ready for the conference season."