USD Baseball 2000

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2000 Torero Baseball 2000 Torero Baseball Preview

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amassed 36 1 came victori es (36 1-247-1 ); an average of 30 win s a season! ' Including hi s prev ious stints at Cal Lutheran and San ranc isco, Hill has talli ed nine winnings seasons. In hi s shd> rt tenure at USD, he has been an ag– gress ive and successful rec ruite r, bringing talented local hi gh school players to 0 USD . He signed ten local pl ayers to letters of intent, all of whom were on the San Diego Union- Tribune's All-Academi c Team. Newcomers expected to make an immedi ate impact on the Torero program include 5-9 INF Mike McCoy

Hamilton returns for hi s seni or year. He struck out 56 in 59 innings and had three saves. Despite a ll of hi s potenti al, hi s ' 99 record was only 3-6 with a 5 . 19 ERA. The converted infie lde r needs to step-up and give the Toreros more consis– tent efforts thi s year. Hayes hit .282 and knocked in 22, but he was drafted (Texas Rangers) on hi s pitching ability -- he was 1-0 with a very nice 1.29 ERA in only 14 innings. Hayes, who will be counted on to close games thi s year, will still see a lot of acti on at first base. Praised Hill, "Hamilton will start the season as our ace, and Marty is one of the best two-way pl ayers in the confe rence."

(Grossmont HS ; .360 b.a.; 28 stolen bases), 6-3 RHP Patrick Lucy (Fallbrook HS ; 9-2 with 98 K's), 6- 1 INF David Bagley (Ra nc ho Bernardo HS ; .511 b.a. and 15 HR), 6-3 RHP Aaron Wilson (Santana HS ; 6-1 record), 6-0 LHP Jared Bemus (Mo nt e Vi s ta HS ; 7-4 reco rd) a nd 6 -0 LHP Ricky Barrett (C.K. McClatchy HS ; two– time All-State selecti on). The Toreros open their sea– son with e ight road games in Ha– waii between Jan. 22nd and Jan . 29th ; five games with Hawaii-Hilo and three again st the Ra inbows.

Two additi onal seni ors re– turning that will also play key rol es in the Toreros pitching success in– clude Mike Amundson (Newbury Park , CA) and Kevin Gray (Yorba Linda, CA). Amundson fini shed 6- 5 overall and a team-bes t 4-3 in WCC games. Additi onall y, three of Amundson's team-leading four com– pl ete games came in Wes t Coast Confe rence play -- he a ll owed just one run over nine innings twi ce in Torero victories over Pepperdine (8- 1) and Santa Clara (9-1 ). Amundson tops all returning pitche rs in starts

USD AII-WCC Returners (1-r):

Joe Lima, Alan Leuthard, Kevin Reese, Greg Sain

USD' s home opener with Azusa on February I st will be the first of fi ve straight at Cunn ingham Baseball Stadium. In mid– February the Toreros will be tested when they parti c ipate in the San Diego Baseball Class ic -- USO will face the li kes of Okl ahoma State, Indi ana and Kansas State. The Toreros will once again play key nonconfe rence games with USC, UCLA, Long Beach State and San Diego State. West Coast Confer– ence pl ay will beg in the weekend of March 11-1 2 when the Toreros host Sa int Mary's. WCC play will run th rough mid– May with the WCC Pl ayoffs schedul ed fo r May 19-20.

( 16), innings ( I 03.2), compl ete games (4), and shutouts ( I ). Gray led the team in wins with seven (7-2), fini shing with a 4.56 ERA and 41 strikeouts in 77 innings. Both players will be counted on heavi ly to suppl y both experience and leader– ship to the Toreros seven new members of the pitching staff. 'The pitching staff is improved thi s year," said Hill. "Freshman Patrick Lucy and Hayes will be call ed upon to close games. Hopefull y, the pitching can match the hitting thi s year. " San Diego moves from the Coast Di vision to the West Di vision of the West Coast Confe rence alignment for the 2000 season. Joining the Toreros in the Wes t Di vison will be Peppe rdine, Saint Mary ' s and Portl and. USO, whi ch has managed at leas t 13 WCC victori es in each of the past e ight seasons, will need to improve defensively (99 en-ors, .955 fi eld– ing percent age) to make a run in the WCC race . USD will have to cli ck in all parts of the game to make post-season play a reality. Coach Ri ch Hill , who became onl y the third baseball coach in USD baseba ll hi story when he took over the he lm last season, leads the Torero baseba ll fo rtunes. Entering hi s 13th year overall as a co lleg iate head coach, he has already

A special thanks to Jorge de la Torre for contributing to the 2000 University of San Diego Toreros Baseball Preview.

VISIT HIS WEBSITE AT:

WWW. SANDIEGOBASEBALL.COM