High Hopes: Baseball looks to rebound from disappointing '99 campaign

By MATTHEW FISCHER

Hope springs eternal is how the old saying goes, and that's the case for Santa Clara Baseball this season.

Following a dismal 1999 campaign, the Broncos are looking to rebound with a solid season in 2000. The Broncos finished 20-36 last year and 11-19 in West Coast Conference play, the worst marks in school history. With an outstanding batch of newcomers and 18 returning letterwinners, the Broncos have the firepower to significantly improve on their previous marks.

"We have a lot more tools, a lot more talent this season," Assistant Coach Troy Buckley said. "We're more physical - stronger - and have a mental toughness that wasn't there last year."

Men's baseball opened the 2000 campaign with a 5-2 win in the annual Alumni game, the final event of the traditional Alumni Weekend.

The game featured all the key players for this year's Broncos as well as Santa Clara greats from the past 40 years. One former and two current Major Leaguers, Mike MacFarlane, Mike Frank and Randy Wynn also played.

The Broncos dropped their season opener to San Jose State 4-1 Tuesday night, but their optimism remains high.

The talent level is up, but the team will be young this season. The Broncos' Opening Day line-up will include only two position players with any Division I collegiate experience. That starting line-up will include four junior college transfers, a redshirt freshman and a true freshman.

The Broncos' offense should be more dangerous this season with the addition of transfers Joey Gomes, a sophomore, and junior Chris Jakubauskas. Gomes hit .388 with 57 RBIs last season at the College of Marin. Jakubauskas hit .410 with 23 homeruns and 104 RBIs in two seasons at Citrus College in Los Angeles. Along with junior Matt Queen (.333, 8, 39), these three will make up the heart of the Bronco line-up. Senior Elliot Wheeler, a career .297 hitter, will lead off and set the table for the big bats to drive in runs.

The Bronco infield has been revamped as well. Queen will return at third base, but the rest of the infield will be made up of new faces with junior transfer Mike Balestreri at shortstop, redshirt freshman Jack Headley at second and freshman Travis Hinton at first. Competing for time with Balestreri will be sophomore Pat Peavey, last year's opening day shortstop. The loss of senior Mike Theoharis to a separated shoulder is a tough break, but hopefully will not be devastating. Even with the relative inexperience of the new infield, the coaching staff expects it to be solid.

Competition for outfield playing time will be fierce. The opening day line-up will feature Jakubauskus in right field, Wheeler in center and Gomes in left. Senior Todd Hughes and juniors John Hilvert and Matt Miller will compete for playing time in the outfield.The Broncos will be relying on a relatively inexperienced pitching staff. The starting rotation will be anchored by senior Camden Kelley, who posted a miniscule 1.42 ERA in the Great Lakes League this summer. In addition to Kelley, the rotation will be made up of senior Mike Detrick, junior A.J. Ampi, junior Dave Mallen and freshman Matt Travis.

Backing up these starters will be senior Dave Battagin, senior Brian Sparr, sophomore Mike Dorsa, and juniors Jim De Martini and Cole Parsons. Freshman right hander Jeff Goodman is expected to return from injury in March to add additional depth to the staff.

The Broncos will feature their fourth different starting catcher in four years this spring with Junior Norm Hayes getting the nod on Opening Day. While Hayes gets the firt start, competition for the job will continue into the season with junior Steven Santana, sophomore Robbie Ward and freshman Jimmy Wallace attempting to unseat him.

With all these changes throughout the Bronco line-up there are plenty of questions going into this season. Even with these questions, the players are confident in their chances.

"No one out there respects us. Even our league coaches are picking us to finish last," Jakubauskus said. "We're just gonna have to go out and shock the world."

The coaches like the team's confidence and hope it translates into results on the field. "We like the kids' approach right now," Buckley said. "They're ready to get after it. It's going to be a learning process but they're ready. We as a staff are cautiously optimistic and can't wait to see what these kids can do."

Barring rain, the Broncos will return to action Friday when they play host to Nevada. Santa Clara is in the midst of a six-game homestand to start the 2000 campaign.