Fullerton’s Versatile Wilson Keeps His Options Open

Fullerton College baseball player Tom Wilson comes with an option package that would rival that of any luxury car.

He starts in right field and is also the Hornets’ late-inning reliever. If needed, Fullerton Coach Nick Fuscardo wouldn’t hesitate playing Wilson at first base, third base or catcher--three positions Wilson played at Troy High School during a three-year varsity career.

“Tom’s abilities are basically a given,” Fuscardo said. “You know he can do so many things.”

And when the season ends, Wilson will have more options than most Cadillacs.

He could sign with the New York Yankees, who drafted him last June in the 19th round and have a year to negotiate a contract. He could also attend a four-year college. Wilson says he is close to making an oral commitment to the University of Miami.

The Yankees and the Hurricanes have talked to Wilson about moving to third base or catcher. Wilson, 20, also could turn down the Yankees and declare himself eligible for the draft again.

“It helps to have choices,” he said. “I think it should all work out one way or another.”

Currently, Wilson, a right-hander, is helping Fullerton climb in the Orange Empire Conference standings. The Hornets (18-11, 5-6 in conference) are tied for fourth. The top four--and perhaps five--teams from the conference advance to the Southern California playoffs.

Wilson, an all-conference right fielder last season, is playing well again this season--for the most part.

He and the team went into a six-game slump after teammate Kenny Humphrey died in an automobile accident in March. But Fullerton appears to have come out of the rut with three consecutive conference victories going into today’s 2:30 p.m. game at first-place Rancho Santiago.

Wilson is hitting .333 (36 for 108) with eight home runs and 21 runs batted in. He has 19 career home runs, a Fullerton record. On the mound he is 1-1 with three saves in seven games.

The batting slump mostly took its toll on Wilson’s conference average, which is .175 (seven for 40). He has four doubles and three home runs, but has yet to get a single in 11 conference games.

“I just stopped being aggressive,” Wilson said. “I started taking pitches I should be hitting. But I think I’m out of it now.”

When other conference coaches talk about stopping Fullerton, Wilson’s name is the one that comes up. Dennis Rogers at Riverside said Wilson is the best returning athlete in the conference this season. Baseball America rated Wilson as the third-best professional prospect among the nation’s community college players.

Wilson received a lot of attention last season when he hit .317 with 16 doubles, 11 home runs and 36 RBIs in 44 games.

This season, Wilson has been called upon to pitch as well as hit. He was 10-1 as a senior at Troy in 1989, but Fullerton had a deep enough staff last season that he wasn’t needed. He would have preferred that to be true again this year, but it hasn’t been the case.

“I enjoy pitching,” Wilson said. “But I would rather hit. If they took away hitting, I wouldn’t like it.

“In high school it’s easier to be a pitcher and a hitter, but here it is harder to get mentally ready. But I want to win and if that’s what it takes, I will.”

Record Buster. That’s the new nickname Saddleback’s Ernie (Buster) Nietzke has been given by the school’s sports information director, Steve Schwepker.

Nietzke, a sophomore from Capistrano Valley High School, has moved into fifth place on the all-time Saddleback hit list with 89 and should challenge the record before season’s end. He had six hits in three games last week to pass Mark Grace, who is currently with the Chicago Cubs.

Steve DeAngelis (1983-84), currently in the Angels’ minor league system, leads with 121. Randy Cumming had 91 hits in 1982-83, Tim Wallach of the Montreal Expos had 92 in 1976-77, and Brent Ferguson, now at San Diego State, had 95 in 1989-90.

Orange Coast and Cypress each won baseball tournaments last week to give Orange Empire Conference teams 10 tournament titles this season.

Riverside won the second of two College of the Desert Tournaments, its own Riverside Tournament and the Fullerton/Cerritos Tournament.

Rancho Santiago won its own Lidlifter Tournament and the Southwestern Apache Classic. The Dons were 3-0 in the rain-shortened Channel Islands Tournament, which was turned into a pool-play format with no championship awarded.

Orange Coast won the College of the Sequoias Tournament on Friday and previously won the first College of the Desert Tournament. Cypress won the Allan Hancock Tournament Friday and won its own Cypress Kiwanis Tournament in February.

Fullerton also won the Modesto Tournament. Only Saddleback and Golden West haven’t won tournament titles.

Community College Notes

Steve Arnott, the No. 1 singles player for the Golden West men’s tennis team, is expected to move up in the state’s rankings. He was 12th in March, but since has gone 10-0 and has twice beaten Saddleback’s Scott Hansen, who was ranked No. 2. Rankings are expected to be announced later this week.