College baseball column: Hitting the bases at UCI

Amara Aguilar

It’s definitely not going to be a walk in the ballpark for the

newly reinstated UC Irvine men’s baseball team this season.

Although the future looks bright and the young squad has mounds of

potential, it will be a year for the team to learn, mature and adjust.

Not that the Anteaters won’t be competitive. Although not one of UCI’s

players has Division I experience, the team is loaded with young talent.

“Our players are young and inexperienced and we’re only going to get

better,” UCI Coach John Savage said. “We have got to get in the fire and

experience it and with the type of people we are playing, we’ll be well

tested and I think by the time league starts we’ll be prepared.”

UCI’s squad, which consists of only freshmen and juniors, has a tough

schedule that will test the Anteaters and help them gear up for Big West

Conference play. Among opponents they will face in preseason are UCLA,

BYU, Pepperdine, USC, Arizona, Michigan, California, UNLV and San Diego

State.

“By the time league hits against Pacific, we really want to know who

are the tough guys that can step up during crunch time,” Savage said. “I

think we’ll do that because our nonleague is so strong that by the time

league hits we’ll be in pretty good shape. At least we’ll know who can

hold their end of the deal up and who is ready and who is not.”

Savage acknowledges the Anteaters’ schedule is difficult, but he looks

at it as a challenge and he is approaching the season with a realistic

attitude.

“We know there are going to be some bumps along the road,” he said,

“but that’s what any good program has to go through before getting good.”

One of many things UCI players will have to adjust to this season is

the speed of Division I baseball.

“The speed is so much quicker at the Division I level,” Savage said.

“Guys are throwing the ball harder. There are better runners. There’s

more power. We are really trying to help our freshmen adjust to that game

speed and we have to be very positive with them.”

Not only are the players on UCI’s baseball team young, the coaches are

too. Savage is 36, followed by assistant coaches Jason Gill (31) and Pat

Shine (30). Volunteer assistant coach Joe DeMarco is the youngest at 26.

Speaking of coaches, who is Savage’s inspiration as far as baseball

goes? It’s USC Coach Mike Gillespie.

“I learned so much from him in terms of everyday operations of running

a program, that I tried to follow his lead when it comes to a lot of

that,” Savage said.

As a pitching coach and recruiter under Gillespie at USC, Savage said

his most memorable moment was winning the national championship with the

Trojans in 1998.

Maybe he can add another championship with the Anteaters in the years

to come.

Pitcher Brett Smith was recently ranked the 20th best freshman

prospect in the country by Baseball America, but it will be junior Paul

French who will start in the Anteaters’ first game.

Most of the UCI baseball players are from California, with a few

exceptions. Freshman catcher Jeff Werhun is from Alberta. Being from

Canada, of course he played hockey in high school.

Junior outfielder Chet Womach is from Spokane, Wash. and freshman

pitcher Reid Matsushima is from Hawaii.

A few other players have experience in other sports besides baseball.

Junior outfielder Jon Horwitz played water polo in high school. Freshman

pitcher Glenn Swanson, junior pitcher Sean Tracey, freshman outfielder

Evan Harney and junior pitcher Keith Raulinaitis played football in their

prep days. Junior outfielder Chris Klemm lettered in basketball and

football in high school.

One UCI baseball player has already played in a World Series. Freshman

outfielder Erik Johnson competed in the 1996 Little League World Series.

A couple of UCI baseball players have family ties in Major League

Baseball. Junior pitcher Paul French has a brother in the San Diego

Padres organization. Freshman Brett Dalton is related to Mike Dalton,

formerly of the Pittsburgh Pirates and Detroit Tigers.

Anteater Ballpark will be ready for action just in time for Opening

Day Friday. The scoreboard was recently put up and a temporary press box

will be set up for UCI’s first contest against the University of San

Diego. The game starts at 7 p.m.

And finally, UCI baseball season tickets may be purchased by calling

(949) UCI-WINS. The Anteaters have 35 home games during the regular

season. Reserved season tickets are $100. An adult individual ticket is

$7. Seniors and those ages 18-and-under are $4. Children under 5 and the

first 600 UCI students with valid student identification are free.