Boulger’s diet includes homers

Ryan Boulger used to resemble the hulking football linemen with whom he still socializes. And, not long ago, he could match his bean-bag-bodied buddies’ ability to turn a trip to Taco Bell into a pile of empty wrappers, soiled napkins, taco droppings, as well as the accumulated drippings of hot sauce, soda and nacho cheese.

“I still crave Taco Bell,” said the Costa Mesa High senior, who has, with less than a year of determination, reshaped his body and refined his skills on the baseball diamond to help the Mustangs remain in position to defend the Orange Coast League title he helped them win last year.

“It’s hard, sometimes, to be with my friends,” Boulger said. “They are all linemen who can eat what they want. And they like to rub it in my face.”

These days, however, the only foods that make it to Boulger’s mouth are those that would make any nutritionist smile. It is a complete dietary make-over, as well as daily visits to his neighborhood gym, that have helped the Mustangs’ co-captain drop 53 pounds and add 62 points to his batting average.

He was, he now believes, a 235-pound weakling when he hit .350 and earned first-team All-Orange Coast League honors last season. He hit one home run, drove in four runs and the only glove he wielded was the ones he pulled on before coming to the plate.

“Before, I used to be an inside-out hitter who had a tendency to go the opposite way,” Boulger said. “There was fat in the way of my swing. But now that it’s gone, I feel like I get a lot more power behind the swing. And, since I’ve been working out every single day, I have a lot more muscle.”

This season, he leads the league with seven home runs, has driven in 33 and takes a .412 batting average into the final week of the regular season. In addition to playing every inning at first base this season, he even has a stolen base.

“My performance has definitely improved,” said Boulger, whose Mustangs can clinch at least a share of the league crown with two wins this week against Laguna Beach.

Costa Mesa (13-12) is 7-3 in league, tied for first with crosstown rival Estancia with two league games left.

The Daily Pilot Athlete of the Week went two for three with two RBIs in a 10-7 league win over Calvary Chapel on April 27, then hit a three-run homer in an 11-8 win over the Eagles on April 30.

“Obviously, he has been a real force for us in the middle of the lineup,” Costa Mesa Coach Jim Kiefer said of the 6-foot-2, 183-pound left-handed hitter who throws right-handed. “He worked really hard in the off-season to get in great shape and build up his strength. He has more bat speed and trimming down also helped his swing. He used to have more of an inside-out swing, but all his homers have been pulled this year.”

Boulger played football his first two years at Mesa, including a stint at center as a sophomore on the varsity, before a series of shoulder dislocations helped convince him to concentrate on the diamond.

Boulger missed his sophomore baseball campaign after undergoing surgery on his left shoulder, then battled a right-shoulder ailment that limited his throwing, and his time in the outfield, in 2009.

Boulger said his new physique has given him a boost off the field as well.

“It’s given me a lot more confidence,” he said. “I just feel a lot better about the person that I am now. Before, I used to be self-conscious about my weight. It was hard for me to go to the beach and take off my shirt.”

Boulger’s added production has helped foster plans to put on a baseball jersey next season at Orange Coast College.

And while he is smaller in stature, Kiefer said he still casts a big shadow with the Mustangs, both in the lineup and in the clubhouse.

“He is real competitive,” Kiefer said. “I think the kids really look up to him. He is one of our leaders.”

Still, Boulger will not be led to the fast-food counter.

“We stopped at In-N-Out on our way home from Pasadena after our game [at La Salle] Friday,” Boulger said. “But I had to resist and not eat there.”