Kingsmen Baseball Season Preview

THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. - The California Lutheran University baseball team enters the 2008 campaign in hopes of improving on its third place conference finish last season. In 2007 the Kingsmen went 24-16 overall and 13-8 in SCIAC contests.

Head coach Marty Slimak returns at the helm of the program where he has accumulated 388 wins in 14 seasons. Entering a season where career win number 400 is within reach, Slimak returns 10 players from last year and welcomes 17 newcomers to the 2008 squad.

Senior Trevor Davidson returns to the CLU outfield and is one of just three seniors on the roster. Last season Davidson led the team with 31 runs, 31 RBI and 17 walks. He hit .312 in 141 at bats and ranked first on the team with 39 games played.

Joining Davidson in the outfield is junior Vinny Lopez who tallied just 28 at bats last season but posted a .429 batting average and a team-high .514 on base percentage. Fellow junior Steven Omlor is the third and final returnee in the outfield for 2008. Omlor played in 27 games last season and scored 15 runs.

Adding depth to the Kingsmen outfield will be junior transfers Chris Hertz (Glendale CC), Hector Sanchez (College of the Desert) and Nick Pinneri (Moorpark CC). Each will get a crack at patrolling the spacious outfield at CLU for the first time this season along with freshman Nate Simpson (Moorpark HS).

“The strength is going to be in the outfield,” Slimak said. “We have a lot of team speed out there and three very good left handed bats... We will not be hesitant to play any combination of our guys.”

CLU has an infield that hosts four returnees. Six-foot-six sophomore Paul Hartmann will see time at first base after playing part-time last season. With 16 starts and 76 at bats Hartmann hit .342 and posted a .487 slugging percentage.

Also returning to the infield is senior Kevin Graham who batted .299 in 35 games last year and saw most of his action at shortstop. Junior David Iden and sophomore Landon Smith come back to the Kingsmen after getting solid experience as a part of last years infield. Iden, an All-SCIAC Second Team selection tallied 52 hits for a .351 average while starting in 36 games and holding down second base.

Junior transfers Chad Heschong (College of Marin) and Jordan Ott (Pierce) join the CLU infield along with three freshmen, Travis Dadigian (Santa Ynez HS), Richard Michelin (Sierra Vista HS) and Brett St. Amour (La Costa HS).

“I think we have really upgraded our infield from last year with the addition of Chad Heschong and Jordan Ott,” Slimak said.

The catcher position has three candidates eyeing playing time this year. Junior returnee Chris Brouilette will be back after playing in just 10 games in 2007. Along with Brouilette the Kingsmen have brought on senior transfer Alex Massari from the University of San Franciso where he played in nine games last season. Also joining the catching crew this season is freshman Colin Gray (Prescott HS).

“We’ve improved at our catcher position,” Slimak said. “We brought in Massari who will be doing most of the catching for us this year and Brouilette will be backing him up.”

The 2008 Kingsmen will feature a revamped pitching staff after losing players to graduation and injury. Sophomore Robbie Selden will be seeing a lot of action in a starting role and is one of two returning pitchers along with junior Peter Schmitt. Selden posted a 3.00 ERA last season in just 12.0 innings of spot appearances. Schmitt threw 15.0 total innings and posted a 3.60 ERA and held opponents to a .200 batting average.

Incoming junior transfer Alex Casillas (LA Mission CC) will see time as one of the main starters and fellow junior transfer Mike Paresa from Monterey Bay State will bring some more experience to the new look CLU pitching staff. Paresa made five appearances for the Otters last season and earned a 1-0 record.

There are four freshmen pitchers making their college debuts this season for the Kingsmen. Chris Batelli (Sacred Heart HS), David Brethouwer (Highland HS), Byron Minnich (Thousand Oaks HS) and Anthony Schmitt (Rancho Buena Vista HS) will fight for time on the hill.

“The pitching staff will potentially have some really good athletes and could get us through the season,” Slimak said. “They will have to be able pitch consistently in order for us to succeed this year.”

CLU opens up its season at home when they host Simpson University at 12:00 pm on Saturday, February 2 at George “Sparky” Anderson Field at Ullman Stadium. Along with a three-game series against every SCIAC opponent, the Kingsmen will play a set of three games against non-conference opponents Chapman, Menlo and CSU East Bay.

“I think the SCIAC is going to be very even from the top to the bottom,” Slimak said. “I think what is going to happen is we're going to beat up on each other week in and week out. The conference will be up for grabs.”

On Mar. 20 through Mar. 22, Cal Lutheran will be a host site for the California Invitational. Over the three-day period the Kingsmen will host four East coast teams in a battle of west versus east.

“It’s always fun to play a team from out of your region,” Slimak said. “They always have to start out in the West because of the weather back East. I think the athletes like to have those kinds of teams on our schedule. It’s a lot of fun and a good East versus West rivalry."