By Steve Pinkerton
Staff Writer
It’s that time of year again.
Time to head to the ballpark and find a warm seat in the sun, time to grab a hotdog or some peanuts and look out beyond Pepperdine’s picturesque field to the Pacific.
It is time to watch the Waves play America’s original pastime, and play it well.
Having lost several key players to professional ball, Pepperdine is counting on its younger athletes to adjust quickly to college-level play and help the Waves repeat some of their success from last season.
Despite the Pepperdine roster’s youthful appearance — including 13 freshmen and only four seniors — the Waves are ranked first in their conference.
Major League teams recently drafted nine Pepperdine players, a school record. “Baseball America” named two of these, Noah Lowry and Dan Haren, All-Americans after last season.
The Waves must compete now without Lowry and Haren, as well as other veteran team players Tony Garcia, Jay Adams, Jared Pitney, Danny Garcia and Woody Cliffords, who all contributed to Pepperdine’s highly successful season last year and now embark on their professional athletic careers.
Two other draftees, senior catcher Rock Mills and junior second baseman Duke Sardinha, remain with the Pepperdine team this season and provide its batting order with an intimidating combination at third and fourth, respectively.
Still, with so many other seasoned players gone, the Waves look to the newcomers to step up and make the difference this season.
“The freshmen seem to have the tools they need to be successful,” Barrack said. “They show a lot of promise.”
Third baseman Steve Kleen and shortstop Patrick Rooney, for example, both start for the Waves as freshmen. Yet while few would deny that these men have plenty of talent, nothing can take the place of real experience on a college baseball field.
Every college athlete needs to learn the ropes.
“Even though our young guys are really good — and they’re going to be great — they just don’t have the game experience yet,” Sardinha said. “There are 56 games left in the season, though, so we are going to get better.”
Sardinha pointed to the Waves’ consistent defense as evidence that their team has great potential. “Our pitchers have been keeping us in the game,” Sardinha said, “but we can’t expect them to win every game for us.”
That task, then, is left to Pepperdine’s hitters, who thus far have generated little excitement.
“Basically, we’re not hitting consistently as a team,” said Sardinha. “We need to start capitalizing at the plate when we have runners in scoring position.”
Pepperdine’s failure to shine offensively contributed to its two losses to Nevada (7-1 and 6-2) following the Waves’ initial victory against them in the season opener last Friday.
“It’s a letdown, but we’re always striving to improve,” freshman catcher and infielder Brent Haapanen said, reflecting on Pepperdine’s back-to-back defeats. “We’ll be a better team in the end.”
“Our success depends on if we can make the necessary adjustments all the time,” senior pitcher Kevin Beavers said. “We’ve got to be able to handle taking on new roles.”
Sardinha said the Waves’ goal of winning the West Coast Conference is “more than reasonable.”
“I believe if we stick together as a team and work hard in practice, we will succeed,” agreed senior outfielder Andy Lopez agreed.
The Waves may face their greatest conference challenge in April when they play the University of San Diego.
“San Diego is our big conference rival,” said Beavers of the team that shares with Pepperdine the WCC’s No. 1 rank. Beavers added that USD’s ballplayers are “worthy opponents.”
This weekend, the Waves will have an opportunity to see how well they match up against a formidable team as they host Tulane, ranked third nationally, in a three-game series at Eddy D. Field Stadium.
February 07, 2002