GARRETT WAIT
Sports Editor
The sound of aluminum hitting leather and cork announces the return of Pepperdine baseball to the field. This season, the Waves have seven starting position players returning to their posts after a season in which they came within one game of the Super Regionals.
Head Coach Steve Rodriguez’s team is the clear favorite in the West Coast Conference this season, earning all but two of the first-place votes in the preseason coaches’ poll. The Waves are garnering national attention as well, being voted in the top 15 of both national polls, but Rodriguez doesn’t want the hype to get out of hand.
“I mean it’s all on paper right now,” Rodriguez said. “The truth is that once the season gets going we’re going to find out exactly how good we are. If everybody does what they’re supposed to and we continue to improve as a team, I don’t think any of those things are unrealistic.”
Consistency is a big theme in Rodriguez’s plan for the season and he sees it as being one of the most important aspects of competing at a high level.
“We need a little bit of luck and we need guys to be consistent throughout the year,” Rodriguez said. “We’ve got to make sure we don’t have injuries; we have to limit those as much as possible. I think overall the biggest thing is just to stay consistent.”
Pepperdine returns the WCC Player of the Year, junior catcher Chad Tracy; the WCC Pitcher of the Year, senior Paul Coleman and the WCC Newcomer of the Year, sophomore starting pitcher Barry Enright.
Rodriguez said the expectations for those three returnees are high, but that consistency will be the key for all of them.
“I expect them to be good. That’s the simple truth,” Rodriguez said. “They warranted those accolades last year. Good players are consistent, and I’m expecting them to be consistent and not try to do more than they have in the past. We need them to be just as good as they were last year.”
Tracy, whose father is the manager of the Pittsburgh Pirates, hit 12 home runs and knocked in 61 RBIs, while compiling a .367 average as a sophomore. He’d expected to once again man the plate for Pepperdine, but will have backup Justin Tellam, a transfer from University of Nevada, Las Vegas right on his heels. Tellam led UNLV with 16 homers in 2005.
The pitching staff should be strong despite the loss of 2005’s No.-2 starter, Kea Kometani, and Steve Kleen who set a Pepperdine record for saves as the Waves’ closer. Coleman, who went 9-3 with a 3.35 ERA this past season, will be the top of the rotation starter and Enright will be the No.-2 man after posting a 10-1 record during his freshman season.
Kometani and Kleen will be tough to replace, according to Rodriguez, but moving on could bring bigger and better things,
“I don’t know if you can replace them,” Rodriguez said. “You just have to try to find guys to come in and compensate for the loss. Who knows, they might even do a better job than [Kometani and Kleen]. Those were a couple of tremendous guys for us to replace. You just have to go with the two best options you have.”
Several pitchers were in the running to be the third starter for Pepperdine, including senior James Johnson (2-0, 2.88 ERA) and junior Robert Della Grotta (3-2, 5.02 ERA), but sophomore Adam Olbrychowski (2-1, 4.15 ERA) will get the ball for the beginning of the season, according to Rodriguez.
Along with the battery, Pepperdine’s position players figure to be a strong asset, with returnees littering the field at almost every position.
Three of the four infield positions are solidified with the returns of senior Nick Kliebert at third base, sophomore Danny Worth at shortstop and senior David Uribes at second base. First base will be by committee for the first part of the season, with Tellam likely seeing most of the action.
Every outfielder returns from 2005, with youth being the theme. Junior leftfielder Luke Salas is the old man of the group with sophomore Adrian Ortiz in center and sophomore Donald Brown in right.
With so many returning players and the talent level as high as it is, Pepperdine fans are starting to mumble about returning to Omaha, Neb., for the College World Series. Rodriguez, who played on the 1992 national championship team isn’t sure how this team stacks up against them but does see at least one common aspect.
“I know the team we have now and the team in 1992 both have a little edge,” Rodriguez said. “What’s an edge, you ask? I don’t know it’s just a little different kind of attitude. When you’re a good team, you have that. When you’re getting through [the season] there’s just an air of confidence, not arrogance, just confidence. And that’s usually what it takes to be a good team.”
02-02-2006