COLLEGE BASEBALL: FORMER RIVALS ARE BATTERY MATES IN FULLERTON.Byline: Heather Gripp Staff Writer Former Foothill League baseball rivals John Curtis The name John Curtis might refer to:
As Fullerton prepares for its Feb. 4 opener against Stanford, Hart High product Curtis and Valencia graduate Clark are favorites to move into the starting lineup For the line of action figures, see . A starting lineup in sports refers to the set of players actively participating in the event when the game begins. The players in the starting lineup are commonly referred to as starters, whereas the others are substitutes , Curtis at catcher and Clark on the mound. With 20 of the 25 players from last year's World Series roster returning, there aren't many holes on a team that is ranked in the top 5 in every national preseason poll. After spending the past two seasons redshirting and backing up All-American Kurt Suzuki Kurt Kiyoshi Suzuki (born October 4, 1983 in Wailuku, Hawaii) is a Major League Baseball catcher for the Oakland Athletics. The Athletics drafted him in the second round of the 2004 June amateur draft and assigned to the single A Vancouver Canadians, where he batted . , who was drafted by the Oakland Athletics “Philadelphia Athletics” redirects here. For other uses, see Philadelphia Athletics (disambiguation). The Oakland Athletics are a professional baseball team based in Oakland, California. , Curtis is the leading candidate to start behind the plate. ``We think he's ready,'' said coach George Horton This article is about the U.S. diplomat. For the college baseball coach, see George Horton (baseball coach). George Horton was a member of the US diplomatic corps who held several consular offices, principally in Greece, in late 19th century and early 20th , who has eight catchers on his preseason roster. ``How ready will be a big factor in our defensive scheme.'' Curtis, a sophomore, hit .203 in 24 at-bats last season. Clark is a candidate for the No. 3 starter after choosing Fullerton over the Houston Astros “Astros” redirects here. For other uses, see Astros (disambiguation). The Houston Astros are a Major League Baseball team based in Houston, Texas. The team is in the Central Division of the National League. , who selected him in the 19th round of the June draft. The right-hander, who holds the Foothill League record with 22 career home runs, also could see time in the outfield, but likely only as a reserve because all three starters return. Clark is Baseball America's preseason pick for Big West Freshman of the Year. --Growing reputation: Most Big West teams learned about Chris Valaika's talent last season when the Hart graduate won the starting shortstop job as a freshman at UC Santa Barbara. Loyola Marymount coach Frank Cruz got a first-hand look as a coach on the U.S. national team last summer, and the Lions coach wants to get the word out about the budding star. ``At the end of the summer, he just came on strong and really solidified our team and helped us to that gold medal,'' said Cruz, on Valaika's contribution to the U.S. victory at the FISU FISU Federation Internationale du Sport Universitaire FISU Fill-In Signal Unit FISU Foundation for International Spiritual Unfoldment World University Championship in Taiwan. ``He was spectacular for us.'' Valaika was the Big West Freshman of the Year and a freshman All- American last season, when he was the Gauchos' second-best hitter, with a .347 batting average, and hit seven home runs with 38 RBI RBI abbr. Baseball runs batted in Noun 1. rbi - a run that is the result of the batter's performance; "he had more than 100 rbi last season" run batted in . UCSB UCSB University of California at Santa Barbara UCSB University of Casual Sex and Beer begins its season Feb. 4 at home against Pepperdine. --Showing his versatility: Matt Aidem, the Foothill League Player of the Year the past two seasons at Valencia, is changing positions again. After playing several positions with the Vikings - third base to first base, outfield and pitcher - Aidem is slated to be a catcher at UC Santa Barbara. Among the catchers Aidem will be competing with for playing time is another Foothill League product, junior Josh LaGrotta from Canyon. Heather Gripp, (818) 713-3607 heather.gripp(at)dailynews.com CAPTION(S): photo Photo: (color) VALAIKA |
|
||||||||||||
Printer friendly
Cite/link
Email
Feedback
Reader Opinion