HOW STAR PITCHER BEAT FRESHMAN JITTERS\College-baseball bound Calabasas player strikes fear into batters.

Byline: Vincent Bonsignore Daily News Staff Writer

Now that he's a college-bound pitcher seven games into his senior year, Calabasas High School's Tanner Trosper looks back at the first time he took the mound for the Coyotes as a rite of passage.

Thrown to the wolves as a freshman by a coach who had known him since he was a Pony league player, Trosper took the mound against a loaded Crespi High School team that included current Boston Red Sox player Jeff Suppan.

"They had a great team," Trosper remembered. "I was terrified."

The results were fairly predictable. The talented Celts had their way with the youngster, who walked the first batter he faced and hit the second. Trosper was lifted before getting out of the first inning. On his retreat back to the dugout, he vowed to return to the mound the next time better, stronger and smarter because of the experience.

"It haunted me for a little while," Trosper said. "But I just figured that it was something I was going to have to learn from."

Call it a part of Scott Drootin's master plan, but the veteran coach had no doubt that Trosper would be better because of it.

"He has an unflappable personality," said Drootin of Trosper, now a senior at Calabasas and one of the best high school pitchers in the area. "He doesn't let anything affect him."

Trosper didn't pitch much the rest of his freshman year. And he got spot duty as a sophomore. But by the time his junior year rolled around, Drootin was comfortable that Trosper was ready to emerge as a force.

"The plan was to bring him along slowly," Drootin said. "I always knew that at one point he would become a real good pitcher, somebody that could be dominant."

The great thing about Trosper in his early years with the Coyotes was that he didn't need to pitch to help the club. In both his freshman and junior years he was one of the best hitters on the team.

"He's such a good athlete that wherever he played, he was a big part of the team," said Drootin.

When Trosper finally landed a spot in the Calabasas rotation a year ago he didn't disappoint, going 5-0 while earning all-league and all-Ventura County honors.

That set the stage for this season, and Trosper has simply picked up where he left off. He's already tossed two one-hitters and has shown signs that he'll be one of the best pitchers - if not the best - in the Frontier League.

No longer a "terrified" freshman, it is Trosper who now strikes fear in opposing batters. So much so that he feels as long as he's on top of his game, he'll always have an advantage over his opponent.

"If I'm getting my curveball and fastball over for strikes, I feel there isn't much (a hitter) can do," he said.

That's the type of confidence that any pitcher needs to have to be successful. Trosper concedes that it took some time before he reached that level of comfort, but now that he has he doesn't plan on relinquishing it.

His strongest attribute, according to Drootin, is the classic live arm and strong mental attitude.

"Even as a Pony league player he had a great arm," Drootin said.

Trosper, who has signed a national letter of intent with Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, credits Drootin for the bulk of his development.

"He's helped me in every phase of the game," Trosper said.

That was evident earlier this year when Trosper struggled with his control in an early-season game against Kennedy. Afterward he, Drootin and assistant coach Rick Nathanson went over film of the game to try and dissect the culprit.

They discovered that Trosper had a small problem in his delivery. It was minor enough to get fixed with a simple adjustment. Trosper seems to have overcome it, although he still thinks long and hard about where he spots the ball whenever he's on the mound.

"To me control is the most important key to pitching," he said.

He also enjoys the battle between himself and a batter, not to mention the impact he can have on a game.

"I like that pressure," he said. "The more important the game or situation, the more I want the ball."

Trosper would like nothing more then to end his high school career with another Frontier League championship, although teams like Santa Paula and Moorpark don't figure to go down without a fight.

Last year the Coyotes had a remarkable year in winning the league title, but all that success may have actually put undue pressure on this year's team to duplicate. Even Trosper feels he's pushed himself too hard at times.

"I think we all need to just relax a little more and not worry about that stuff," he said.

After this year, Trosper is looking forward to playing college baseball.

"I can't wait to get up there," he said. "From what I can tell, they need pitching right now."

Drootin is convinced that Cal Poly is getting a gem in Trosper.

"I really think his best baseball is still ahead of him," he said.

CAPTION(S):

PHOTO

Photo Calabasas High baseball player Tanner Trosper, right, with teammates Darin Reisman, left, and Josh Harris, is off to a good start this season. John Lazar/Special to the Daily News