Alcalá 1987

BASEBALL

The Toreros returned seven starting players plus two starting pitchers from a team which finished on the plus side of .500 for the firsttime in four years. Head Coach John Cunningham entered his 24th season at the helm. Thiswas a very young team with only two seniors in the lineupbut the squad was much improved over last year. The reason for optimism centered around the W.C.A.C.'sbest one-twopower hit­ ting punch in junior first baseman Sean Baron and outfielder Dave Rolls. The pitching corps was anchored by senior lefthander Dan Newman,one of the all- time bestat fielding his position. Senior Robbie Rogers returned to shortstop after a year at third base. Sophomores Andy Roberts and Chris Bwy had a full season ofexperience under their belts and provided the team with solid defensive play. The key men in the outfield were junior leftfielder Mark Trafton who was much improved both ofensively and defen­ sively. Another key was how well Dave R o l l s d e v e l o p e d d e f e n s i v e l y . Centerfeild was in good hands with sophomore speedster Juan Bonilla,who moved over from rightfield. Catching was the most competitive position with seniors John Holt and Dan Echeveste.who tried to stay ahead of sophomores Chuck Graham and Mark Wyckoff. The pitching staffwas bolsteredwith the addition of freshmen lefthanders LouisSkirtich andKevin Mullen and right­ handers Pat Fitzsimons and TroyMack. Transfers Rob Sparks,Mike Miller and Dave Monastero competed with return­ ing sophomoresJim Westlund and Tony Battilega for time onthe hill. Sophomore Chris Stout again provi­ d e d d e p t h i n t h e i n f i e l d wh i l e n e w c ome r s R o b S p o r r e r . Ma t t S o l t e r s , How a r d N e l s o n a n d P a r r i s Sorianello kept he returningstarters on their toes.

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Athletics 167