UCLA Expecting to Contend in Pac-10 Baseball : Despite Some Losses, Coach Gary Adams Sees Quality, Depth on Bruin Squad

It was a warm Sunday afternoon in May at USC’s Dedeaux Field, where UCLA and USC were wrapping up the 1985 season. While hitting ground balls to his infielders, UCLA Coach Gary Adams assessed the Bruins.

“We’re playing well now,” he said. “We’re finishing strong. We’re playing with hope and with confidence. I hope that carries over to next year.”

UCLA then beat USC, 10-5, completing a three-game sweep of the Trojans, for a 34-30-1 record, an improvement over the 28-32 mark of the previous year. They were fifth in the Pacific 10’s Southern Division at 13-17, bettering the 8-22 finish in 1984. It was their best record since 1980, when they were third at 15-15.

Said Adams then of the 1986 season: “With what we have coming back and what we have coming in, I really think we’ll be a contender. I won’t say we’ll win the title, but we will contend. I’m very optimistic about next year.”

Next year is here, now, but everyone Adams was counting on to return didn’t, including Sean Berry, who would have been the starting center fielder, and Hector Cano, the starter at third base. Both are scholastically ineligible.

Then, too, some of Adams’ prize recruits decided to play for pay instead of the Bruins. Most notable among those is Jeff Bumgarner, a 6-foot 6-inch right-hander from Hanford High in Richland, Wash., where he was 11-0 with a 0.28 earned-run average and 132 strikeouts in 78 innings his senior year.

Bumgarner, the first high school pitcher picked, was the Minnesota Twins’ first-round selection in last summer’s draft. It took the largest bonus the Twins have ever given, reportedly $162,000, to make him abandon his plans to pitch for the Bruins.

So, what does Adams think of UCLA’s chances now? Can the Bruins possibly win the title for the first time since 1979?

“I’m still very enthused about this year’s team,” said Adams, who entered his 12th year as UCLA’s coach with a 359-285-5 record. “We’re going to be improved. Last year I thought I was being realistic when I said we wouldn’t be a contender, and that we’d finish last. I was almost right, too.

“If you look at us, we’re still a young team. . . . We have only three seniors. But we’re an experienced young team. I think if we stay injury-free, we can contend.”

One of the strengths of this UCLA team is quality depth. Several players who will open the season on the bench probably could start for many other schools.

“The guys who’ll sit are pushing the starters, making them do their best all the time,” Adams said. “That’s a good situation. But we have to have a healthy Alex Sanchez to be successful.”

Sanchez, a sophomore right-hander, will again be one of the Bruins’ top starting pitchers. And when he doesn’t pitch, he’ll start in center field.

Last season, he was 5-7 with a 5.26 ERA and had 85 strikeouts in 95 innings. He also played the outfield in seven games, and batted .421. Offense will be another UCLA strength. Among the club’s top returning hitters are first baseman-designated hitter John Joslyn, whose .370 average was third-best in the league, catcher Todd Zeile, who hit .333, and second baseman Torey Lovullo, who batted .321. The team average was a respectable .296.

An evaluation with comments from Adams:

PITCHERS: In Randy Hennis and Alex Sanchez, the Bruins have perhaps as good a 1-2 punch as there is in the Pac-10. Hennis, a 6-6 sophomore right-hander, was 4-0 with a 6.35 ERA. He appeared in four conference games, finishing 2-0 with a 3.98 ERA. Candidates for the third spot in the rotation are sophomore right-hander Jeff Conine (14 innings in 9 games, 0-2, 7.97 ERA), junior left-hander Keith Shibata (6 games, 4 innings, 0-0, 3.85 ERA) and Jim Ramsey, a junior right-hander who redshirted last season (3-0, 4.19 ERA in 1984). The long relief man figures to be right-hander Dave Dale, a transfer from College of the Canyons.

Freshman right-hander Craig Good, the Southern Section 3-A player of the year at Rio Mesa High in Oxnard, will be brought along slowly. The key here is whether Dana Ridenour and Bill Wenrick are effective as the stoppers out of the bullpen. The Bruins lost five conference games in the opponent’s last at-bat in 1984. Ridenour, a junior right-hander, was 3-4 with a 4.50 ERA and 1 save. Wenrick, a junior left-hander, was 2-3 with a 3.71 ERA and 3 saves.

“I have as much confidence in Dana and Bill as I’ve had in any relief pitchers I’ve had at UCLA. I would not hesitate to put them in to get a key out. The biggest difference from last year to this year is that last year we had 13 pitchers and now we have 9. We’re down on the numbers, but we have quality.”

CATCHERS: This department is in good hands with Todd Zeile. A junior, he led the team with 12 homers and drove in 41 runs. “A premier catcher, not just in the league, but in the nation.” The No. 1 backup is senior Rich Smith (.235 in 20 games). Bill Haselman, a redshirt freshman who also plays the outfield, will provide depth.

INFIELD: “I think we’ll be strong up the middle, defensively and offensively, with Zeile catching, Torey Lovullo at second, Bobby Holley at shortstop and Alex Sanchez in center. When you build a team, you have to be strong up the middle.”

Lovullo, a switch-hitting junior, raised his average 102 points (.219 in 1984), drove in 36 runs and hit 11 homers. Holley, a freshman from Long Beach Poly, has excellent range and a strong arm. The first baseman will be either John Joslyn or Gary Berman. Joslyn, a senior whose .370 average led the club in hitting, had 6 homers, drove in 42 runs and made the all-conference team. Berman, also a senior, batted .301 with 7 homers and had a team-leading 49 RBIs. They’ll probably platoon on defense, and the one not starting will be the designated hitter.

Backing them up is Eric Karros, a walk-on freshman from Patrick Henry High in San Diego. “He’s going to be a fine hitter some day. He’s big (6-3, 200) and strong.” Scott Cline and Charlie Fiacco, freshmen from Camarillo High School, are battling for the third base job. Fiacco also can play the outfield.

OUTFIELD: Sanchez is set in center. When he pitches, the starter probably will be Tony Scruggs, a redshirt sophomore up from the junior varsity. “We’re trying to groom him into a college outfielder. He’s getting better. He’s starting to come on.”

The jobs in left and right still are pretty much open. There are four candidates who can play either--Steve Hisey, a junior who was used primarily as the designated hitter last season (.302, 7 homers. 34 RBIs), junior Steve Stowell (.283, 35 RBIs), sophomore Jeff Osborn (.243) and Scott St. John, a redshirt junior.