Crespi’s Suppan Has Turned On the Power

Everyone knew Jeff Suppan was the best pitcher in the San Fernando Valley.

Now this.

The Crespi right-hander is emerging as one of the area’s top hitters, who happens to spend his time between at-bats pitching scoreless innings.

In three games last week, Suppan drove in eight runs and boosted his school home-run record with his eighth this season. His home run and runs batted in (36) totals are second in the area to Montclair Prep’s Brad Fullmer, who has signed to play at Stanford.

“We knew he was a good hitter,” Crespi Coach Scott Muckey said of Suppan. “I guess the only surprise is people have pitched to him as much as they have.”

UCLA Coach Gary Adams, who is eagerly awaiting Suppan’s arrival in Westwood next season, said Suppan’s offense has been something of a shock to him.

“I think I am a little surprised,” he said. “We thought he was one of the best high school hitters we saw, but when you’re talking about competing with Brad Fullmer for some of the top stats in the area, that puts him in an elite class.”

Adams said he intends to give Suppan an opportunity as the designated hitter or pinch-hitter next season. This season, junior left-hander Tim Kubinski is the only UCLA pitcher who also bats.

“(Kubinski) takes batting practice every day,” Adams said. “I plan on Jeff doing that, too. I want him to get his licks in. College pitching is a little tougher than high school pitching. We’ll have to see if he can handle it.”

On the mound, nothing Suppan does surprises anyone.

He threw a 12-strikeout, one-walk no-hitter--the second of his career--last week against Harvard-Westlake. Suppan is 7-1 with an 0.57 earned-run average. In 61 innings, he has allowed 31 hits, struck out 85 and walked seven.

“I feel Jeff is a high school pitcher who I could hand the ball to and he could pitch against anybody we play right now and win,” Adams said. “I don’t think there are many high school pitchers you can say that about.”

Suppan will try to extend his streak of 32 scoreless innings today against Chaminade. But he’ll also be looking for more offense.

“When I talk to other players, they talk about my pitching,” Suppan said. “It’s nice to talk about hitting every now and then.”

Suppan is hitting .487. Not bad for a guy who estimates that he spends about 30% of his time on hitting and the rest on pitching. Of course, any time he spends on his hitting is more than he spent when he first arrived at Crespi.

Suppan never went to the plate as a freshman and was used only a few times as a pinch-hitter his sophomore year. “I think I became the best fungo hitter in the Valley,” he said.

Last season, Muckey let him bat ninth.

“I was an average hitter,” Suppan said. “I hit to the right side, moved runners over. I did the little things.”

Those little things amounted to a .380 average, three home runs and 22 RBIs. He moved to the cleanup spot during the American Legion season last summer and batted .449 with 32 RBIs in 87 at-bats.

Suppan didn’t hit his first home run until the ninth game this season. But in the last 13 games, he has seven home runs and 28 RBIs.

“Earlier in the year, my goal was just to get a hit a game,” he said. “I was struggling a little bit, but--I don’t know what happened--all of a sudden I was just making the most of the pitches they were pitching me.

“I think like a pitcher. I have somewhat of an idea what I would throw, so I know what to look for. But most of the time I just look for the fastball and adjust for the curveball or the change.”

How would Jeff Suppan, pitcher, approach Jeff Suppan, hitter?

“I don’t even know if I could hit myself,” he said. “I don’t know what I’d throw. I think I’d probably bust myself inside.”