More of the same as last week in that the fall is meant for development and giving many pitchers an opportunity to throw and get live at bats for the players.
This week the expected #1 and #2 pitchers for El Toro threw as Tyler Brashears and Garrett Mundell took the mound in the first 2 innings. Neither allowed a run but were a little rusty and needed to be helped out by some nice glove work in the field. Also throwing were Daniel Cavazos (transfer from Tustin), Ben Villines, Ryan Kayoda, Brett Hammond and Jordan Wirth. That group is basically competing with each other for 2 roster spots, as El Toro will mainly go with 4 guys during the season (some would say 3). All threw well last night. Cavazos seemed to have a little more zip on his fastball as he looked pumped up to be facing his old team. Kayoda, while only a sophomore, has thrown great so far this fall and Villines and Wirth were dominate in their one inning. Hammond here is the key which could decide a roster spot or two. He's a lefty and the only one higher up in the program, and if his off speed is on, he's as hard to hit as anyone and gives a different look on the mound. If he starts rolling through lineups like he's capable off, he'll be hard to knock out from one of those other two spots, leaving those other 4 fighting for 1 spot. It's good to be a lefty!
Offensively the Chargers are going to hit. Although missing one of their top hitters from last year (Gavin Collins, out with a fracture in his hip), their lineup is solid 1-9. A stand up triple by Matt Chapman and doubles by Mitchell Tolman and Dan James paced the hitting last night. Jayson Yano continued his hot start with 2 more hits and great at bats by Nick Villar, Daniel Conmy and Sean Nearhoof produced a lot of runs. Expect to hear more of this as the season goes along.
Defensively, things are starting to round into shape. A few less kids in the dugout last night meant the coaches are starting to narrow down the roster as we proceed farther into fall. Some position spots are safe to asssume. Nearhoof at catcher (where he was the top defensive catcher in the Sea View league last year as a Junior), Chapman at shortstop, Ryan Joyce in center and Dan James at first you can pencil in now. A couple others you probably can pencil in also, however a few dominos need to drop before we see how it all shakes out and who ends up in which positions.
On a final note about last nights game, Travis Harrison for Tustin was not there. Harrision is a potential first round pick (in some early mock drafts he's going as high as 11 to Detroit) and a few people in the stands were hoping he'd show up so we could get a look at him. Don't know if he's playing in any of these fall league games as apparently he wasn't there last week either.
Next week El Toro comes back with a Wednesday night game against San Juan Hills. Windrow Park, Irvine, 7:30pm.
Hope to see you there!
Bill
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