The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current, February 11, 1991, Image 12

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Johnson must build young pitching staff
Bv Alan Lehmann
"he Battalion Staff
If Mark. Johnson ever retires from
coaching, he has a future in
construction — or rather
reconstruction.
Last year the A&M head baseball
coach rebuilt a team from the rubble of
a successful year and the following
draft. This season, he must patch
together a pitching staff.
Following the 58-7 year in 1989, the
Aggie lineup was wrecked by
graduation and the pro draft, and
Johnson had to replace all eight
position players — three of them All-
Americans. Johnson’s young Aggies
responded well, and the team finished
43-17 last season.
This season, he faces the same
quandry with his pitching staff.
Gone are the six pitchers who
combined for 32 of A&M’s wins last
season.
Now Johnson must clear the rubble
and start over.
“We’ve got a long way to go,”
Johnson said. “We lost a lot of pitching,
but we have several guys who are ready
to step up and cross the line.”
The cornerstone of Johnson’s staff
will be junior Ronnie Allen. Allen, who
has starred for the Aggies since he was a
true freshman in 1989, was 6-4 last
season with a 2.35 earned run average.
Allen played on Team USA, the
United States national team, and was 0-
1 with a 2.64 ERA before leaving the
KEVIN IVYmie Battalion
Coach Mark Johnson
team with an injury. He is a quiet leader
who should lead by example.
The other two returning pitchers are
Steve Hughes and Jason Bullard, both
of whom were relievers last season.
Hughes, a senior co-captain this
season, may see action this year as a
starter although he has never started a
game for A&M.
Bullard, who was 4-0 with a 3.12 ERA
in 16 appearances last year, will be
heavily counted on this season, Johnson
said.
“Jason has made great strides since
the fall,” Johnson said. “He will be a
pitcher who will get the ball on
weekends.”
A&M plays its Southwest Conference
games on weekends.
The Aggies’ pitching prosects may
not be as barren as they seem. But that’s
just because Johnson had a banner
recruiting year last summer. He hauled
in a load of talented freshmen and
junior college transfers and will count
on them in 1991.
Among the six true freshman
pitchers on the A&M roster, lefthander
Jay Hogue has impressed Johnson the
most.
“Jay made great strides this fall,” he
said. “He really stepped forward and
gained confidence.”
Kelly Wunsch, a lefty from Bellaire
(Houston) also caught Johnson’s eye
and Brian Parker could contribute.
Transfers Jason Hutchins, Jeff
Johnson and Alan Fiveash could all
make significant contributions.
Hutchins comes from Golden West
Junior College in California with
outstanding credentials. He passed up a
chance to play in the Baltimore Orioles
system this summer when they drafted
him.
Hutchins also pitched a no-hitter this
summer in the Cape Cod League
against Hyannis. The Cape has a
reputation as being one of the better
leagues in the nation and is regularly
filled with all-star players.
The mystery of this year’s pitching
staff will be the bullpen stopper.
The Aggies did without one last year,
because of their bullpen depth and the
21 complete games that the staff threw.
This season, Trey Witte may be
called on to fill the stopper role.
Although he was the starting second
baseman last season, Witte has shown
promise on the mound and a will to do
the job.
Johnson said that he would be happy
if Witte could fill the role.
“I would love it if Trey could get the
job done,” he said. “He wants to do
whatever he can to help the team, and I
would rather have him out there in the
ninth inning than throw a freshman
into that situation.”
While the pitching will be important
this season, the veteran Aggie offense
will be the foundation of A&M’s playoff
hopes.
Although the Aggies managed only a
.253 team batting average and 32 home
runs in 1990, the addition of two solid
transfers should bolster both stats.
Sittichoke Huckuntod, a senior trans-
See Preview/Page 11
J. JANNER/The Battalion
Tim Holt’s reaction to a called strike
out exemplifies the Ags’ season.
Surprising Ags fall
apart, miss
All’s well that ends well, but the 1990 Aggie season did not.
After starting the season with a suprising nine-game win
ning streak, the Texas A&M baseball team lost five of its final
six games, finishing the season 43-17.
The five losses were crucial Southwest Conference games
against Houston and Arkansas, and as a result of the slide,
A&M failed to make the four-team SWC tournament.
But an even more crushing blow came May 21 when Coach
Mark Johnson and his team found out that they had been ex
cluded from the 48-team NCAA tournament field.
“I felt that was hard to put behind us,” Johnson said. “It’s
something that stays in the back of your mind.”
It indeed seemed a travesty of justice that A&M was left
from the field. The Aggies had one of the best records in the
nation of any team not to make the tournament.
But Johnson said he realizes the Aggies dug their own hole.
“We knew what we had to do, and just didn’t get it done in
those last three series,” Johnson said. “We had our fate in our
own hands.”
Although the season ended on a sour note, 1990 should be
remembered as a successful one.
The team that Johnson led onto Olsen Field in the Feb. 9
opener against the University of Texas-Arlington was virtually
devoid of experienced position players, having been deci
mated by graduation and the pro draft in the summer of 1989.
playoffs
Only two position players, Travis Williams and Trey Witte,
survived the purging, and they had played sparingly as fresh
men.
At the time, Johnson admitted that he’d never lost so much
talent in one summer.
So Johnson knew he’d have to count on junior college trans
fers and a strong pitching staff to get the Aggies off to a solid
start.
And they certainly did.
A&M won its first nine games of the season before dropping
four of six on a hectic Louisiana road trip.
But the Aggies bounced back behind a suprisingly strong
pitching staff and took two of three games from Louisiana
State in a rematch of the 1989 NCAA regional.
Shortly thereafter, A&M won the Aggie Continental Classic,
finishing the double-round-robin tourney with a 5-1 record.
From that point, the Aggies caught fire, winning 12 in a row
for a 30-7 record. During the string, A&M swept Missouri,
Southwestern, Texas Tech and Hardin Simmons.
The streak stopped in Waco as the Bears edged the Aggies
7-6 in the series opener. A&M and Baylor swapped shutouts in
the doubleheader finale.
The Aggies followed by pounding out six consecutive victo
ries, including three over Rice to take a 37-9 record into the
crucial three-game set against the Longhorns in Austin.
Texas won the opener, behind Kirk Dressenjiorfer’s pitch
ing and sloppy Aggie defense. Junior Rich Robertson, a trans-
See Wrap-up/Page 11
Page 2
Aggie Baseball
'i\V»\ViYvYSVv 1
Monday, February 11,1991
SJ3A039J uosinqoyj
Dempsey, Davis provide new
voices at Olsen Field this year
By Steve O'Brien
Of The Battalion Staff
Texas A&M journalism lecturer John
Mark Dempsey and radio station sales
executive Randy Davis will have a big
mouth to fill this season.
The pair will replace Derrick “D.D."
Grubbs — the only person who has seen
every Aggie home game at Olsen Field
—as public address announcers for Ag
gie baseball.
Grubbs, who was the voice of A&M
baseball from 1976 undl this season,
played signature songs for Aggie play
ers as they came up to bat and blared
the Olympic Theme after great de
fensive plays.
For 15 years, his assortment of music
and game antics provided color to
games at Olsen Field like no other col
lege ball park m the country.
Dave South, A&M assistant athletic
director for marketing and promotion
sales, said Grubbs will be missed.
“We won’t be able to replace D.D.
Grubbs, nor are we going to try,” South
said. “It would be like trying to take over
for the David Letterman show.
“The bottom line is what’s going on
out there on the field. The main show is
the nine players on the field.”
Without the personality of Grubbs,
other things will be used to get the
crowd involved in the games, South
said.
“We’re going to incorporate the
scoreboard in the games this year,”
South said. “We’re going to give away
more prizes.
“Every game there will be a chance
for two people to win a Toyota.”
Dempsey is a longtime fan of Aggie
baseball and said he is looking forward
to the challenge of replacing a legend at
Olsen Field.
“I think it’s going to be fun,” Demp
sey said. Tm a baseball fan and an
A&M baseball fan.
“I’ve spent a lot of nights out there
watching (the Aggies). It’s a fun place to
go and have a good time, and I know a
lot of people would like to do this.”
Dempsey said he also has been a fan
of Grubbs for many years.
“He did a sensational job and I’m
sorry he’s not going to be here,” Demp
sey said. “I enjoyed what he did as much
as anyone.”
Davis, a former morning talk show
host for radio station KTSR, acknowl
edges the big job in front of himself and
Dempsey.
Huck from page 9
will see his parents on their vacation
and they will make weekend trips to
College Station for the Texas and Ar
kansas series.
On the field, Huckuntod does not
find any one part of the game more
difficult than another.
The arrival of Huckuntod caused
baseball coach Mark Johnson to make
a position change on the team.
Last year’s second baseman, Trey
Witte, will play many different posi-
dons this year, including pitcher.
Huckuntod respects the way that
Witte has accepted his new role with
the team.
“Trey is a great athlete,” Huckun
tod said. “He can play just about any
where.”
Coach Johnson has high expecta
tions for Huckuntod this year.
“He hit the ball as well as anybody
this fall,” Johnson said. “He could be
someone we circle the wagons
around.”
Huckuntod already has proven
himself on the field as well as in the
classroom.
He is a two-time Division II All-
American as well as the 1990 Division
II Academic Player of the Year.
Coach Johnson has Huckuntod
penciled in as his lead-off hitter to uti
lize his speed. Huckuntod stole over
100 bases during his three years at
CMS.
Huckuntod’s base stealing prowess
should help a team whose leader last
year was Tim Holt (12 steals).
“(Huckuntod) has got good speed,”
Johnson said. “He can go full speed af
ter two steps.”
There are some more subtle qualites
about Huckuntod that Johnson has
noticed.
“He is very sharp and popular and
has a twinkle in his eye,” Johnson said.
Even though Huckuntod lived most
of his life in Missouri, he never had a
chance to make it to Omaha, Neb. for
the College World Series.
“I’ll go sometime,” Huckuntod said.
“Hopefully I’ll make it this year so I
won’t have to go and watch it.”
Wrap-up
fer from San Jacinto Junior College, upped his season record
to 9-0 with a 5-3 win in the second game. But the Aggies fell 2-
1 in the heart-breaking finale.
The Aggies then beat Texas Southern in a twi-night double-
header, blanking the Tigers both games 6-0, 9-0. The nightcap
marked the 12th shutout the Aggies had thrown, breaking the
record for most in a season formerly held by the 1979 squad.
But A&M could not maintain their momentum, and
dropped the middle game of the TCU series, dropping their
SWC mark to 10-5. Still, with series remaining against Hous
ton and Arkansas, the Aggies needed only to win two games to
clinch a spot in the SWC Postseason Tournament.
They did not make it. A&M lost all three games of the Hous
ton series and two against Arkansas and missed the tourna
ment for the first time since 1985, Johnson’s first season at the
helm.
The Aggies’ bats failed them in the Houston series as they
lost by scores of 1-0,4-3 and 4-2.
As a result, Rice went to the tournament instead of A&M.
The Owls finished SWC play 11-9 (by virtue of a rainout
against Texas), one-half game ahead of the Aggies. Under
SWC rules, if a game cannot be played on the weekend it is
scheduled, the game is canceled and will not be made up.
The NCAA selection committee chose not to invite A&M to
the NCAA tournament, apparently because the Aggies failed
Continued from page 2
to make the SWC tourney. The NCAA generally does .rot in
vite teams that do not make it to their own tournaments.
A&M managed only a .252 team batting average with 32
homers for the season, but held opposing batters to .219 and
25 homers.
Designated hitter David Rollen led the Aggies with a .297
average and eight home runs. Freshman Brian Thomas batted
.290, despite hitting no homers.
The lack of home run power was typical of the Aggie sea
son. The team total was anemic compared to the 88 that the
1989 squad bashed.
A glaring hole in the Aggie attack was the lack of an effec
tive lead-off hitter. Centerfielder Tim Holt, who led off most
of the season, managed only a .220 average.
Third baseman Travis Williams had a .273 average and his
eight homers were good for a share f the team lead.
But the pitching was phenonemai in 1990.
Aside from Robinson’s strikeout clinic, the Aggie staff fea
tured junior Ronnie Allen, who went 6-4 with a 2.35 ERA. Al
len’s record does not tell the true tale because Allen constantly
faced the opposing staffs ace.
Kerry Freudenburg, Sean Lawrence, Bo Siberz and Steve
Hughes anchored the Aggie bullpen, combining for a 13-4 re
cord and seven saves. Junior Jason Bullard was 4-0 with two
saves.
Preview
fer from Central Missouri State, pushed
Trey Witte from the second base spot.
Huckuntod, a two-time Division II All-
American, brings speed as well as good
bat control.
“He’s at full speed after two steps,”
Johnson said of Huckuntod, who hit .475,
.418 and .314, while stealing 110 bases
over three seasons. Johnson also said that
Huckuntod was a probable leadoff hitter
for the Aggies.
Conrad Colby, a junior transfer from
Rancho Santiago Junior College (Calif.),
is a prototype cleanup hitter. The 6-foot,
197-pound first baseman brings a .412 ca
reer average with 10 homers.
Colby bashed 15 home runs while play
ing summer ball in Alaska last year.
Junior Travis Williams will hold down
the third base spot again this season. The
two-year letterman finished fourth on the
team in 1990 with a .273 average.
Shortstop Jason Marshall gained over
10 pounds in an off-season workout pro
gram and hopes to add punch to the Ag
gie attack this year. The senior hit .259
and stole five bases in 1990.
Marshall is backed up by sophomore
Mike Hickey, a higly touted transfer from
the University of Oklahoma.
The most unstable spot in the infield
this year is at catcher, where Blake Pyle,
David Rollen and Ben Blake contend for
the job.
Pyle, a senior co-captain, holds the in
side track with a solid lefthanded bat.
Rollen put in more time last year at desig
nated hitter and has not shown the de
fensive skills Johnson would like. Blake, a
junior transfer from Westark Community
College (Ark.) has shown immense im
provement since the fall, Johnson said.
The outfield positions have been hotly
contested, but some positions appear to
be solidified.
Sophomore Brian Thomas, who filled
in for the injured Dan Robinson last sea
son, will start in left field. Thomas hit
.290 as a true freshman, and showed a
good eye for the strike zone.
Robinson missed the bulk of the season
after he suffed a broken jaw and a con
cussion in a March 17 collision with Witte.
At the time of the accident, he was lead
ing the team in homers, RBI, runs scored
and stolen bases.
Although he lost 15 pounds as a result
of the injury, Robinson has gained it back
and has regained his timing at the plate.
Centerfield is the most uncertain out
field spot.
Tim Holt played the position well last
season, but managed only a .220 batting
average. Holt is still the best defesive out
fielder on the squad and should play as
long as he hits well.
Thomas has the speed to play center,
should Johnson decide to put Chad
Broussard into left field, where he played
most of last season.
Broussard’s low home run production
— he hit only six last season — seems to
have cost him the starting role this season.
Cornelius Patterson, who also plays
football for the Aggies, played in cen
terfield last season, but was used primar
ily in a pinch running role.
Brett Weinberger and senior Steve Me
dina could challenge for a spot.
Rollen held down the designated hitter
role last season, and should do so again
this year. Pyle, if not playing catcher or
first base, would be available as a left-
handed designated hitter.
Continued from page 2
When Witte is not pitching, he will be
available as a utility man. He showed
Johnson in the fall that he could play
most positions and still swings a good bat,
possibly too good to keep out of the
lineup.
The nonconference schedule facing
A&M is not as gentle as last season’s, but
the SWC slate will favor the Aggies.
A stretch of 15 games in 19 days —
highlighted by a three-game road trip to
Louisiana State Feb. 22-23 — should test
the young Aggie pitching staff.
Tough nonconference teams will visit
Olsen Field this year. Arizona comes in
March 15-17 for three games and the Ag
gie-Continental Classic will again show
case some fierce competition. Illinios,
Kansas State and the University of Wash
ington will square off against the Aggies
March 9-12.
Although A&M will play four of seven
SWC series on the road this season, the
Aggies get Arkansas, Baylor and Texas at
home.
If Johnson can retool his wrecked
pitching staff, he could build a bigger suc
cess story than last year’s.
Tiijjaati
Monday, February 11,1991
Aggie Baseball
Page 11