Cal State San Marcos takes the field
Union-Tribune 1/28/07
After the 14-8 loss to San Diego Christian, a couple of concerns were reinforced for head coach Dennis Pugh and his team.
First, building a program from the ground up will not be easy.
Second, the Cougars' home diamond at the San Marcos High School field isn't exactly pitcher-friendly. The ball flies out of the yard with little effort, as evidenced by the six homers in the opener.
Though the program is new and bound to experience some bumps in the road, the people involved with the team are no strangers to area baseball.
The distinct San Diego feel begins right at the top with Pugh. In 27 years at Mission Bay High School, Pugh won 18 league titles and eight San Diego Section CIF titles. He twice has been named California Coach of the Year and National Coach of the Year.
Third-year Cal State athletic director Dr. Steve Nichols said the university had been kicking around the idea of fielding a baseball team since 2003. As the program became more of a reality, Nichols was excited to see Pugh's name come up as a coaching possibility.
“He's amazing. As soon as his name showed up in the pool of people interested with the job, he was the guy to beat,” Nichols said.
Roughly two-thirds of the 40-man roster played high school or junior college baseball in the area. Although Pugh already had a good idea of whom he wanted on his team, he decided to hold an open tryout. Nichols said 150 players showed up.
Pugh wanted to start with mostly freshmen to allow the majority of the players to work together for four years.
The Cougars will be competing at the NAIA level. Pitching seems to be the biggest concern, as the staff is made up almost entirely of freshmen.
Wednesday's loss to San Diego Christian was against a team also in its first year. Hawks head coach Mike Lord took a different approach from Pugh's, filling his roster with mostly junior college transfers.
“We know this is going to be a struggle at first,” Pugh said after the loss. “Our pitching will get better with more experience. It's a lot to ask of 18-year-olds to pitch against 21-year-olds when they are just out of high school.”
The team has 11 upperclassmen who add some experience.
Senior Scott Shapiro, 23, was an All-American at St. Augustine High School. The Oceanside native went on to play collegiate baseball at Santa Clara and Vanderbilt, and came back to San Diego to be a pitching coach at Oceanside High School.
Shapiro found out he had a year left of eligibility and decided to use it at Cal State. He's glad he made the decision to get back into playing.
“It's the best team experience I've had so far,” said Shapiro, a right-handed pitcher and first baseman who also will be one of the team's big bats. “Everyone gets along really well. Everyone's pulling for each other. Matter of factly, this is the best experience I've had so far in baseball.”
David Julio is another Cougar right-hander. The junior is a transfer from Southwestern College in Chula Vista and said the team has high expectations, despite being a new program.
“A lot of people are going to be looking out at this team to see what they can do in the first year. It's a good chance for exposure here also,” he said.