2006 Season Outlook

Junior Outfielder

2006 CALIFORNIA GOLDEN BEAR 7 2006 SEASON OUTLOOK NO DOUBT 2006 GOLDEN BEARS HAVE SIGHTS SET ON NCAA The 2006 California baseball team wants to “Leave No Doubt.” That is the rallying call for Golden Bears after being snubbed by the NCAA selection committee following a 2005 campaign in which Cal finished 34-23 overall and 13-11 in the Pac-10 – a record that normally would have warranted a postseason berth. The 2006 Bears, ranked 25th in ’s preseason Top 25 poll and featuring three preseason All-Americans, believe they have enough talent, with plenty of motivation, to get into an NCAA regional. “After what happened to us last year, the team should have motivation,” said head coach David Esquer. “We should be able to work off the momentum we had at the end of last season after playing well against teams that did advance to the NCAAs. We tasted that success, and now we want to leave no doubt in anyone’s mind that we deserve to be a regional team.” Cal has a wide array of talent returning to help prove its case. The Bears feature five players who enter the 2006 campaign with impressive accolades – junior center fielder Brennan Boesch, sophomore infielder Josh Satin, junior left fielder Chris Errecart, senior shortstop and junior right-hander Brandon Morrow. Boesch has been selected a first-team Preseason All- American by the Collegiate Baseball Writers, and is a preseason All-American in Baseball America and Collegiate Baseball as well. The 6-5 left-hander is also on the 2006 Brooks Wallace Award list as a potential na- tional player of the year candi- date. A 2005 first-team All-Pac-10 honoree, Boesch had a team-leading .355 average last year with 21 doubles, two triples, seven home runs and 33 RBI. His 21 doubles was third on the school’s all- Junior outfielder Chris Errecart is a second-team preseason All- time single-season doubles list. American in Baseball America after an outstanding summer in Satin, high school teammates with Boesch the Cape Cod League. at Harvard-Westlake High School in Los Ange- les, was also a first-team All-Pac-10 selection mention All-Pac-10 after hitting .307 overall and .358 in conference play, and earned Collegiate Baseball Freshman All- collecting 14 doubles, eight home runs and 35 RBI. Three times during the America honors. He was the first Cal freshman to year, he began a game with a as Cal’s lead-off batter. be named All-America and All-Pac-10 since Xavier Another preseason All-American for the Bears is 6-3 junior right- Nady was the National Freshman of the Year in hander Morrow, who wooed the professional scouts last summer when 1998. After sitting out the 2004 season with an he struck out 24 batters in 14.7 innings with a 1.84 ERA and three injured right shoulder, Satin started all 57 games at saves for Yarmouth-Dennis. Throwing in the mid 90s with an second base last year, batting .348 with 15 doubles, impressive slider, change-up and split-finger fastball, he was a triple, five home runs and 40 RBI. He paced the selected as a Cape Cod League All-Star and is a third-team team with 26-multiple hit games, had a team-high 15- preseason All-American in Baseball America. game hitting streak and a team-best .434 average with The Bears possess much more than just the previously runners in scoring position. mentioned standouts. Several other athletes, both veterans and After a stellar summer in which he was a Cape Cod newcomers, will play key roles in Cal’s postseason chase. League All-Star, Errecart has been picked as a second- On the mound, the Bears return 6-6 junior right- team preseason All-American in Baseball America. hander Michael Cooper and 6-5 senior right-hander A left-hander who bats right-handed, he hit .303 with Alex Trafton, a pair of veterans who will provide six home runs and 22 RBI this summer for stability to a young pitching staff that includes Yarmouth-Dennis after batting .298 with 15 eight freshmen. Cooper was solid last year as a doubles, eight home runs and 35 RBI for the junior college transfer from Santa Ana College, Josh Satin was named a 2005 Bears last spring. going 3-2 with a 3.47 ERA, making 16 Freshman All-American and The veteran Craig also had an excep- appearances with nine starts. Trafton, a first-team All-Pac-10 after tional summer as he was picked as a first- side-winding reliever who was 2-1 batting .348 with 15 doubles, team shortstop on Baseball America’s with a 3.54 ERA and a save in 21 five home runs and 40 RBI Summer All-America Team. He ex- appearances last season, was last season for the Bears. celled for Alexandria (Minn.) of the all-league this summer for the , batting .362 Matsu Miners in the Alaska with 12 home runs and 40 RBI. League, going 5-1 with a 1.72 ERA. Cooper should be one of the Bears’ As a junior, Craig was honorable

8 2006 CALIFORNIA GOLDEN BEAR BASEBALL Senior Allen Craig was a first- Karnofsky is a talented left-handed hitter who sat out the majority of last team shortstop on Baseball season after having shoulder surgery, but could be Cal’s main designated America’s 2005 Summer All- hitter. He has a .309 career average with five doubles, a home run and 15 American team, batting .362 RBI in 55 college at-bats. Burchett is a veteran player who will be utilized with 12 home runs and 40 primarily as a relief pitcher this season after starting 12 games in right field RBI for the Alexandria of last year. He has an outstanding arm, throwing in the low 90s with an above- the Northwoods League. average curveball and change-up. The Cal coaching staff has again brought in a top-notch freshman class with several athletes who could see immediate action, especially on the mound where the Bears lost their top four pitchers to graduation and the draft. Tyson Ross, a 6-5 right-hander from Bishop O’Dowd High School in Oakland, is already slated to be one of Cal’s weekend starters, throwing in the high 80s to low 90s. He had an impressive outing against Cuba this fall as a member of the USA Junior National Team, allowing only two hits in 5.0 innings. Crafty freshman left-hander Chris Petrini, out of Sacred Heart Cathedral High School in San Francisco, has also put himself in the running to be one of the Bears’ starters after throwing well in the preseason. Outfielder Ryan Hanlon, from Laguna Creek High School in Elk Grove, Calif., is another freshman who has impressed the Cal coaching staff with his hitting and fielding, while left-handed hitting freshman catcher Charlie Cutler, from Lowell High School in San Francisco, had unworldly stats during his prep career, hitting .636 as a junior with a California high school record 71 RBI. “Our fall practices were very competitive,” said Esquer. “This is as good of a freshman group as we have ever had. I have a lot of confidence in the weekend Pac-10 players we have returning, and a lot of confidence in the newcomers. For starters, while Trafton is the freshmen, it could be just a matter of how quickly their performance level a candidate to be Cal’s closer. matches their talent level. I am extremely optimistic about this year’s team.” As far as position players are concerned, the Bears have a solid CAL BY POSITIONS core of returnees. Sophomore first baseman Mike Van Winden, junior catcher Garrett Bussiere and sophomore in- PITCHING fielder Kyle Spraker were regulars last A big key to the success of the 2005 season and will be looked to for contin- Bears was their pitching staff, with solid ued production. Van Winden had a magical contributions from starters Eric Dworkis season as a redshirt freshman, starting 52 and Adam Gold, and superior relief per- games at first base and batting .296 with 11 formances from Travis Talbott and Matt doubles, two triples, a home run, 31 RBI Swanson. But Dworkis, Talbott and and three game-winning hits. Bussiere, Cal’s Swanson were drafted and graduated, and regular catcher the last two years, overcame Gold signed with the . a slow start in 2005 to bat .262 overall and Cal is going have to replace these players .306 versus the Pac-10 with four doubles, with a few established returnees, some five home runs and 21 RBI, including a grand redshirts coming back from injuries and a slam versus Washington State. Spraker so- large class of talented freshmen, including lidified the Bears’ infield as a true freshman, four left-handers and a member of the making 44 starts at shortstop, turning 31 USA Junior National Team. double plays while batting .221 with six Junior right-hander Michael Cooper doubles, three home runs and 15 RBI. is Cal’s top returning starter after a solid Other returnees who will contend for sophomore campaign. The 6-6, 230- playing time include sophomore outfielder pounder, who was drafted in the 17th Jason Corder, sophomore catcher/utility round by the in 2004, man Travis Howell, junior infielder Brett started nine games for the Bears, finishing Munster, sophomore designated hitter Jor- 3-2 with a 3.47 ERA (ninth in the Pac-10). dan Karnofsky and senior right-hander/ Cooper throws in the high 80s to low 90s outfielder Jeremy Burchett. with a slider, change-up and split-finger Corder is a top candidate to start in right fastball. field after batting .297 with 26 RBI and a The baseball world is extremely high on league-leading 15 doubles for Anchorage in the talents of junior right-hander Bran- the Alaska League last summer. He can also Hard-throwing right-hander Brandon Morrow is a third- don Morrow, a third-team Preseason All- be utilized as a relief pitcher, throwing in the team preseason All-American in Baseball America after American in Baseball America, who was low 90s. Howell had 19 starts behind the an impressive summer outing in the Cape Cod League. also named the fifth-best professional plate for the Bears last spring and this prospect in the prestigious Cape Cod summer received the Rawlings Silver Glove Award as the top defensive League this past summer by the national baseball publication. Morrow, catcher in the Northwoods League, playing for the Mankato (Minn.) who can throw in the mid 90s, had 24 strikeouts in 14.7 innings with a 1.84 Moondogs. Munster will again be vying for a spot in Cal’s infield after ERA and three saves for Yarmouth-Dennis. Despite only owning a 1-4 starting the final seven games last season at shortstop, helping the Bears career record with Cal, he has the type of skills that could make him one to a 5-2 mark. of the top hurlers in the Pac-10.

2006 CALIFORNIA GOLDEN BEAR BASEBALL 9 A newcomer who has the Cal coaching staff excited is freshman Tyson Ross, who has the skills to be one of Cal’s weekend starters. The 6-5 right- hander comes to the Bears after a successful high school career at Bishop O’Dowd, where he was 12-1 with a 0.71 ERA and 130 strikeouts as a senior, earning North Coast Section Player of the Year honors. Ross is also a two- member of the USA Junior National Team and had a stellar pitching performance against Cuba in the fall. Four more potential starters are freshmen left-handers Chris Petrini and Craig Bennigson, and redshirt sophomores Alex Rollin and Kevin Barnum. Petrini showed the ability to be a starter during the fall, throwing in the upper 80s with an effective curveball, slider and change-up. Bennigson is a 6-2 lefty from Benicia High School, where he was 14-0 with a 0.17 ERA as a senior, earning ABCA All-Region 8 and Solano County Conference MVP honors. He throws in the mid 80s with a cut fastball, curveball and change-up. Rollin, who redshirted in 2004 and had to sit out 2005 with an arm injury, had a phenomenal 2004 summer in the Collegiate League, where he was named the league’s pitcher of the year after going 6-0 with three saves and not giving up an earned run in 37.0 innings. He is a right-hander who throws in the high 80s with a curveball, slider and change-up. The left- handed Barnum sat out last season after having Tommy John surgery in the summer of 2004. He throws in the mid 80s with a split-finger fastball, curveball and change-up. Both Rollin and Barnum are healthy entering the 2006 campaign, and their effectiveness could be a key for the Cal pitching staff. Senior side-winder Alex The Bears’ leader out of the bullpen will be senior Alex Trafton, who Trafton has developed into a established himself as a valuable reliever last season with a 3.54 ERA in 21 valuable reliever for Cal and appearances. Trafton went 2-1 with a save in 2005, including a key win at was a Alaska League All-Star Long Beach State, and had 22 strikeouts in 28.3 innings. He throws in the this past summer. mid to high 80s from a submarine arm angle. Freshman Matt Gorgen, sophomores Nick Tess and Jason Corder, and senior Jeremy Burchett are also projected to help Cal as right-handed relievers. Gorgen, from Clayton Valley High School, throws in the low 90s with a cut-fastball, curveball and change-up. He is also in line to be one of the Bears’ closers. Tess only saw action in four games last season, but finished with seven strikeouts in 7.3 innings with a 2.45 ERA, and only yielded one hit in 3.7 innings against Stanford. Corder and Burchett are both outfielders with outstanding velocity on their fastball, a sharp curveball and Junior right-hander an effective change-up. Burchett will probably see most of his action on the Michael Cooper is slated to mound this season. be one of the Bears’ top Left-handers Cameron Johnson, Sean Watson and Michael Bugary starters after a solid 2005 could also play important roles out of the bullpen. Johnson is a talented campaign. athlete who was utilized as a spot reliever in 2004, but sat out last season recovering from arm surgery. He was impressive in the summer of 2004, going 7-1 with a 1.60 ERA and three saves in the . Watson is a 6-9 freshman lefty from Acalanes High School with an outstanding change-up to go along with his curveball. Bugary, who is also a top freshman hitter for the Bears, can contribute on the mound as well, throwing in the high 80s and going 10-2 with three no-hitters as a senior at Monterey High School. The Bears have a senior (Alec Harris), a sophomore (Case Dahlen), three redshirt freshmen (Travis Erickson, Dane Ferguson and Kurt De La Rosa), and a true freshman (Michael Brady) who could figure in the pitching scheme. Harris is a 6-5 right-hander with the ability to help as either a reliever or starter. He throws in the low 90s and had seven saves and a 1.17 ERA as a sophomore at San Diego Mesa Junior College. The 6-5 left-handed Dahlan throws in the mid 80s and is healthy after recovering from a high school arm injury and could see action as either a starter or reliever. Erickson, Ferguson and De La Rosa are all talented right-handers who throw in the mid to high 80s and should get a chance to contribute. Brady, from Santa Margarita High School, is also a standout infielder who throws in the mid 80s with an effective curveball and change-up. CATCHING Head coach David Esquer is extremely excited about his catching corps, calling it one of the best groups in the nation. The Bears have two solid returnees in junior Garrett Bussiere and sophomore Travis Howell, plus

10 2006 CALIFORNIA GOLDEN BEAR BASEBALL standout freshman Charlie Cutler. with 15 home runs as a junior at Bussiere is a talented receiver and hitter, who has been Monterey High School and has the an impact player for Cal the last two years. In 2004, he was tools to be an outstanding college named the team’s Freshman of the Year after hitting .307 hitter. with five home runs and 21 RBI. Bussiere again hit five Sophomore Kyle Spraker and jun- home runs with 21 RBI as a sophomore, coming back from ior Brett Munster are in the running an early season slump to bat .306 in conference play. for starting infield duties as well. Howell is a capable catcher as well, and has the ability Spraker started 44 games at shortstop to play either the infield or outfield. He was named the top as a true freshman, providing Cal with defensive catcher in the Northwoods League this summer, a sure glove, making only seven errors earning the Rawlings Silver Glove Award. As a redshirt in 182 chances and providing some freshman, Howell had a clutch suicide squeeze bunt in the clutch hitting. He might move to sec- 11th inning to help defeat Stanford. ond base this season. Munster is an- Cutler is a highly touted left-handed hitting catcher from other capable member of the Bears’ San Francisco’s Lowell High School, where he knocked in infield, starting the final seven games an incredible 130 RBI in the last two years. He is in line at shortstop last year, helping the to be an immediate contributor to the Bears’ offense. Bears capture key Pac-10 series over Two other catchers on the Cal roster are junior college Stanford and Arizona. transfer Connor Buestad and senior bullpen catcher Ben Junior Stephen Carlson, sopho- Liepman. Buestad will provide the Bears with depth more Travis Howell and true fresh- behind the plate after impressing the Cal coaches in the fall, man Michael Brady could also be in while Liepman is in his third year as the Bears’ bullpen the running for playing time at third catcher. base. Carlson is a switch hitter who finally played in 12 games last year after being plagued with shoulder in- INFIELD juries the prior two seasons. He is The Cal infield returns every starter from the 2005 considered one of the team’s top field- season with the exception of graduated third baseman ers. Howell, who is also a catching Matt Einspahr, plus senior Allen Craig will move back candidate, could step in and play third to the infield after being named a first-team Summer All- base as well. Brady, a standout short- America shortstop by Baseball America. stop out of Santa Margarita High An honorable mention All-Pac-10 selection as prima- School, can handle any of the infield rily a left fielder in 2005, Craig owns a .292 career batting Kyle Spraker started 44 games at shortstop for positions and is sure to push for average with 33 doubles, a triple, 16 home runs and 72 RBI. the Bears last season as a true freshman. playing time. He hit .304 overall and .358 versus the Pac-10 last year, proving to be a clutch performer as the Bears’ lead-off man. Another obviously talented hitter returning to Cal’s infield is sophomore OUTFIELD Josh Satin, who was spectacular as a redshirt freshman, earning All-Pac- Cal returns all of its outfielders from 2005 and features two preseason 10 and freshman All-America honors in Collegiate Baseball after hitting .348 All-Americans – Brennan Boesch and Chris Errecart. with 40 RBI and leading the team with 26 multiple-hit games and a .434 The talented left-handed Boesch is Cal’s most highly touted player average with runners in scoring position. Satin could possibly move to third entering a season since three-time All-American (1998-00). base this season after starting all 57 games at second base in 2005. After earning first-team All-Pac-10 honors last season as a sophomore, The Bears return sophomore first baseman Mike Van Winden, who was batting .355 with 21 doubles, two triples, seven home runs and 33 RBI, the a clutch performer as a Bears’ center fielder is a 2006 NCBWA first-team Preseason All-American, left-handed hitting a second-team preseason All-American in Baseball America and a third- redshirt freshman, team preseason All-American in Collegiate Baseball. knocking in three game- Cal’s left fielder is slated to be Errecart, who is a second-team preseason winning hits and batting All-American in Baseball America after an impressive summer in the .296 with 11 doubles, prestigious Cape Cod League. The junior seems primed for an outstanding two triples, a home run, year after hitting .298 with 15 doubles, eight home runs and 35 RBI as a 31 RBI and a team-lead- sophomore for the Bears, followed by his .303 average with six home runs ing 29 walks. Other first and 22 RBI in the Cape Cod League. base candidates include Sophomore Jason Corder is a leading candidate to start in right field after sophomore Jordan showing flashes of brilliance as a true freshman, despite missing the early Karnofsky and true part of the season with a sprained ankle and only playing in 14 games. Corder freshman Michael has displayed impressive power to go along with an outstanding arm, Bugary – both talented batting .297 with 26 RBI and leading the Alaska League with 15 doubles left-handed batters. last summer. Karnofsky hit .288 with Standout freshman Ryan Hanlon, senior Rob Nesbitt and sophomore five doubles, a home run Taylor Grigsby are also in the mix for outfield duty. The 6-1, 185-pound and 14 RBI in 26 games Hanlon impressed the Cal coaches with his skills in the fall after a stellar as a freshman in 2004, career at Laguna Creek High School, earning league MVP honors as a junior. and was 2-for-3 with an The veteran Nesbitt also played well in the fall and is strong defensively, RBI last year before seeing action in 15 games last season, while Grigsby played in eight games Garrett Bussiere has been Cal’s regular having surgery on his as a redshirt freshman, mostly as a pinch runner. Redshirt freshmen catcher the past two seasons and has tallied right shoulder. Bugary, Michael Capbarat, a 6-3, 200-pound outfielder from De La Salle High 10 home runs and 42 RBI. a 6-4, 220-pounder, bat- School, and Tyler Waddell, a 6-2, 220-pounder from Peninsula High ted an impressive .659 School, will be battling for playing time in the Bears’ outfield as well.

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