Prep baseball: Skeleton crew

Barry Faulkner

COSTA MESA - Like the fictitious Mudville squad that featured

Mighty Casey, Coach Doug Deat’s high school baseball team could be known

as the Estancia Nine.

There are, in fact, 10 players on the roster, but the fact that the

would-be 11th player, senior returning standout Jordan Hart, will be

sidelined until at least mid-April while concentrating on his studies,

helps diminish the prospect of much joy in Eagle-ville, as the season

opener looms Friday.

“We’re a lean, mean, fighting machine,” quipped Deats, in his third

year at Estancia.

Deats is buoyed by five senior returners, as well as senior Jermaine

Snell, who transferred from Fountain Valley last fall.

“The kids are working real hard and they’ve been enthusiastic,” Deats

said.

The Eagles, lacking supreme talent, will need all the attitude they

can summon to surpass last year’s 6-18 record, 3-12 in the Pacific Coast

League.

Hart, a 6-foot-4 left-hander who helped Estancia win 2 of 3 from

crosstown rival Costa Mesa last season to claim the perpetual Paul Troxel

Trophy that goes to the series winner, would have been a workhorse on the

mound and one of the team’s best hitters.

Goff, an All-Newport-Mesa District selection as a junior outfielder,

hit .390 (32 for 82) last spring, with 12 RBIs, seven doubles, three

triples and 20 runs. He will hit leadoff this year, as Deats attempts to

maximize his at-bats.

Senior Casey Gates will help carry some of the pitching load when he

isn’t playing shortstop. Gates, who broke a finger playing basketball,

should be ready for Friday’s Newport Elks Tournament opener against

visiting Pacifica, after having his cast removed this week, Deats said.

Senior Paul Flory will share mound duty and play first base, while

freshman third baseman Greg Hughes, and sophomore infielder Tyler

Hoffman, will also throw to senior catcher Justin Lund, entering his

third varsity season.

Flory and Gates earned pitching experience for last year’s varsity,

while Hughes boasts the team’s strongest arm, according to Deats.

“(Hughes) figures to be a real good player,” Deats said. “He has a

strong arm and a pretty good swing. He just needs to mature.”

Hoffman is the nephew of former major league Glenn Hoffman and current

San Diego Padres closer Trevor Hoffman. Deats said he’ll play first base

when Flory pitches.

“He’s got some talent,” Deats said of Hoffman.

Senior Mitch Valdes will be joined in the outfield by the speedy

Snell, an all-district cornerback in football. The two shared point guard

duties for the basketball team, from which Deats was unsuccessful in

luring junior Lewis Bradshaw onto the diamond.

Deats said Snell’s athleticism may also allow him to see time in the

infield.

Sophomore Jeremy Hauser, whose father is a walk-on assistant coach,

will play second, while junior Tony Ippolito is the lone source of depth,

until and if Hart returns.

Estancia baseball roster

J.B. Goff Sr.

Casey Gates Sr.

Justin Lund Sr.

Mitch Valdes Sr.

Paul Flory Sr.

Greg Hughes Fr.

Jeremy Hauser So.

Jermaine Snell Sr.

Tyler Hoffman So.

Tony Ippolito Jr.

Jordan Hart Sr.

Coach: Doug Deats