How much more underrated can a conference get? Year in, year out the WCC gets more talent taken in the MLB draft than any other mid-major out there. Hell, they get more players drafted than some of the BCS snobs. Yet it’s still treated like a red-headed step child. That’s okay, in pure WCC style, they exact their revenge on the field.

2009 in a Paragraph:
Is this conference allowed an “off year” or not? Should we be harsh with them? This is the conference I continually trumpet up to be THE mid-major conference in college baseball. Come on guys! True, 2009 wasn’t a banner year for the usually dangerous WCC as only one (yes, 1) team made the NCAAs, and that was regular season champion Gonzaga, the northernmost school in the loop. The Zags led the WCC with 36 wins in a season that saw no 40-game winners and just three 30+ winners. Aye! With traditional powers San Diego and Pepperdine stricken with injuries and malaise, the WCC took some bruises in 2009.

2009 Results:
1- Gonzaga, 14-7
2- LMU, 13-8
3- Pepperdine, 12-9
3- San Francisco, 12-9
5- San Diego, 11-10
6- St. Mary’s, 9-12
7- Portland, 7-14
8- Santa Clara, 6-15

2010 in a Paragraph:
Well 2010 looks to be a much improved state of being for the WCC, at least it better be. Gonzaga lost enough to fall from the favorite position but it’s not like they’re gonna sink into oblivion. There is still enough talent there. If San Diego stays injury free (knock on anything made of wood that is near you) and Pepperdine gets big lifts from its talented sophomore class, these two WCC monsters could get right back on track to where they were in 2008. LMU finished in 2nd place last year and has the youthful arms to make another run at the WCC playoffs. Same goes for bay area MASH units San Francisco and Santa Clara, both of whom have unlimited potential when healthy. But I’m still leaning toward a re-hashing of the USD-P’dine rivalry to come out on top. But I’m not putting any of that into my secret Swiss bank account, ‘coz we’ve all seen these teams hit rock-bottom because of forces beyond their control.

Matt Thomson is part of a stable of lethal arms that will get USD back to prominence.

Favorite: San Diego

Contenders: Gonzaga, LMU, Pepperdine

Darkhorse: San Francisco

Can’t-Miss Series of the Year: San Diego at Pepperdine, May 21-23

Best Non-Conference Series: Rice at San Diego, March 19-21

Hot Coach: Mark Machtolf, Gonzaga

Hot Seat Coach: None

The “You Gotta See” Player: 3B Troy Channing, St. Mary’s

Three Non-Conference Series WCC Opponents Better Take Seriously:
1- San Diego at Arizona State, April 5-6
2- East Carolina at Pepperdine, March 11-13
3- St. Mary’s at Southern Miss, April 1-3

Three Bold Predictions:
1- San Diego – gulp! – makes it to the Super Regionals in 2010. (… then again, is Omaha too much to ask?)
2- Pepperdine will throw the kitchen sink at LSU and win at least one game at Alex Box Stadium on the first weekend in March.
3- Despite not being mentioned above, Portland could be the WCC spoiler with its May schedule of USD, USF and Gonzaga.

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- GONZAGA (36-18, 14-7)
2009 RPI: 47
Starters Returning: 3
Weekend Starters: 1
Mid-Week Starters: 1
Key Relievers (20+inns.): 2

All Conference Candidates:
RHP Cody Martin (5-4, 3.07, 6svs)
OF Drew Heid (.355, 10SBs)
OF Mark Castellito (.278-9-42)
SS Ernesto Ortiz (.257)
LHP Ryan Carpenter (6-4, 5.26

The Good News:
What a freakin’ job coach Mark Machtolf did last season. GU was coming off a pair of 30+ win seasons, but still a little off the radar. Then his charges won games against Missouri, Notre Dame and Creighton early on to open some eyes in 2009. The Zags also took advantage of a couple of off-seasons by fellow WCC members and won the conference, soon playing their way into a No. 2 seed at the Fullerton Regional. Twenty lettermen return to this year’s roster from that team. This past summer, Heid was the Alaska League MVP and Carpenter was named the No. 2-ranked prospect by Baseball America. Don’t be shocked if Ortiz busts onto the scene big-time this year as he showed great flashes as a frosh. The versatile Martin will take on a bigger role, be it as closer or starter, as will lefty Randy Berg (4-4, .540) who had 49Ks in 46.2 innings of work. Also, incoming OF Jordan Yellen was a draftee of the White Sox this past summer, but chose to be a Zag instead. We applaud.

The Bad News:
Lots of losses in the field as names like Van Winkle, Wells and Wiegand were great players and had been around the program a long time. The 29th-best team ERA in the country (4.44) will be tough to maintain with 2/3rds of the rotation and the top closer all moving on. Four of the top five hitters that were .300+ are gone, including all the big power bats. A good incoming class will be leaned up heavily, including OF Jordan Yallen, a WhiteSox draftee and Liam Baron, an Australian lefty from the JC ranks.

Schedule Note:
Going far and wide.
As usual, the Zags will get on their traveling shoes, playing the likes of Missouri, Washington and Kansas down in Arizona for the first two weekends. They’ll also play at Centenary and Texas Tech before heading to the Irish Baseball Classic in San Antonio against Notre Dame, Pacific and Bradley. They’ll wrap up pre-WCC play with a pair of big litmus tests at UC Irvine and Hawaii. Nine of their last 12 games will be home visits from Santa Clara, LMU and Portland.

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- LMU (23-32, 7-14)
2009 RPI: 94
Starters Returning: 4
Weekend Starters: 1
Mid-Week Starters: 1
Key Relievers (20+inns.): 6

All Conference Candidates:
2B Jonathan Johnson (.305)
OF Ryan Hawthorne (.307)
RHP Alex Gillingham (4-4, 5.74)
RHP Ramiro Carreon (3-1, 5.05)
RHP Xavier Esquivel (2-4, 5.09, 5svs)
RHP Chris Eusebio (5-5, 4.39, 2svs)

The Good News:
How ’bout this for a first season? After a few years in purgatory, LMU hired Jason Gill and all he did was inspire his team to a second place finish in the WCC. If I had told you that LMU would finish better than both Pepperdine and USD, you’da thought I was high, right? Well it happened. Last year’s hot frosh class will step up even bigger this season, including Carreon, Gillingham, LHP Jason Wheeler (0-2, 6.30) and LHP John Lally (1-3, 7.03), who are part of a deep bullpen. In the field, sophs-to-be 2B Shon Roe (.259-5-41) and 3B Trevor Gee (.274) grew into their roles as the season went along. Best news of all?…getting Matt Koch (.276 in ‘08) and RHP Martin Viramontes (3-6, 6.26 in ‘08) back after missing ‘08 with injuries will be huge.

The Bad News:
Despite all the success of year one, it was a 6-14 run at the end of the season that doomed their post-season chances. Let’s not repeat that in 2010 guys. The arms staff loses two big weekend starters in Lee Roberts and Ernie Cho, so a go-to guy will have to emerge from a talented bunch. Despite a decent team ERA of 5.65, that was still second-to-last in the WCC. Need to be more aggressive on the basepaths after stealing just 30 bases, second lowest total in the conference.

Schedule Note:
The usual… as tough as they can possibly make it.
LMU doesn’t mince words on wanting to play a tough schedule. And, well… bravo! You’ve done it again guys. The Lions will open with UC Irvine for three, then play four against UC Riverside and then take off for the great white north and play Minnesota and Oklahoma State in the Metrodome. They’ll also take on teams like USC, UC Santa Barbara, Long Beach State and play four at Fresno State. Aye-yaye-yaye.

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- PEPPERDINE (31-23, 12-9)
2009 RPI: 138
Starters Returning: 6
Weekend Starters: 2
Mid-Week Starters: 1
Key Relievers (20+inns.): 0

All Conference Candidates:
RHP Cole Cook (7-3, 3.69, .195OBA – best in the WCC)
LHP Matt Bywater (6-1, 3.57, .217OBA)
3B Colin Rooney (.327-6-31)
1B Ryan Heroy (.290-7-28)
CF Brian Humphries (.305)
C Trent Diedrich (.346)

The Good News:
If you’re talking about the Waves, I’m pretty sure you’re going to mention the pitching and defense first. Sure enough, there’s a lot to like about those two areas in this year’s team, with Cook and Bywater becoming the next in line to be P-dine mound studs and also getting a big boost with the return of LHP Robert Dickman (a weekend starter in 2008) and RHP Ricky Villareal, both of whom missed last season and will help shore up the pitching depth. And the defense? Let’s just say it was on lockdown mode all year, posting a .982 fielding percentage, second-best in the country. (Now THAT’S Pepperdine baseball as prescribed by former 2B Steve Rodriguez). The hopes are that Diedrich and Aaron Gates (.309/3-3, 6.14) can put together full seasons of full-potential and join the wildly talented sophs Humphries and Rooney to lead an offensive renaissance. UCLA transfer SS Chris Amezquita has above-average arm strength and power at the plate.

The Bad News:
With all three weekend starters and six field starters coming back, the Waves seemed primed for a breakout year in 2009. Then senioritis and malaise reared their ugly heads and the bats went into hibernation. Can’t have any of that with a carryover effect for 2010. Losing the double-play combo of 2B Bryce Mendonca and SS Denny Duron will be felt. A new shutdown specialist must be found to replace Nick Gaudi, who had nine saves in ‘09. The team batting average of .284 must improve, obviously, since that was the one thing coach Rodriguez said was a huge sticking point.

Schedule Note:
Toughest three week stretch in the country?
Pepperdine will play two games against defending national champion LSU in Baton Rouge on the first weekend of March. As if that isn’t challenging enough, they host UC Irvine on the Wednesday before that trip and, when they get back, they’ll host East Carolina for three and then travel up to Stanford the next weekend for three. Now that’s a tough stretch.

UP coach Chris Sperry will have Austin Pearce (#30) and Kris Kauppila to help his team pull some more upsets in 2010.

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- PORTLAND (25-26, 7-14)
2009 RPI: 190
Starters Returning: 7
Weekend Starters: 2
Mid-Week Starters: 1
Key Relievers (20+inns.): 4

All Conference Candidates:
RHP Zach Varce (3-5, 2.69, 9svs)
LHP Scott Burris (5-4, 4.70, .259OBA)
LHP Ed Wakefield (3-1, 4.86, .231OBA)
2B Riley Hendricks (.344-4-31)
SS Kris Kauppila (.336-4-21)

The Good News:
Coach Sperry should get a few backslaps for taking this program a step better last year. And now, the Pilots want more. They’ll do so with one of the better middle infields in the WCC as Kauppila, a Freshman All American, and Hendricks will be solid blocks to build around. There will be strength up the middle with senior C Rocky Gale (.194, only 5Es) and CF Craig Smith (.315-5-21) were really solid defensively. The arms staff will be deep and have a lot of combinations to work with, but keep an eye on weekend starter Kyle Kraus (4-6, 4.00) who should have a big second season at UP.

The Bad News:
Call me a little bit biased because the one time I got to see this team play they beat the stew out of San Diego, but we have to keep everything in perspective, this was still a sub-.500 team. After that win at USD, the Pilots skidded to a 4-8 finish, costing them a winning mark. Lots of pitchers returning, but need to establish more dominance, getting a WCC-low 295Ks. They also didn’t utilize their speed very much, swiping just 39 bases on the season.

Schedule Note:
Rack up some flight miles, hotel miles and rental car miles.
UP will have a long end of the season, since they will play 14 of their final 18 games away from Joe Etzel Field. From the April 20th visit to Washington to the final game at Gonzaga on May 30th, it will be a long stretch of games. The Pilots better stay focused or risk another poor finish.

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- ST. MARY’S (28-27, 9-12)
2009 RPI: 136
Starters Returning: 6
Weekend Starters: 1
Mid-Week Starters: 1
Key Relievers (20+inns.): 4

All Conference Candidates:
3B Troy Channing (.379-20-75, Freshman All Am.)
OF Justin Fazio (.302)
C Ryan Mulligan (.335, just 3Es)
RHP Brandon Berl (2-2, 4.01, 6svs)

The Good News:
For just the second time in the previous 19 years, the Gaels finished with a winning record. They also hope to emulate the 9-2 start from last year that included two wins over Stanford and a win over Nebraska. One big reason for the improvement was the emergence of the “off-the-beaten-path” Freshman of the Year in Channing. He was a slugging machine and a difference-maker. He’ll bash with gap hitters Fazio and Mulligan, who is a stoic senior backstop. Some losses in the arms staff will be made up with Kyle Barraclough (4-5, 4.70) and reliever Mark Anderson (1-0, 3.86). Some bats that are expected to produce need to go ahead and expect to produce if this team is going to make that great leap forward.

The Bad News:
Last year’s Gael lineup had seven starters back from a team that hit .321 in 2008, but sunk to just .288 at the dish. From that offense, top-round draftee Kyle Jensen, speed threat Cory Miller and on-base machine Anthony Aliotti have been lost. The two most-used ace pitchers (Bruian Justice and Scott Schneider) have also moved on, leaving huge holes to fill. The .965 defense isn’t bad… but in THIS conference, it pales.

Schedule Note:
Insanely difficult.
Coach Soto must REALLY want to test his team’s mettle. SMC is only going to play 18 home games and they’ll play teams like San Jose State, Cal, UC Irvine, Tulane and Southern Miss, all on the road. It will be very difficult to go beyond that 28-win plateau of last year, even if this is a better team in 2010.

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- SAN DIEGO (29-25, 11-10)
2009 RPI: 51
Starters Returning: 8
Weekend Starters: 3
Mid-Week Starters: 1
Key Relievers (25+inns.): 2

All Conference Candidates:
RHP Kyle Blair (3-2, 3.13, 2svs, .225OBA)
RHP A.J. Griffin (8-3, 3.33, 3svs, .250OBA)
RHP Matt Thomson (5-5, 5.98, 2svs, .258OBA)
LHP Sammy Solis (1-1, 4.50)
OF James Meador (.376-6-45)
SS Zach Walters (.377)
2B Chris Engell(.358)

The Good News:
I suppose right about now that Rich Hill is pretty tired of answering questions about his MASH unit of a team from 2009, because you could almost put together an NCAA tournament worthy lineup card with all the players that sat out with injury last season. But that means that a lot of young talent got its chance to get its feet wet and his team – cross your fingers here – looks like it’s ready to make life hell on everyone. Just look at all the All-WCC candidates above… that’s not a typo, every one of those guys are legit talents, including Solis and Blair who should both go in the early rounds of the June draft. If 3B Victor Sanchez (.263-5-23 in injury-shortened ‘09) plays to his level, he could be a great missing power source. Alongside him will be a solid double-play combo with Walters and Engell, giving USD one of the better defenses in the country. As if all this wasn’t enough, the incoming recruiting class was rated as the best in the WCC. Look for immediate input from wildly-talented 1B Jake Williams (29th round, Arizona), OF Matt Moynihan (37th round, Atlanta) and RHPs Sam Wolff (42nd round, Angels) and Andrew Walter (31st round, Detroit). I could keep going with the good news, but this entry is getting pretty long.

The Bad News:
Will the dregs of the 2009 season have any sort of carry-over effect? My God, they better not. Last year was a living nightmare for the Toreros. Of course, health is issue No. 1 for them going into this season, but also finding a bit more offense (odd to say that about a .319 team, right?). Or more specifically, more power needs to be found, always a USD bugaboo. Sean Nichol did it all (.359, 8HRs, 20SBs) and needs to be replaced. Loss of pitching coach Eric Valenzuela could be bigger than you think.

Schedule Note:
When they hit the road, the road hits back.
As we all saw from the movie My Blue Heaven, San Diego has the best weather in the world and is the best place to be during college baseball season. So it’s easy to see why so many schools want to play at USD in pre-conference play as 19 of USD’s first 22 games are in the city limits. But when USD decides to go on the road, this ain’t for kids. Here are their first nine road games: at Cal State Fullerton, at UC Irvine (2), at Coastal Carolina (3) and at Arizona State (2). That’s some RPI-building material there. I think I see what Rich Hill is trying to do with his team. We’ll see if it works.

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- SAN FRANCISCO (28-28, 12-9)
2009 RPI: 100
Starters Returning: 6
Weekend Starters: 3
Mid-Week Starters: 2
Key Relievers (20+inns.): 4

All Conference Candidates:
SS Derek Poppert (.352, 16SBs, All-WCC, 23rd round pick of Cincinnati)
RHP Matt Hiserman (4-6, 3.43, 2svs, .241OBA)
RHP Doug Murray (9-0, 3.77)

The Good News:
It does say a lot when a 28-win season is a “down” year for coach Nino Giarratano. After flirting with the Washington coaching position (allegedly), he’s determined to bring the Dons another post-season bid. They’ve got some momentum too, having won their last four WCC weekend series last year. There’s a deep arms corps to build the 2010 team around, and that’s something every coach likes. They’ll throw to a solid backstop in C Ryan Lipkin (.266, just 6Es), who manages the staff well. SS Poppert and 2B Robert Abel (.241) form a great double-play combo as part of a defense that fielded at .968. Watch for OF/RHP Pete Lavin, who hit .406-11-56 as a JC All American.

The Bad News:
For momentum’s sake, the Dons must avoid the 4-10 start that put their season in a funk. Four of the top six hitters and fielders have flown the coop, leaving Poppert as the only .300+ regular in the order. Power and speed are at a minimum as 1B Steven Yarrow (277-13-44) is the only big stick remaining on the squad and Poppert is the only remaining base-stealing threat.

Schedule Note:
Big West contenders?
USF will play six Big West teams this season, including three-game weekend roadies at UC Riverside and UC Santa Barbara before WCC play begins. May will be a tough month as they’ll play USD, at SCU, Portland and then end the regular season at Pepperdine.

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- SANTA CLARA (19-34, 6-15)
2009 RPI: 201
Starters Returning: 3
Weekend Starters: 3
Mid-Week Starters: 2
Key Relievers (20+inns.): 3

All Conference Candidates:
RHP Nate Garcia (7-5, 4.33, 96Ks)
C Tommy Medica (.342 in ‘08, All American candidate)
1B Geoff Klein (.379-5-56)
RHP Alex Rivers (5-5, 4.85)

The Good News:
Things are only going to get better for the Broncos in 2010, mostly because it can’t get much worse than that awful 2009 season, replete with numerous injuries and just plain back luck. Getting Medica back at his backstop position will be an incredible mental boost to coach Mark O’Brien and Co., especially since he’s a returning team captain. There is a whole lot of quality pitchers coming back, as only 20 innings from last year will be missing on this year’s squad. Seniors Garcia and Rivers will be backed by senior reliever Steve Kalush (4svs) and soph Jason Westerberg (1-3, 6.08). Bronco pitchers issued a miniscule 170 walks last season and the defense committed just 68 errors in 53 games. Also keep an eye on frosh OF Pat Stover, who was a 17th round draftee of the A’s last summer.

The Bad News:
Man, it started early for SCU last year, losing All American catcher Tommy Medica to injury way too early in the campaign. The Broncs never seemed to recover from that, going 0-for-6 in the first two weekends of WCC play. Five of the top seven sticks have hit the bricks from a team that hit just .286 to begin with. Adding a bit more pitching depth to this year’s arms corps would be nice as well, since SCU used only eight pitchers for the most part in 2009.

Schedule Note:
Most taxing after Tax Day.
Santa Clara’s schedule is mostly manageable up until mid-April, which will allow for some confidence to grow. But starting on April 16th, things get serious with a three-gamer at USD. From there, the Broncos will play 16 of their last 24 on the road, including three game sets with the Toreros, Gonzaga, Cal State Fullerton and the season wrap-up at LMU. Buckle in guys.