Baseball previews: Empire League (Part II)
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Check out the predicted order of finish, the players to watch and the important dates.
Players to watch
Adam Bartczak (Valencia, Sr., P/OF)
Jeff Cassa (Kennedy, Jr., Inf)
Jaime Dominguez (Valencia, Sr., P/Inf)
Martin Gilberstadt (Valncia, Sr., P/OF)
Colton Hamill (Loara, Sr., Inf)
Westin Hirai (Kennedy, Sr., Ut)
Matt Hill (Pacifica, Jr., C/Inf)
Chase Koissian (Cypress, Sr., OF)
Steven Kungl (Katella, Sr., P/1B)
Steven Lien (Kennedy, Sr., C)
Nick Lum (Pacifica, Jr., OF/Inf)
Nick Mahler (Pacifica, Sr., P/Inf)
Brad Matsuda (Loara, Sr., C/OF)
Marcus Meraz (Loara, Jr., OF)
Jacob Migliaccio (Loara, Sr., Inf)
Michael Newman (Valencia, Jr., OF)
David Nick (Cypress, Jr., Inf)
Matt Okula (Kennedy, Sr., Inf)
Danny Pulfer (Cypress, Sr., Inf)
Nathan Purcha (Katella, Sr., Inf/OF)
Allen Radarte (Katella, Sr., P/Inf)
Nick Ramirez (Katella, Sr., P/1B)
Ronnie Schaeffer (Pacifica, Sr., C/Inf)
Matt Sisto (Cypress, Sr., P/1B)
Joey Torres (Loara, Jr., Inf)
Dennis Waites (Cypress, Jr., P)
Around the Empire League
Last year's final standings: 1. Cypress (24-5 overall, 13-2 league); 2. Katella (16-12, 10-5); 3. Valencia (14-13-1, 6-9); (tie) Loara (12=15, 6-9); 5. Pacifica (9-17, 5-10) (tie) Kennedy (12-15, 5-10). …
In the CIF-Southern Section Division II playoffs, Cypress was eliminated in the second round, Katella was eliminated in the first round, and Valencia was eliminated in the wild-card round. …
Cypress lost outstanding hitter Josh Vitters, a first-round pick in last year's Major League Baseball draft, and league co-player of the year Brett Tanos to graduation. The Centurions still have a fine group of players, led by Matt Sisto, who signed with Hawaii and was last year's league pitcher of the year. Also returning are David Nick, who signed with UCLA, and Hawaii-signee Chase Koissian. Dennis Waites was an all-league pitcher last year as a sophomore when he went 5-0 in league. …
Loara's Colton Hamil was all-league last year, and signed with Cal State Fullerton. He batted .341 in 2007. Torres hit .395 in '07, and Jacob Migliaccio hit .398. …
Katella's Nick Ramiriez was a league co-player of the year in '07 as a junior. He hit eight home runs last year, and hit seven as a sophomore. He pitched a four-hitter when the Knights beat national-No. 1 Long Beach Wilson in the Loara Tournament. Steven Kungl batted .411 last season for the Knights. …
Pacifica's Ronnie Shaeffer was an all-league catcher last year. He signed with UC Irvine. …
Westin Hirai was an all-league outfielder in '07 for Kennedy, which has a new coach, Conrad Colby, who replaced Chris Pascal. …
Valencia has a long list of senior pitchers, including Jaime Dominguez.
Contact the writer: sfryer@ocregister.com
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