A DREAM FIELD : 20 Prep Baseball Seasons Bring to Mind Witt, Blyleven . . . Plus a Surprise or Two

How does one accurately select a 20-year anniversary high school all-star baseball team in an area that annually produces talent worthy of stocking professional and college teams?

Selecting an all-Orange County baseball team in one year is difficult; naming the best players over the past 20 years is nearly impossible.

Coaches get mad, parents are upset, angry readers write and some players’ egos are bruised whenever such teams are published. Now, imagine the talk in a major league clubhouse when word reaches that Padre shortstop Garry Templeton, New York Met catcher Gary Carter, Angel designated hitter Brian Downing and Angel pitcher Dan Petry were left off the team.

Here’s the major ground rule: The players were chosen based upon their accomplishments only while attending high school. No points for major league success.

Pitchers? Easily the most competitive position on the team. A team can ride the arm of a quality pitcher to a Southern Section championship .

The best player? It’s difficult to imagine an infielder better than Glenn Hoffman of Savanna. Len Dykstra of Garden Grove ranks as the county’s best outfielder. Mike Witt of Servite was overpowering on the mound, and few have thrown a better curveball than Santiago’s Bert Blyleven.

So, for argument’s sake, here’s The Times’ 20th anniversary all-county baseball team. Please, keep the letters as brief as possible.

PITCHERS

Imagine a rotation that includes two members of the Angels’ pitching staff.

Witt didn’t lose a game from 1977-78 at Servite, compiling a 21-0 record. At 6-foot-8, he was a towering figure on the mound who overpowered hitters. As a senior at Servite, Witt allowed only three hits in the 4-A division final, ending Arcadia’s 15-game winning streak with a 6-1 victory.

Blyleven was 17-6 from 1968-69 at Santiago, where he mastered a curveball that became his ticket to the major leagues. Only a year out of high school at 19, Blyleven won 10 games with the Minnesota Twins, who won the American League West championship.

Bill Dodd of Capistrano Valley was the county’s player of the year in 1983 and 1984. He struck out 238 and compiled a 22-1 record in two seasons. Dodd also was a good hitter and led the county with nine home runs as a senior. Since then, he has hit several detours on the road to success. He dropped out after his freshman year at Arizona State and is currently with double-A Chattanooga in the Cincinnati Reds organization.

Jim Peterson won 30 games to lead Sonora to the 2-A division title games in 1972 and 1973 and finished high school with 40 victories. Sonora won the title in 1972 with Peterson compiling a 15-1 record with 189 strikeouts. He pitched five shutouts and a no-hitter as a junior. Peterson was 15-4 with 174 strikeouts as a senior, winning 30 of Sonora’s 37 games in two years.

CATCHER

Few high school players have received more attention than Andy Bielanski did in 1968 and 1969 at Savanna. As a junior, Bielanski was a master on the mound, where he had a 13-1 record and was named the Southern Section’s 3-A co-player of the year with Tim Foli.

As a senior, he moved to his natural position, catcher, and batted .356 despite missing the opening of the season with a broken wrist suffered during the football season. Bielanski was drafted by the New York Mets, but rejected a bonus offer and attended UCLA.

INFIELDERS

Even after 20 years, Alan Bannister still holds nearly every offensive record at Kennedy, where he was named the county’s player of the year in 1969. Bannister batted .523 in his senior season and was the fifth selection in the major league draft. He played 12 years in the major leagues.

Hoffman was a three-year starter for Savanna who hit .437 as a senior in 1976 and committed only two errors at shortstop. A slick fielder, Hoffman was drafted by the Boston Red Sox and headed for Elmira, N.Y., two days after graduation to play rookie ball. He reached the major leagues in 1981 and fulfilled a childhood dream of playing in Anaheim Stadium, where his father worked as an usher.

Tom Redington hit 21 home runs in three seasons at Esperanza but his homer into the left-field bleachers at Dodger Stadium as a junior in 1986 in the 4-A division title game against Fontana was the highlight of his career. Redington is playing for the Atlanta Braves’ Class-A minor league team in Burlington, Iowa.

FIRST BASEMAN

Mike Carpenter was a left-hander who excelled at Los Alamitos in 1974 and ’75. He hit .408 as a junior and .463 his senior season. Carpenter played at Cerritos College, UCLA and then signed with the St. Louis Cardinals, but he tore cartilage in his knee in the minor leagues that ended his career.

OUTFIELDERS

Billy Bean led Santa Ana to its only Southern Section championship in Coach Bill Ross’ 31-year career by batting .438 and winning six games as a pitcher. Santa Ana finished third in the Century League but defeated top-seeded Cerritos, 6-5, in the semifinals and then edged Fullerton, 3-2, in the title game. Bean is playing for the Tigers’ triple-A team in Toledo, Ohio.

John Christensen of Troy was a two-time All-Southern Section selection who batted .395 as a junior and .453 as a senior in 1978. He earned a scholarship to Cal State Fullerton, where he helped lead the Titans to the NCAA College World Series title in 1979. He currently plays for the Twins’ triple-A team in Portland, Ore.

Dykstra was probably the best competitor to play in the county. Among his county marks are 50 hits in his senior season in 1981 and 89 career stolen bases. He was caught stealing only once in four years. He signed to play with Arizona State, but decided to sign with the Mets, for whom he starts in center field.

UTILITY

Steve Buechele once turned down a $100,000 offer to sign with the Chicago White Sox. Instead, he chose to play at Stanford after an impressive career at Servite. Buechele batted .324 and won five games as a junior on Servite’s 4-A championship team.

He batted .410 as a senior in 1979. Buechele’s towering homer as a junior in the playoffs at Glover Stadium is one of the longest hit in the facility by a high school player. He is the starting third baseman for the Texas Rangers.

DESIGNATED HITTER

Brian Greer holds Southern Section career records for triples (27) and doubles (30) set as a four-year starting first baseman at Sonora. At 6-feet-3 and 220 pounds, Greer combined speed with power to hit .461 in his senior season in 1977. He was drafted and signed with the San Diego Padres, where an unsuccessful career ended in 1979 without a hit in four major league at-bats.

20-YEAR ALL-COUNTY TEAM FIRST TEAM Pitchers

Player School Year Record Bert Blyleven Santiago 1969 10-3 Bill Dodd Capistrano Valley 1983 12-1 Jim Peterson Sonora 1973 15-4 Mike Witt Servite 1978 14-0 Catcher Andy Bielanski Savanna 1969 .356 Infielders Alan Bannister Kennedy 1969 .523 Glenn Hoffman Savanna 1976 .437 Tom Redington Esperanza 1987 .405 First Baseman Mike Carpenter Los Alamitos 1975 .463 Outfielders Billy Bean Santa Ana 1982 .438 John Christensen Troy 1978 .453 Len Dykstra Garden Grove 1981 .496 Utility Steve Buechele Servite 1979 .410 Designated Hitter Brian Greer Sonora 1977 .461 SECOND TEAM Pitchers Don Aase Savanna 1972 13-2 Steve Evans Anaheim 1981 9-3 David Harris Westminster 1981 12-2 Lee Plemel Laguna Hills 1984 12-1 Catcher Player School Year Avg. Greg Pirkl Los Alamitos 1988 .549 Infielders Matt Keough Corona del Mar 1973 .407 Doug Saunders Esperanza 1988 .495 Jeff Vlha Fullerton 1977 .521 First Baseman Bobby Hamelin Irvine 1986 .527 Outfielders Robbie Katzaroff Los Alamitos 1986 .386 Jeff Osborne La Quinta 1984 .440 Andy Ruscitto Valencia 1986 .428 Utility Jeff Pries Corona del Mar 1981 .439 Designated Hitter Gerran Brown Mater Dei 1984 .563