Jan. 25, 2013

Article By Teddy Mitrosilis | ESPN.com

A West Coast sleeper

The San Diego Toreros aren't immediately mentioned among the top West Coast teams. UCLA, Stanford, Cal State Fullerton and Arizona State have dominated much of the region in recent seasons. The Arizona Wildcats won a national championship last season.

But in the past half-dozen seasons, Rich Hill has built a sustainable and legitimate postseason contender in San Diego.

"In 2006, we swept Texas [early in the season], and the program really took a turn," Hill said over the phone from San Diego. "That really put us on the map."

That team had left-hander Brian Matusz, who the Orioles picked No. 4 overall in the 2008 draft, but lost in the Fullerton Regional. The following season, USD went 43-18 and was a No. 8 national seed in the NCAA tournament but lost in its own regional to Fresno State (eventual national champion) and Minnesota.

San Diego opens this season ranked No. 12 by Collegiate Baseball and has a lot of pieces, led by All-American third baseman Kris Bryant and pitchers Dylan Covey and Michael Wagner. But Hill gets excited about the depth and flexibility of this year's club.

"This is one of those years where guys are going to write themselves into the lineup," Hill said. "I liken it to making a great meal. All these ingredients all over the table -- salt, garlic butter, veggies, meat -- but now we have to mix them into a great meal."

Part of Hill's mixing could come in how he uses Bryant, who had a .483 on-base percentage with 14 homers last season and could be a first-round pick this spring. Opposing teams will try to pitch around Bryant as much as possible, so Hill might counter by hitting Bryant in the leadoff spot.

"We're a hybrid program; we think differently," Hill said. "We're searching for a table setter, and if we don't find that, then we'll probably put [Bryant] there. It's hard to walk him to start off a game. Plus, he can steal second."

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