After Rewriting Football Record Book, Garcia Turns Page

ORANGE — Luis Garcia never missed an extra point for the Chapman football team. You’ll find his name in the school record book--he made 11 of 11 PATs in a 79-13 victory over Menlo in 1995.

But you won’t find him listed on the football roster anymore. Garcia, The Times’ first-team All-Orange County kicker for Valencia High in 1993, decided to give up football to concentrate on baseball for his junior season.

“In football, I was just a kicker,” said Garcia, who was the Panthers’ backup to Bill Hamlin. “I didn’t have much control. You just sit there and cheer on your teammates. In baseball I’m more involved. I get a chance to be a deciding factor in the games.”

This season, Garcia has taken full advantage of his opportunity, playing a key role in Chapman’s advancing to the NCAA Division III championship tournament. The Panthers open play Saturday in Salem, Va., against North Carolina Wesleyan.

Garcia plans to be in the thick of things. A left-handed hitting left fielder, Garcia is batting .372 and leads the team in home runs (11) and slugging percentage (.695).

Not bad numbers for someone who had only two home runs in his first two collegiate seasons. Garcia said he is surprised at the improvement--at 5 feet 11, 180 pounds, he had always considered himself someone who would hit for average.

Garcia gained strength by working out in the off-season--Chapman Coach Rex Peters says no Panther works harder in the weight room--and spent extra time working on his hitting.

“He’s made himself into the player that he is,” Peters said. “He came here as a good athlete and he’s fine-tuned his skills and turned himself into a baseball player.”

It wasn’t a smooth transition. Garcia struggled as a freshman. He didn’t play much that season and when he did, the results weren’t meager. He batted .116 and struck out 10 times in 43 at-bats.

“Some kids come in and make the transition from high school to college baseball right away,” Peters said. “Others take a while. It took him that year to gain confidence that he could play at this level. Each year after that he’s gotten better and better.”

So much better, in fact, that Garcia has turned himself into a professional prospect. Peters says several major league organizations have expressed interest.

Last season, Garcia started the entire season in the outfield and batted .330 with only 17 strikeouts in 109 at-bats. This season he is one of the most productive hitters on a team with a cumulative batting average of .343. Peters said Garcia is dangerous at the plate because he adjusts well.

“He’s a tough guy to pitch to,” Peters said. “You might make him look bad on a changeup in one inning. Then when you give him one the next time and get it a little up, he’s going to hammer it.”

Garcia certainly pounded Cal Lutheran pitching in the five-game West Regional last week. In a single at-bat in Game 2, for instance, he hit two foul balls that had home run distance--one to right and one to left. He eventually walked, but later in the game hit two homers in a 14-7 victory.

Chapman took a 2-0 lead in the series with that victory, but Cal Lutheran scored eight runs in the last three innings to win Game 3, 10-9, and won game 4, 5-4 in 10 innings.

Then Cal Lutheran scored twice in the top of the first of Game 5, but the Panthers regrouped quickly, scoring five in the bottom of the inning. They went on to win, 20-7.

“I think as soon as we scored everybody knew it was going to to our game,” Garcia said. “Our whole mentality was, ‘We’re not giving up, we’re going to get as many runs as we can.’ The whole series we were saying, ‘Stay focused, stay focused,’ and everybody did.”