New coach, same expectations for California baseball

Nick Damicos wish of becoming a head baseball coach at the high school level came to fruition Dec. 4, when he was chosen as Don Hartmans replacement at California. Not only did Damico replace a coach who won nine section titles and two WPIAL championships in 23 years, but he was faced with making up for the loss of Observer-Reporter Player of the Year pitcher Brian Fisher.

After serving as the Trojans pitching coach for six years, Damico has the benefit of returning eight starters from last years team that reached the PIAA Class A semifinals and finished with a 20-6 record. Helping ease the loss of Fishers pitching will be senior third baseman Ronnie Baron, who hit .359 in 2013 and has driven in 76 runs during his high school career.

With Fisher gone, Damico will turn to senior Josh Luko, who went 5-2 with 42 strikeouts and a 3.60 ERA in 44 2/3 innings. Also expected to receive quality innings is junior Garitt Woodburn, and a group of three freshmen will compete for spots in the rotation.

Damico, who played baseball at California University, made a decision during preseason workouts to have Luko, who started at shortstop ast year, move to first base to ensure his arm will withstand the increased workload.

Damico is still stressing the importance of pitching and defense two key components of Californias game during Hartmans highly successful coaching tenure.

My philosophy has always been pitching and defense, Damico said. Offense has always been a bonus. Were going to need to pitch and play solid defense to get to where we were last year. Thats how we got there. We had a guy who pitched for us, and he did a great job.

The Trojans offense is led by Baron and senior second baseman Mike Luketich, who hit .457 last season while scoring 37 runs, knocking in 29 and stealing 12 bases. The No. 3 hitter in Californias lineup, Luketich will be expected to contribute at the plate and provide stellar defense up the middle. Luketich will have a different doubleplay partner this year in sophomore Louden Conte.

(Louden) was our closer last year, but I took him out of the rotation, too, Damico said. We needed to make up for moving Josh over to first. Hes able to hit the ball to both sides, hes a solid defender, and hes gotten stronger from last year. Were looking for him to anchor that infield.

Conte has moved to shortstop to shore up Californias defense, which faltered during its bid for a state championship. With two starters in the rotation who throw sinkers, strong infield defense is pivotal for the Trojans.

We wanted to solidify our infield by not moving too many guys around this year, Damico said. Mike is doing solid at second base, and were pretty excited we have those guys for the entire year.

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New coach, same expectations for California baseball