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Show U: Good and bad in store , . f vat;;! . t , ' ' ' ' - " ' ' f' '." j Strangely, coach Hack , Mitchell of the Southern Utah State College baseball team figures that his team may be both blessed and cursed this . year. Mitchell, who is openly excited about the talent on this year's Thun-derbird Thun-derbird squad, is concerned con-cerned with what he calls a "built in failure mechanism." The mechanism is a combination com-bination of schedule and limitations on aid that can be offered by a Rocky 'Mountain Athletic Conference school. A quick glance at the schedule makes it obvious ob-vious why Mitchell is : concerned. Of the 37 . games scheduled, 21 are against NCAA Division I schools. SUSC is NAIA. The remaining 16 games are against the likes of RMAC powerhouse Mesa, the Grand Canyon College, a team that almost annually challenges for the national NAIA title. ' Overall, the Thun-derbirds, Thun-derbirds, at least according ac-cording to Mitchell, will be vastly improved defensively. The pitching is anticipated to be stronger and deeper than a year ago, and the hitting hit-ting will be considerably better. "We probably won't be what you would call a power hitting team, although we could easily hit as many home runs as last year's club. We will, however, hit a lot of singles and doubles; and I'm hoping that we will hit for a good average. It looks like we should." A position-by-position rundown of the Thun-derbird Thun-derbird squad: Catchers-Two "solid" catchers will probably share most of the playing time. Roger Farnsworth, a righthanded junior from Annabella, Sevier County, and Brad Kilpatrick, a senior righthander, who lettered . for the T-Birds last season, will both play plenty. Farnsworth is a transfer from College of Southern Idaho. First Base-Russ Turner, a senior let-: let-: terman, probably has the i inside track on the j starting position, but he'll ! have competition. Anthony An-thony Giron, a junior transfer from Snow College, may push Turner. Both are ex- Russ Turner. . .first baseman Don Gubler. . .senior pitcher pected to accumulate good batting averages. Outfield-Probable starters for the first weeks of the season will be Jeff Rose, junior transfer fiom West Los Angeles Junior College; letterman Curt Peterson; and either Poitevint or Mark Johnson, a junior transfer from Brigham Young University who also pitches. Second Base-Probable starter is Jeff Dumont, a junior transfer from Lynn-Benton Junior College (Albany, Ore.). Dumont .. plays solid defense and can hit the ball consistently to all fields. Backing Dumont (and practically everyone else on the squad) is Randy Poitevint, a do-everything do-everything utility player who transferred as a sophomore from El Camino (California) Junior College. Poitevint has a strong arm, can hit with power, and should hit for a good average. Shortstop-Frank Esposito, a junior transfer from Los Madonnas (California) Junior College will anchor an-chor this spot, with Poitevint standing in the wings. Esposito is a strong defensive player; he's a solid singles-doubles singles-doubles type hitter; and he is probably the quickest base runner on the squad. Third Base-Pat Kilgore, a junior transfer from Brigham Young University, will prevail ( here. Kilgore is probably one of the best all-around j players on the team. He j can do everything reasonably well. He is an excellent fielder with an adequate arm. ; Rose, according to 1 Mitchell, is like major , league namesake, Pete Rose: "He doesn't do anything exceptionally well, but he's such a tough competitor that he really makes the team go." Peterson has a strong arm, hits with some power and will hit for a fair average. Crum, when eligible, should be a strong outfielder. Pitching-Should be considerably stronger than last year. The four regular starters are expected to be Todd Mortensen, a letterman from last year; Mark Johnson, a transfer from BYU, Scott Bergerhouse, a junior transfer from Nevada-Reno; and Don Gubler, a senior letterman. let-terman. Expected to be available for relief duty are Derron Garrick, sophomore transfer from Snow College; Thayne Woodard, sophomore transfer from BYU; Kevin Donner, junior transfer from College of Southern Idaho; Dave Middleton, sophomore letterman; and Chris Boone, freshman from Glendora, Calif. iiini in mi i in -rriii iii ii innnrii i i n i irrl . "f 1 11 ." """"v . ' ' , ,:sU- ' f J t, k . t; ;j - 1 - i Ik n V ' Ivk' rf;. j " V ' - "V I Mark Johnson. . .BYU transfer Todd Mortensen. . .SUSC starter |