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Show Page 6 OREM G ENEVA TIMEJS , Thursday, June 22, 2006 COMMUNITY OPORTO, PEOPLE AND OUTDOOR FUN GETTING TO KNOW YOU .... , MARIO RUIZNorth County Orem Owlz manager Tom Kotchman talks to Owlz players Monday during their first offkiul pructce. The Owlz rmed their home season tonight at 7 at UVSC. After a short get-acquainted period, Owlz open 2006 season Neil K. Warner It took Oran Owlz manner Torn Kotchman l''ss than live minutes to hand out the first fine of the year to a player, who picked up a baseball that had stopX'd with his glove and not his hand " That's a six-pack of Diet Pepsi." Kotchman told the player. Just one problem. Who was that guy? Anyone got a roster'' Monday afternoon at UVSC. the Orem Owl got together lor media dav to introduce this year's team to the media and show off the players who will n- trying to win a third straight honeer league Championship. All that while they're still learning each other's names "I couldn't tell you half of the names to go with their faces if my life depended on it right now." Kotchman said. "You decnd on your staff so much Ir'( aus- they've seen these guys in extended spring and last s ear, so Zeke (Zimmerman and I rancisco Mat os. they're the guys I've got to depend on." While not much is known about this year's team, there are usually at least two things you can count on the pitching staff will be good and Kotchman will eventually mold this team into a winner. Last year Orem won the Pioneer league title thanks to a team ERA of 4. IB. The (.hvlz opened the season Tuesday night in Ogden with a xx-x xxxx over the Raptors. The two teams squared off in Ogden again Wednesday, then the Owlz wil) open their home season tonight when they host the Raptors at 7 05 p.m. Kotchman may not know a lot about this year's team yet, but it appears to be loading with pitching. This year's roster includes 32 players and 17 of those are pitchers. "T hat's the most arms I can remember starting a season with at this level, which is great," Kotchman said. "And we've got a couple of pure relievers, which is a rarity. Usually you get all starters and are forced to convert some of them." Two of the : elievet s Kotchman was speaking of are Dan en O'Day (2.91 ERA with eight saves in 55 23 inning, who was a closer lor the University of Florida, and Aaron Cook (2.21 ERA, 10 saves. 9-1 record), who closed for the University of Tampa One of the biggest names on this year's roster is Trevor Bell, a 2005 high school graduate wh. . throws in the 93-95 93-95 miles per hour range. Bell, a right-hand'-r. was a supplemental puk ;7th overall) in the 2005 draft. The supplemental between the first at the draft. Bell signed with t ound is held ! econd rounds of Angels late in the season last year am' played in just four games with the hit, s team in Arizona. Another pitcher the team is high on is Anthony Onega. ... u, had a 0.86 ERA in 94 innings m the Dominican League last year. Ortega it- . agent. One of the tew from last year'- n-;, but Owlz tans mav j 20-vear-old free mliar faces back i is Josh Cowles, iave a tough time figuring out if he is the same player they remember from last year. Cowles hit .203 for Orem last year as an outfielder, but in the off-season he made a position change and will now be coming out of the bullpen as a pitcher. "I love to compete. I think I can do anything I put my mind to. It's just another obstacle that I've had to overcome," Cowles said. "I just want to do whatever I can to make it to the big leagues. If pitching's my way there I have no problem with it." A pair of position players who could make an impact are P.J. Phillips, a second-round draft pick in 2005, and Luis Rivera, a fifth-round pick of 2004. Both players spent last season at the team's low-rookie team in Mesa. As one of the returning players and someone who knows many of this year's team, Cowles likes what he sees. "So far so good. As far as what I've seen, I'm impressed by the group that we've got. But we'll find out soon," he said. I Neil Warner car? be reached at nwamer&heraldextra.com. Jason Franchuk Orem Observations CM 1 NEW FACES GREET 'FATHER' KOTCHMAN unday was Father's Day, and Tom Kotchman Kotch-man met a whole new quiver of kids. It's officially summer sum-mer for the Orem Owlz manager. The proud and tough papa is happy to be back in Utah, even though it's so far from home in Florida. "When I'm there I'm scouting, scout-ing, and that's much tougher than coaching," Kotchman said. "It means hours and hours in a van traveling across the state. This was as hard a year as any because the baseball talent in Florida was very deep but also very spread out from where I live. I've never put that many miles on (my automobile). Being here, now it's about some long trips to places like Casper, Wyoming, Wy-oming, and Billings, Montana. "But at least I don't have to drive. I can just pick a seat on the bus and take a nap. Just have to hope the driver stays awake." Rest still won't come easy. It's still like being a father, making sure these summertime youngsters are doing things right on the field, and off. There are high school graduates, gradu-ates, some with college degrees and others with educational backgrounds that linger somewhere some-where in the middle. These are adults. But Kotchman knows better, as he learned back in 1979 as a 24-year-old manager. Better treat 'em like they're fresh out of the womb. "Assume they know nothing," noth-ing," Kotchman said. He's also won five divisional titles since the rookie league team arrived in Provo in 2001 and has played for the Pioneer League title every year. This will be the second year in Orem for the team. Whether they Google former Angels or Owlz, it won't take long for the neophyte pros to learn that as long as their bosses boss-es are Kotchman and the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, there will be opportunities to advance. The parent club has a healthy history of success, and a lot has come from the molding of Kotchman and his staff. His See FRANCHUK, Page 7 Pitcher's nightmare: Heaps is Valleys toughest out Neil K. Warner Austin Heaps dix-stit like to think alxiut it lie doesn't want anyone to talk atxmt it and whatever you do. don't show him any statistics during the season He'd rather not know that if he bats ' for -5 in a game, his batting average will go down. It's hard to argue with Heaps' approach tot lie game because he finished tlie season hitting fjO'J. tops in Utah County, and in a Daily Herald lugh sclxxil baseball player survey, Heaps was voted Utah Gxinty's toughest out "He had an amazing season. He was a pitcher's nightmare." said Pleasant Owe pitcher Justin Smith "You try to work around him and put him on base if you can No matter where you pitch him. fie ruts the ball hard" The I lerald polled players on each team asking them a series of questions that included the toughest out as well as the toughest pitcher When it came to offense. Heaps' peers were w ell aware of how dangerous he was. Heaps led all hitters in votes and for good reason. In addition to hitting over .600 for the sea son h- also had eight doubles, tw u tuples, five home runs and 32 IB1 for Timpanogos. He si rui k out just five times. When asked about hitting over (KM). Heaps said. "I was pretty amazed The biggest thing that helped me is I don't think up there. I just see the pitch and hit it if it's anywhere near the zone I was going to take a hack at it." Now that he's done tearing up high school pitching, he is ready for a new challenge. Heaps is currently playing in the Baseball Base-ball Academy Collegiate League where he's getting a heavy dose of college pitching. "I've noticed the pitchers (in collegiate league) have better control, and they'll throw off speed on a full count," Heaps explained "They do everything they can to get you out. They don't waste time." Heaps signed to play with UVSC last fall and is preparing to play for the Wolverines next season. sea-son. UVSCs coaching staff has been following his success and expectations for the former Tim-panogos Tim-panogos first baseman are high "I think right now he could be a .300 plus hitter," said Nate Mathjs. UVSC assistant coach. "Eventually I could see him hit ting .350 or .400 with 20 home runs and get AU-American status, sta-tus, that's why we're so excited about him. The sky's the limit with him," Heaps is hoping the transition transi-tion to college baseball will be a smooth one and based on the success a pair of UVSC f reshman resh-man had this year, Heaps hopes he too make an immediate impact. im-pact. Former Mountain View in-fielder in-fielder Chris Benson made the leap from high school baseball to Division I ball last year. Benson won the third base job and was second on the team in hitting with a .367 average Also, former Pleasant Grove pitcher Kyle Beecher was 2 1 on the year with the second best ERA among pitchers at 4.00 "I look at Chris Benson and Kyle Beecher, two guys I know, as examples," said Heaps. "I knew them in high school and I've watched them step it up and take it to another level. 1 just want to play, I don't care where." MARIO RUIZ V-" Cojr.ty Timpanogos Austin Heaps hits the ball against Spanish fork in a game earlier this year , ' f f f ,? jf f f wm -77J a 1 r I f s f ' I S 0t ft , n. .. it l' A 4 if - . i i ' ' i 4 i it t i 0- .Ji i if ::X'.hti' -. ni; in . . i v I If i POOI |