The Azusa Pacific Cougars baseball team has defined excellence over the last decade. The constant has been the head coach Paul Svagdis. Svagdis has this program running like a well oiled machine and this season they are looking to win their fourth consecutive PacWest title and possibly make the next step in the postseason. The Cougars will begin the year as the 19th ranked team in the country returning important players in important positions.
The Cougars have been one game away from making it to the College World Series the last two seasons, and last year was especially heart-breaking. After winning the first game of a best of three series the Cougars dropped the next two getting eliminated once again by UC San Diego. APU has had a share of the number one overall ranking in all of division two for a decent amount of time over the course of the last two seasons but they can’t get past the super regional. They have also had the privilege of hosting the West Regional the last two seasons and still haven’t made that next step.
The vision becomes clear with the new year and decade. 2020 is upon us and the season is right around the corner. There are two big reasons as to why this team is ranked nationally to start the year. The first is the stellar play from third baseman, Osvaldo Tovalin. Tovalin was a First-Team All-American last season after hitting .396 and 19 home runs. He has become one of the best hitters in all of division II and as the NCAA puts it, “has player of the year potential.” This will be Tovalin’s final season at APU as he will most likely get drafted this May.
The other big, and possibly more important, reason is APU returns three quality starting pitchers. There top three starters last season all are returning in Nick Estrella, AJ Woodall and Declan Kearney. These three played a vital role in last year’s success. Estrella was a First-Team All-West Region pitcher last season after starting 15 games on the hill for the Cougars. Estrella was consistent as he had 11 quality starts and was no doubt the best starting pitcher down the stretch for Azusa Pacific. If Estrella was consistent then AJ Woodall was ultra-consistent. After transferring from UC Santa Barbara and sitting out a year, Woodall impressed in his first full season of college ball. He appeared in 15 games, starting 14 of them while tying the team lead in complete games with two. He recorded 9 quality starts and threw the most innings on the team with 92.2 innings. He pitched like an ace last year and has the experience to continue to pitch at a high level in his final season of college baseball. The third starter for the Cougars is Declan Kearney. Kearney, like Woodall, is a division I transfer from the University of Oregon. Kearney was mostly used out of the bullpen during his first season with APU but last year was thrown into a starting role. He responded well for the Cougars throwing the third most innings while having the lowest ERA of the three starters at 3.22. It’s always good to have starting pitching and the Cougars have plenty of experience in this category.
There’s other returners that we could talk about in this article but instead let’s talk about some of the new players that should have some impact this season. There’s a handful of transfers that could play right away. Including at one of the most important positions on the field. Travis Aversa is a transfer from Long Beach City College where he had a terrific year last year. He is the younger brother of Tripp Aversa who is one of the Cougars best relief pitchers. Travis Aversa is currently competing for the starting shortstop position alongside freshman Jeffrey Castillo. The position was owned by Mychael Goudreau for the last 3-4 years and it will be strange to see anyone else but Goudreau at short. But, Aversa seems like a capable replacement as he was voted First-Team All-Conference last season after hitting .320 and driving in 26 runs. Castillo, on the other hand is a freshman from the Azusa area. As a senior in high school, Castillo hit .386 with 16 RBI. This battle should be interesting and will be one to keep an eye on as we approach the beginning of the season.
A lot can be said about the depth of this Cougar team that hasn’t been showcased in this article. Other notes include PacWest Freshman of the Year from last year, Tido Robles has been moving around the infield in practice. Robles could see time at second base and is also comfortable at the corners. Azusa Pacific has a lot of returning outfielders and first baseman so it should be intriguing to see who gets the first opportunity at each spot to start the season. It’s clear as the season rapidly approaches the team has restocked and is prepared to deliver another excellent season. With the pitching experience, and all the talent offensively on the roster this team could be headed back to the Super Regionals this season. Maybe it’s the year they go one step further.
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