MERCURY-REGISTER ONLINE

June 20, 2007

Outlaws Notebook: Dragicevich focuses on improvement areas
By PATRICK KINMARTIN

FULLERTON — In what was a relatively low-key offseason for the Outlaws in terms of bringing in marquee free agent acquisitions, Scott Dragicevich was considered to be the team's biggest signing.

The former Pacific-10 Conference standout at Stanford came to Chico having scratched minor league baseball's highest reaches with the Toronto Blue Jays, playing for the Syracuse Chiefs, the franchise's Triple-A affiliate, in 2003. Last season, he finished out his stint with the Blue Jays at Single-A Dunedin (Fla.) having hit .395 in August with six multi-hit games.

So when the sore subject of the Outlaws' overwhelming hitting woes comes up, it might be natural for skeptics to harp on Dragicevich's .250 batting average and meager three RBIs as the No. 3 hitter in the lineup as one of the more glaring red flags.

"I've been around enough to know that batting in the third spot you should be more ready to produce runs," Dragicevich said before Tuesday's game at Goodwin Field. "I'm confident in my ability to put up good numbers. I'm not focused on what I haven't been able to do as much as I am on what needs to get done to improve.

"I think that's the biggest thing with all of us at this point. Your average can't jump 100 points in one night. It takes a couple quality at-bats over the course of many to get things going in the right direction."

Dragicevich has shown enough flashes of brilliance as a solid run producer to buy some patience on manager Mark Parent's behalf. His six doubles are tied for tops in the Golden Baseball League and his four walks are second-most on the team.

"Ups and downs are going to happen over the time of a (baseball) season," Dragicevich said. "I think the biggest thing for me at this point is to improve my hit selection. You have to recognize when your pitch is coming and be ready for it in advance."

TAKING THE STAIRS: Goodwin Field is nestled right next to Titan Stadium, a 10,000-seat bowl-shaped facility originally built for football games on the campus of Cal State Fullerton. A good three hours before Tuesday's first pitch, pitcher Nick Singleton could be seen getting some stair climbing in at the stadium as part of a workout a day after he was tagged with the loss as the starter in Monday's 3-1 loss.

"I just like to get some extra conditioning in when I can," a winded Singleton said when asked if he was punishing himself. "I ran around for 30 minutes."

He wasn't alone. Parent's 12-year-old son, Jake, made a few trips up and down the concrete-based stairs with plenty of vocal support from a few players watching below.

Notes: Steve Boggs made his debut in the leadoff spot Tuesday and went 2-for-5 with a double. ... Brock Ungricht, making his first appearance as a designated hitter, had two hits to lead the Outlaws. ... By hitting three batters, Steve Jones tied the club record also reached by Derrick Loop last Friday. ... Orange County's Rich Pohle finished the two-game set with seven hits in eight at-bats. ... The Outlaws boarded a bus for an overnight trip to Utah for a four-game series against the St.George Roadrunners beginning tonight at 6:05 p.m.