Another super sophomore for

the Bears will be David Coo-

per, a transfer from Cal State

Fullerton who was a member of

the 2006 College World Series

All-Tournament team. Cooper,

a 6-0 left-hander who played

first base for the Titans, but

could also play left field for

Cal, flirted with a College

World Series record when he

had seven consecutive hits in

Omaha, tying Terry

Francona (1980) and

one short of Dave

Magadan (1983) and

Barry Bonds (1984).

Cooper led all players

at the World Series

with a .533 average

(8-for-15) with five

RBI. He went 5-for-5

with a home run and

four RBI in a 7-6 Ti-

tan win over top-

seeded Clemson. For

the 2006 campaign,

Cooper hit .305 with

nine doubles, two

home runs and 37

RBI, earning All-Big

West Conference

honorable mention.

Three key returning

infielders for

Esquer’s squad will

be junior Josh Satin,

senior Brett Munster and jun-

ior Mike Van Winden. This

past summer, Satin was a Cape

Cod League All-Star for the

Orleans Cardinals, and was

named Eastern Division MVP

during the all-star game when

he was 1-for-1 with a two-run

The 2007 California base-

ball team is looking to

prove it has what it takes to

be an NCAA Regional con-

tender. On paper, the

Golden Bears appear to be

in a challenging spot, re-

turning only one regular

Pacific-10 starter on the

mound and three regular

starters in the field. But,

what doesn’t show up on

paper is a talented young

squad that is positioning

themselves to be a future

force, first in the Pac-10,

and then on the national

scene.

“Our strength this season

will be our youth and en-

thusiasm,” said Cal coach

David Esquer, who is enter-

ing his eighth season direct-

ing the Bears. “Overall, last

year our pitching was ex-

cellent, and the young

pitchers we used surpassed

our expectations. They are

returning and we will be

looking for even more pro-

duction from them. Offen-

sively, we will be more

athletic as a team due to

some of the new players we

have coming in. Our team

speed will be better, and

that will allow us to put

pressure on people. I really

like the make-up of this

team. It is as good as any

team I have ever had.”

A perfect example of Cal’s

talented youth is 6-5 sopho-

more right-hander Tyson

Ross, who is on the watch list

for the Wallace Award as the

nation’s top collegiate baseball

player. As a true freshman for

the Bears, Ross was selected

honorable mention All-Pac-10

after finishing 6-4 with a 3.19

ERA (seventh in the Pac-10).

He also had 85 strikeouts (10th

in the Pac-10) in 84.7 innings,

with victories at Stanford and

versus Pacific in May. He also

picked up wins over Long

Beach State, UC Santa Barbara,

Georgetown and Washington.

Ross paced Cal with 15 starts

and had a career-high nine

strikeouts in 6.0 innings versus

Long Beach State.

Read more about Tyson Ross on the

watch list for the Wallace Award:

http://calbears.cstv.com/sports/m-

basebl/spec-rel/121406aaa.html

2007 Season Forecast

Bullpen Club Newsletter W I N T E R 2 0 0 7

SPEC IAL PO INTS

OF INTEREST :

• Season Forecast

• 2006 Recap

• Pro Bears

• 2008 Signees

• Where is he Now?

• Alumni Weekend

• Baseball Banquet

BBBB

AAAA

SSSS

EEEE

BBBB

AAAA

LLLL

LLLL

2007 Forecast Continued

P A G E 2 W I N T E R 2 0 0 7

homer and a sacrifice fly. A Collegiate

Baseball Freshman All-American in

2005, Satin has a career batting average

of .291 with 20 doubles, two triples,

seven home runs and 60 RBI in 106

games for the Bears. As a freshman sec-

ond baseman in ’05, he hit .348 with 15

doubles, a triple, five home runs and 40

RBI.

Munster started 43 games last season as

a junior with 33 starts at second base,

batting .268 with seven doubles, a triple,

three home runs and 18 RBI. He starred

in the summer for the Moses Lake Pi-

rates in the West Coast Collegiate

League, earning all-league honors and a

Gold Glove award at shortstop. The left-

handed hitting Van Winden has started

the majority of games at first base the

last two seasons and owns a .271 career

average with 21 doubles, three triples, a

home run and 53 RBI.

On the mound, right-handed reliever

Matt Gorgan and left-hander Chris

Petrini both showed flashes of bril-

liance as true freshmen in 2006. Gorgen

was one of the Bears’ most highly util-

ized relievers, finishing second on the

team with 29 appearances, going 3-5

with a 2.50 ERA and two saves. Petrini

made 16 appearances with two starts,

going 3-2 with a 4.54 ERA and a

save. Also vying for key spots in

Cal’s starting pitching rotation will

be junior right-hander Alex Rollin

and sophomore left-hander Craig

Bennigson, who both have the abil-

ity to be weekend starters against

Pac-10 competition.

Several other returnees will be in

contention for playing time. Charlie

Cutler is the front-runner to be

Cal’s catcher after the left-handed

hitting sophomore started 16 games

in right field last season, throwing

two runners out at home. Junior

Kyle Spraker has extensive experi-

ence after starting 44 games at

shortstop in 2005. Junior Jordan

Karnofsky could be the Bears’ left-

handed hitting designated hitter,

owning a .297 career average with

eight doubles, a triple, two home

runs and 20 RBI in 54 games. Jun-

ior Taylor Grigsby and sophomore

Ryan Hanlon both got occasional

starting nods in the outfield last

season, while sophomore Michael

Brady has played well, both in the

infield and outfield, in fall practices.

Sophomore Michael Capbarat is

another potential outfielder for the

Bears after playing well in the fall.

What could change the dynamics of the

Cal baseball program is the influx of

freshman talent in 2007. Offensively,

right-handed hitting Jeff Kobernus (6-2,

185) and left-handed hitting Brett Jack-

son (6-2, 195) could see immediate action

in either the Bears’ infield or outfield.

Blake Smith (6-2, 200) is another talented

left-handed hitting outfielder who could

also be utilized as a designated hitter,

while 6-3, 215-pound catcher Dylan Ton-

neson will provide depth behind the plate.

Junior college transfer Nick Nunez, a

right-hander from Cosumnes River Col-

lege, could step in and be a valuable mid-

dle reliever or starter for the Bears. Fresh-

man right-hander Greg Redig (6-4, 190)

and freshman left-handers Andy Oros (6-

3, 215) and Mike Cassady (6-1, 185) also

have the ability to be effective middle

relievers early in their college careers.

“This year’s team is going to have to rely

on their make-up,” said Esquer. “Being so

young, they are going to have to play off

their toughness and ability to be resilient.

They are going to have to be tough-

minded, but we have a lot of confidence

in their abilities.”

2006 Season Highlights Despite a difficult season overall for the Bears, several individual efforts brought national and regional plaudits to the Cal Baseball program: -- Junior Pitcher Brandon Morrow was named first-team All-Pac-10. -- Junior center fielder Brennan Boesch, senior shortstop Allan Craig and freshman pitcher Tyson Ross were named honorable mention All-Pac-10. -- Senior Allan Craig, junior Brett Munster and senior Alex Trafton were named first-team Pac-10 All-Academic -- Sophomore Taylor Grigsby, senior Rob Nesbitt, junior Michael Cooper and sophomore Nick Tess were named honorable mention Pac-10 All-Academic.

2008 Cal Baseball Signees

P A G E 3 W I N T E R 2 0 0 7

Cal had seven players signed by professional teams this past spring: Brandon Morrow was signed by the Mariners after being drafted number 5 overall – the highest draft pick in Cal Baseball history. Other draftees include: Brennan Boesch by Detroit Jeremy Burchett by the Redlegs Chris Errecart by the Brewers Allen Craig by St. Louis Michael Cooper by the Cubs Garrett Bussiere by the Cardinals All signed and began their professional careers this past summer.

Cal just announced the signings of seven athletes to national letters of in-tent. This recruiting class was selected as the nation’s 24

th-best and the

fifth-best in the Pac-10, by the “Collegiate Baseball” newspaper. The signees are: -- Mark Canha, OF, from San Jose (Bellarmine College Prep) -- Todd Fitzgerald, LHP, of Cupertino (San Jose City College) -- Brian Guinn, SS, from El Sobrante (Berkeley High) -- Kevin Miller, RHP, of San Jose (Valley Christian High) -- Maris Moore, INF, from San Ramon (California High) -- Stephen Pistoresi, RHP, of Fresno (San Joaquin Memorial High) -- Dwight Tanaka, INF/OF, from El Sobrante (Campolindo High)

For more details on these signees, please see the recent press release http://calbears.cstv.com/sports/m-basebl/spec-rel/121206aaa.html

7 Bears Ink Pro Contracts

Where is he now? Darrel Varrelmann

P A G E 4 W I N T E R 2 0 0 7

Darrel Varrelmann – or O.C. to his teammates – arrived at Cal in 1981 from Cheyenne, Wyo-ming by way of a J.C. career in Fort Smith,

Arkansas. Already well traveled, Darrel was encouraged to consider coming to Cal by Dave Granger and Glenn Newton during summer ball in Colo-rado. He became an immediate contributor, starting in right field for virtually every game of his junior and senior years, and be-ing named a tri-captain as a senior. During those two years, the lefty hit a solid .277

with 53 RBI, 21 doubles, 3 triples and 3 homers, and played an excellent defen-sive right field. And as a senior, Darrel enjoyed a 13-game hitting streak. After graduating from Cal, Darrel played with the Cal team that trav-eled to Italy. On his re-turn, he went to gradu-ate school at Thunder-bird in Phoenix for his MBA. Darrel then be-gan his career as an in-stitutional bond trader with BearStearns in New York City, moved to SF and LA and set-tled with J.P. Morgan Securities in San Fran-

cisco six years ago. Asked about his Cal and baseball experiences, Darrel said “The diversity of the people and the eye-opening ex-perience of be-ing at Cal really exposed me to career options I never would have thought about prior to being there. The challenge

and competitive pres-sures of going to school and playing baseball at Cal is the best possible training for a career in any fast-paced work envi-ronment”.

Darrel and Patti Varrel-

mann now live in Lafay-

ette with seven year old

Dexter (scheduled to be a

golf pro) and their four

year old twins Duke and

Georgia. Patti has intro-

duced a line of women’s

golf clothing called G G

blue; look for it at a golf

course near you. And

Darrel still straps them on

each year for the Alumni

game, occasionally even

making contact.

- 2007 Golf Classic - Save the date! Next years tournament will be on Monday, October 20

th at Contra Costa

Country Club. Contact Coach Dan Hubbs to reserve your space. dwhubbs@berkeley.edu

- Cal Baseball Banquet - The annual banquet will be held Satur-day, January 20, 2007 at the Doubletree on the Berkeley Marina. Contact Josh Flushman at (510) 643-2587 or joshf@berkeley.edu if you are inter-ested in attending the banquet.

- First pitch - The 2007 Baseball season begins! First pitch will be thrown at 1:30 on Friday, February against UC Irvine. For a complete schedule go to the following link: http://calbears.cstv.com/sports/m-basebl/sched/cal-m-basebl-sched.html

Upcoming Cal Baseball Events

Alumni Weekend Photo Gallery The Alumni Weekend was very enjoyable again this year. Beginning on Sunday, October 8

th with the

Papa Bear and young alumni games, Monday dawned warm and clear for the Bullpen Club Golf Classic at the Contra Costa Country Club. Please mark your calendars for October 13-15, 2007 to do it all over again.

Thanks to Peter Jackson we have photos of most of you who partici-pated in these events. Keep an eye on the Cal baseball website for pho-tos from these events and others throughout the year.

GO BEARS!

PLEASE CONSIDER

HELPING THE PROGRAM We appreciate your past support of the Bullpen Club and hope you will continue helping the student-athletes represent-ing the University. For more informa-tion, please go to this link: https://colt.berkeley.edu:444/urelgift/athletics.html