Earlier this week, Padres prospect and Cal Poly alum Nick Torres was gracious enough to spend some time after a game in Lake Elsinore to talk some about how the past year-plus of professional baseball has been for him.

Here are some things I wrote about the experience over two days in Lake Elsinore. It includes a lot of words and photos.

Nick Torres has spent a little more than a year in professional baseball and has found success this season. By Owen Main

Drafted in the fourth round in 2015 by the Padres, Nick Torres had a great first half of the summer in Fort Wayne, San Diego’s class Low A affiliate. He hit .326 in 77 games for the Tin Caps and was promoted to Lake Elsinore three weeks ago. Since his promotion, Torres has continued his hot hitting, maintaining a .844 combined OPS and a .326 combined batting average.

I happened to be in the region for work for a weeks and decided to take in a few of the Storm’s home games against the Inland Empire 66ers (Angels).

The first thing to note is that Lake Elsinore hasn’t been very successful in winning games so far this season. At 7-22 in the second half coming into Monday night’s game, they have the worst record in the California League during that time, and the second-lowest record overall (38-61). Torres, who hits in the three-hole, seems to be one of the most competent hitters in the lineup.

ON MONDAY, Torres was busy right away dealing with the blistering late-July sun. With two outs in the first inning, Inland Empire’s Andrew Daniel hits a bleeding line drive right at Torres, and directly into the sun. The ball dropped in front of him in right field, and a few batters later the Storm were down 2-0.

Despite the ball lost in the sun, Torres does look more agile in right field — a little quicker to break and also seems like maybe he’s gotten a little faster. In the second inning, he sprints toward the line and slides to keep a ball from rolling into the corner, holding the opposing hitter to a long single.

Torres singles and is stranded in the first, but manages a sacrifice fly in the bottom of the third. His RBI gets Lake Elsinore a little closer. In the bottom of the sixth inning, Torres singles, steals second base (WHAT?) and scores on a single. After getting pictures of all of it, I figure I can get back to my hotel (an hour away) and prepare for my next day of work, having safely secured a number of photos.

I was wrong.

In the bottom of the 10th inning, Torres’ sacrifice fly is a walk-off. Considering I’ve left two games early this season that have ended in 9th-inning, game-winning grand slams, this early departure wasn’t my worst, but I suppose it does take the bronze medal.

TUESDAY night is hotter than Monday, but it’s also Taco Tuesday at Lake Elsinore Diamond. The promotion is a standard amazing series of deals: $2 tacos, $3 tallboy beers, and it’s working. At first pitch, there are probably twice as many fans as Monday night in attendance — the total at the end of the game is 1,500.

The pitching also seems a little more exciting on Tuesday. Sean Newbomb, Inland Empire’s left-handed starter, begins the game by striking out the first two Storm hitters he faces, sitting at 92-94 miles per hour with his fastball and a curve that made guys look silly all night. Newcomb, a 2014 first-round draft pick of the Angels, clearly has stuff that warrants his first-rounder status. The Storm do everything they can to foul off pitches and stay in counts, but are generally held to soft contact, including Torres’ first-inning soft roller to second base.

Torres measures Newcomb up the second time around, doubling to left field with one out, but he is later stranded at third base. Did I mention the Storm have a .390 winning percentage this season?

One thing that caught my eye were the two coaches in the dugout with major league uniforms on. There was a guy with a Padres uniform in the Storm dugout and a guy with Angels duds in the 66ers’. They are roving instructors, and it makes sense they’d wear the uniform of the Big Club so they don’t have to manage five or six different ones. Against the uniforms of each of the teams playing, the big league uniform is a contrast aesthetically, but it probably also serves as a reminder of where all these players, and umpires for that matter, are trying to get.

Which reminds me, the umpires in this series are the same two guys I saw in San Jose for the Chase Johnson start I saw earlier this season. The two-man crew may seem undermanned — after all, the Blues have three-man crews for all California Collegiate League games — but I bet they do as good a job, if not better than other three-man crews. Also, they get significantly more time calling balls and strikes vs. a three-man crew, which I’m sure is also an advantage as they try to advance to higher levels.

The right field wall is really high in Lake Elsinore. By Owen Main

THE right-field wall in Lake Elsinore is 36 feet high. It’s the last thing the evening shadows overtake and is the backdrop for Torres. The wall dwarfs the young power hitter, but in the third inning of Tuesday’s game, Torres plays the wall like a pro. After an Inland Empire hitter laces one straight over his head, Torres plays the ball on one hop and fires it into second base to hold the hitter to a single. When the next batter singles, Torres’ play could have been run-saving.

A few innings later, Torres gets a bad jump on a ball over his head and the 66ers hitter ends up on second base.

Really, the 66ers’ pitching is the story of the night, holding the Storm in check in a 5-0 win. It turns out that Monday’s win for the Storm is the only one they’ll get in a seven-game stretch.

It seems like Torres is generally in the middle of a lot of action for his new squad, despite the fact he’s only been there for a month or so. I only been two games — part of a schedule that will last for around 140 games and seven months.

AFTER the game, Torres comes out of the dugout and sits next to me for an interview in the top row of the stands. Most of the lights in the stadium are off, save for a few sets that are illuminate the infield. His uniform, is still on, except for his tennis shoes, which have replaced his cleats. Looking out over an empty field Torres reflects on the past 13 months, a hopeful beginning to a professional baseball career.  The grounds crew works on the field under the lights, which seem to be slowly fading, even though I know they aren’t changing a bit. When we are done, Torres heads back into the locker room. There are always preparations to be made in this beautiful grind of professional baseball.

Photos by Owen Main

Nick Torres is working hard this spring to make an impression on Padres management. By Owen Main

Spring training is a wonderland for baseball geeks. For me, one of the great things about this trip (my third) was getting up early and getting out to the various fields, trying to find guys who are less-known.

This year, I tried to track down Cal Poly guys. I was successful on three out of five. Next time (I tell myself now), I’ll stay out not as late, wake up earlier, and get to see all the guys I go for.

Nick Torres was an interesting study. A fourth-round pick after his junior year at Cal Poly last season, Torres was pretty easily found shagging balls in right field and taking big swings.

The next day, I found Torres on a back field at Camelback, playing a High-A game against the White Sox. When I didn’t see him go into the field in the top of the 7th inning, my heart kind of sank. I figured he’d been replaced and I’d missed him. Never to fear, Nick came up as the Designated Hitter two innings later. He put a few cuts on balls, but White Sox pitchers were allergic to the strike zone and Nick, like about four other Padres that inning, walked.

It will be interesting to see if Torres’ gap power can turn into something more at the next level and to see how his game translates to the next level.

A quick note about the Padres’ facility in Peoria: 

I was really impressed with the back fields. They aren’t secluded like many other teams’ fields are. The access is really great, and things are done with fans in mind. There are lots of volunteer ushers and people who know what’s going on, the Padres’ building is open for anyone to go into and pick up rosters, etc… , and everyone at the facility just seemed a little more casual and accommodating to fans than a few other places. I really liked it.

OK, back to Torres.

There’s still a lot of work to be done this spring, but it’s actually possible (though not likely), depending on how they do over the next weeks and months, that both Torres and former Cal Poly teammate Jimmy Allen could play for Class-A teams in the California League for their respective organizations. If they end up there, who’s in with my on a road trip to Lake Elsinore or Rancho Cucamonga?

Photos by Owen Main

Cal Poly’s Nick Torres slides into home safely after a bases-loaded single turned into a three-run error. By Owen Main

Cal Poly rode ace Matt Imhof long enough to get out to a big lead, and won game one of their three game series with Cal State Fullerton 8-0 on Thursday night. Imhof pitched 6 1/3 scoreless inning, striking out nine Titans and walking two while surrendering just two hits.

By the time Imhof left the game, Cal poly led 7-0, which means the Mustangs didn’t have to use either of their top two relievers — lefty Taylor Chris and closer Reed Reilly.

Game two of the three-game series tomorrow will pit Fullerton ace Thomas Eshelman against Cal Poly freshman, Slater Lee. First pitch is at 6:00 pm at Baggett Stadium.

Photos by Owen Main, who also apparently forgot what year it is……

[See image gallery at www.fansmanship.com]

Matt Imhof might be the best major league prospect on Cal Poly’s roster. By Owen Main

Aaron Fitt, Baseball America college writer, joined Owen on this episode to talk about Cal Poly baseball’s hot start.

We also discussed why it’s hard to get teams from the ACC or SEC out west to play the Mustangs, Big West baseball, and the perceived East coast bias in college baseball.

Aaron is basically a college baseball encyclopedia. If you’re a college baseball fan on the west coast, this podcast is for you.

Find Aaron on twitter @aaronfitt.

Nick Torres (10) anchors the Cal Poly lineup looking for redemption at the site of last year’s regional. By Owen Main

In a season where they’ll play 50-plus games, the Cal Poly baseball team has played only played four so far. After last year’s regional, the three-game series against defending national champion UCLA that starts tonight.

The game is getting lots of national attention from college baseball writers.

Aaron Fitt of Baseball America is “bullish on the Mustangs” and talked extensively about their upside in last week’s Baseball America podcast. Baseball America pushed Cal Poly to number 22 in their poll this week as well.

Kendall Rodgers of Perfect Game USA also like what the Mustangs have done so far.

PG TOP 25: Latest rankings out: @UVABaseball remains atop, @calpoly_stangs @UKBaseball enter: http://t.co/B8YQVmUo1g #CollegeBaseball

— Kendall Rogers (@KendallRogersPG) February 17, 2014

Shotgun Spratling of CollegeBaseballDaily.com had a nice preview this morning of this weekend’s series.

Was #CalPoly better than #UCLA last year? The Mustangs think so. — SoCal #CollegeBaseball Weekend Preview: http://t.co/GECLYUFSWA

— Shotgun Spratling (@SoCal_CBDaily) February 21, 2014

Rightfully so, Spratling points to the play and comments of Nick Torres and Matt Imhof as a rich backdrop to the three games in Jackie Robinson Stadium — the site of the ball Torres lost in the lights last year.

Prior to LAST season, Larry Lee talked to me about how difficult it was to schedule games or even get call-backs from teams on the East Coast, making any series against a Pac-12 Conference school an important one in terms of national profile and even (possibly) future scheduling.

With the Regional appearance last year, the Mustangs are more on the national radar. But Cal Poly definitely still has something to prove. Writers have been building them up and making them a worthwhile topic. Winning two or three games in Westwood would allow the writers to continue the narrative of Cal Poly as a team on the rise. Losing two or three games wouldn’t kill that narrative completely, but it definitely would quiet it for a while.

Like I said, we are only four games into the season, but I think it’s fair to say a lot is riding on the series for the Mustangs. What are your predictions for tonight’s game and for the series?

Joey Wagman takes the mound Friday in Cal Poly’s first NCAA Tournament in four years. By Owen Main

Larry Lee and the Cal Poly Mustangs baseball team is heading to UCLA today to play San Diego in the Regional round of the NCAA baseball tournament. Four teams will show up in Westwood and only one will leave Sunday or Monday with a victory and a trip to a Super Regional.

The baseball team is the second major Cal Poly team to head to the NCAA Tournament this year — the women’s basketball team went in March. But unlike in basketball, a baseball team like Cal Poly’s has a real shot to go deep into the tournament. Here’s why.

The Regional Tournament Structure

Instead of winning six straight games (as is necessary in the NCAA Basketball Tournament), Cal Poly just needs to win three double-elimination tournaments to win the whole thing. Victory in even the first weekend’s Regional would put Cal Poly in baseball’s “Sweet 16.” Baseball is a funny sport — the most talented team doesn’t always win. With a few hot pitchers, solid defense, and timely hitting, a team can grit its way to success in a tournament like this.

Pitching

The adage is that in a baseball postseason, it all comes down to pitching. This is true, to an extent. A great pitcher or a pitcher who is hot can make a huge difference. Like a goalie in hockey or a great quarterback, a hot pitcher can steal a team a game. That being said, pitchers can generally only start once on a regional weekend. This means that pitching depth also comes into play. With games on possibly four consecutive days, pitching depth is a huge deal. Pitchers who maybe got small amounts of mid-week innings during the season could be called upon in a potential elimination game on Sunday or Monday, when the pressure is on.

Cal Poly’s top two starters –Joey Wagman and Matt Imhoff — have shown they have what it takes to get hot and dominate single games. If those two can get hot and win, finishing a potential series weekend might be a little more challenging. With Sunday and Wednesday pitchers going late in a regional weekend, anything can happen.

Non-Conference

Cal Poly’s top-25 RPI is due to very good non-conference series’ against Kansas State, Washington, and San Francisco. The Mustangs have played in unfamiliar confines, which should help them as they head to Jackie Robinson Stadium, the home of UCLA.

The Big West

Last season, the second-place Mustangs — and by proxy the Big West — was snubbed as only one team made the NCAA Tournament from the conference. This season, three teams got bids from the Big West. This means that Big West teams like Cal Poly has also been tested throughout the season in-conference.

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So, how would I actually rate Cal Poly’s chances in this tournament? Because it’s baseball, it’s really hard to say. Here’s what I am confident in: though they have not played well on the road in-conference this year, I think they have as good a chance as UCLA to get out of the regional. They’ve played tough teams all year and some of their players still haven’t hit their stride offensively. If guys like David Armendariz and Jimmy Allen can match the punch that Nick Torres, Brian Mundell, Denver Chavez, and Elliot Stewart have been providing, the Mustangs could be looking at a Super Regional. If the pitching holds up. Darn it, it always comes down to pitching, doesn’t it?…