University Southern California Trojans
Baseball Signs Seven Prep Players
June 21, 1999 | Baseball
November 16, 1998
LOS ANGELES - Seven high school student-athletes have signed letters-of-intent to play baseball at USC, the defending national champion, head coach Mike Gillespie announced today. All seven have played in the prestigious Area Code Games.
"We are very excited to have signed such an excellent group of players," Gillespie said. "These seven should enable us to address our priorities immediately. This group matches up with the best recruiting classes we've ever had at USC. I'm looking forward to them being the nucleus of an outstanding team for at least the next three years that they're together."
The Trojan recruiting class is as follows: righthanded pitcher Chad Clark of Glendora (Calif.) High; catcher-utility Alberto Concepcion of El Segundo (Calif.) High; infielder-outfielder Pakilika Lum of Kamehameha High in Honolulu, Hi.; infielder Anthony Lunetta of Arlington High in Riverside, Calif.; infielder Pat Manning of Mater Dei High in Santa Ana, Calif.; righthanded pitcher Anthony Reyes of California High in Whittier, Calif; and outfielder Eric Verbryke of Righetti High in Santa Maria, Calif.
Here are brief biographies on each player:
Chad Clark, RHP, R-R, 6-5, 200, Glendora High (Glendora, Calif.): Clark was a two-time (1997-98) Area Code Games participant with the 209 Reds, and was named the No. 9 prospect of the 1998 games by Baseball America, as well an all-star. He was also a member of the Team One National Showcase and played on the 1998 AAU national champions with the West Coast Yankees. As a 1998 junior at Glendora, he made the All-CIF Southern Section Division II, All-Inland Valley and All-Baseline League first teams, as well as the Cal-Hi Sports All-State underclassman team. He went 11-2 with a 2.36 ERA and had 109 strikeouts, 43 hits and 23 walks in 70 innings pitched.
Alberto Concepcion, C-UT, R-R, 6-1, 200, El Segundo HS (El Segundo, Calif.): Concepcion set the California state record with 70 RBI as a 1998 junior at El Segundo (the old record was 67). He also set school records with a .566 batting average, 56 hits, 18 doubles and 14 home runs and committed zero errors defensively. He was named Ocean League MVP, All-CIF Southern Section Division IV first team, Daily Breeze All-Area first team and to the Cal-Hi Sports All-State underclassman team. He played at the Area Code Games with the 310 Dodgers.
Pakilika Lum, IF-OF, R-R, 6-1, 215, Kamehameha HS (Honolulu, Hi.): Lum had the highest batting average in the state of Hawaii (.533) as a 1998 junior and made the All-Hawaii Select Team. He also had six home runs and 23 RBI. He was a Hawaii High School Athletic Association All-Star and is a two-time All-League first teamer. He played at the 1997 Area Code Games with the 800 Astros.
Anthony Lunetta, IF, R-R, 5-10, 165, Arlington HS (Riverside, Calif.): Lunetta was named Riverside County Player of the Year at Arlington as a 1997 sophomore. He is a three-time (1996-97-98) Ivy League first teamer (including MVP honors as a sophomore), a two-time (1997-98) All-CIF Southern Section Division II first teamer and a two-time (1997-98) Cal-Hi Sports All- State underclassman pick. As a sophomore, he batted .396 with nine doubles and four home runs and was 10-1 with a 1.82 ERA as a pitcher. As a junior, he batted .510 with 10 doubles and six home runs and broke school records for hits (49) and RBI (41) while making the All-Riverside County first team. He was a member of the Team One National Showcase and played with the 714 Angels at the Area Code Games.
Pat Manning, IF, R-R, 6-1, 185, Mater Dei HS (Santa Ana, Calif.): The first freshman ever to start at Mater Dei, Manning played for the 714 Angels at the Area Code Games and was named the No. 10 prospect by Baseball America as well as an all-star. He was a member of the Team One National Showcase and the 18-year-old USA National Team. He is a two-time (1997-98) Orange County Register All-Orange County and All-South Coast League first teamer and made the 1998 All-CIF Southern Section Division I first team and the Cal-Hi Sports All-State underclassman team as a junior. As a junior, he hit .463 with nine home runs and 32 RBI. As a sophomore, he batted .398 with 10 home runs and 27 RBI.
Anthony Reyes, RHP, R-R, 6-0, 190, California HS (Whittier, Calif.): Reyes was an all-star for the 310 Dodgers at the Area Code Games this summer. As a 1998 junior, he made the All-Del Rio League first team and the Whittier Daily News All-Area honorable mention team with a 4-1 record, a 1.05 ERA and four saves.
Eric Verbryke, OF, L-L, 6-2, 195, Righetti HS (Santa Maria, Calif.): Verbryke earned All-CIF Southern Section Division II second team, All-Area, All-Santa Maria County and All-Northern League honors as a 1998 junior at Righetti. He batted .456, had a slugging percentage of .644 and an on-base percentage of .590. He led the team with 41 hits, nine doubles, four triples and also scored 32 runs. He played for the 209 Reds at the Area Code Games.
