BASEBALL / DAILY REPORT : CAL LUTHERAN : Kingsmen Discover Relief at Bottom of Pitching Staff

Although the Kingsmen lost the game, they explored the depths of their pitching staff Sunday afternoon and learned that the quality extends all the way to the bottom.

In seven innings of relief, Tim Barber, the least active of Cal Lutheran’s eight pitchers, held Methodist College scoreless in a 4-2 loss.

“Tim was phenomenal,” Cal Lutheran Coach Rich Hill said. “I can’t say enough about him.”

During the regular season Barber pitched only 6 1/3 innings.

“He’s got good stuff, but we have a strong staff and we didn’t have a chance to use him,” Hill said. “I kept telling him earlier in the season that there would be a time when we’d need him. Today was the time.”

Barber, a sophomore from Loveland, Colo., jumped at the chance.

“I loved being out there,” he said. “I was waiting for this all year. I was really confident with the defense we have behind me.”

It was a classic confrontation--Cal Lutheran’s best hitter, Darrell McMillin stepping to the plate with the bases loaded-against Methodist ace Mike Rohr.

But it had an anti-climatic ending. With a 2-0 count, McMillin popped out to the second baseman.

“That’s just baseball,” Hill said. “Rohr was struggling and we knew he likes the outside third of the plate and that’s Darrell McMillin’s strength. They had their best pitcher against our best hitter and they won.”

In an effort to show that the 19-degree wind-chill factor would not be a factor, Cal Lutheran assistant Coach Mark Magdaleno threw batting practice Sunday morning with no shirt on.