RISE AND FALL

VENTURA â€”  Steven Gunter didn’t know what to expect when he came to Ventura College.

“I was thinking I would redshirt and lose some weight and go at it for the next couple of years and move on from there,� Gunter said.

Don Adams wasn’t shocked when he first saw Gunter, but he was interested in helping the youngster shed pounds.

“We had him on a chicken and rice diet for a long time,� Adams said.

Gunter, a 19-year-old freshman, tipped the scales at about 280 pounds when he drove from Camas, Wash., to Ventura in the fall.

Problem was, Gunter was a 6-foot-2 first baseman, not a nose guard.

“Mom is a good cook,� Gunter said.

Adams, Ventura’s baseball coach, and former assistant Pat Woods apparently are better dietitians.

Gunter is down to the mid-260s and counting, and his hard work in the school’s fitness center has translated into a much more successful season than anyone anticipated.

He leads the Pirates in Western State Conference play with a .375 batting average, four home runs and 27 runs batted in while splitting time between first base and designated hitter, with an occasional stint in left field.

“He’s probably our best player,� Adams said. “He’s just an old-time baseball player. He likes to get dirty. Plays hard. He loves baseball. He’s fun to be around.�

Woods, a former coach at Oxnard College who recently left Ventura to become an assistant at Hill Junior College in Hillsboro, Texas, hit it off with Gunter while coaching his Legion team in Camas last summer.

“He’s a bad-body guy who can absolutely hit,� Woods said. “He knows that if he works on his body a little bit, he will be a much better hitter, because now there are some pitches he can’t reach.

“One thing about Steve. You don’t have to worry about him coming to play hard. He’s such a great kid.�

Gunter was a four-time all-league first baseman and the league’s co-most valuable player last year at Camas High, the only high school in the paper mill town of about 8,000 on the Columbia River, a mere 22 miles northeast of Portland.

In the fall, Gunter and seven other players from that region followed Woods to Ventura, including starting shortstop Chris Morse and center fielder Will Riedlinger.

“I had a few college offers, but nothing I really wanted to take,� Gunter said. “I didn’t expect to play when I came down here. They had two or three first basemen. We lost one to grades and the other went to the outfield, so I kind of lucked out.�

The team did, too.

Although the Pirates have struggled with a 14-16 record, 7-14 in WSC play, Gunter has made a smooth transition to college. He carries a 3.5 grade-point average as a business-education double major and hasn’t seen many pitchers he can’t handle.

Life away from Camas, though, is another story.

“It’s a lot more crowded here,� Gunter said. “The driving took a little to get used to.�

The good-natured Gunter adjusted quickly to his new surroundings and put his small-town, modest upbringing to good use when it came to finding suitable and affordable entertainment. Not to mention meals.

“I like the beach at Santa Barbara,� Gunter said. “I hang out with the guys [on the team]. Every Thursday and Sunday night we go bowling. Dollar nights. I’m not very good, but you can’t beat the price. We also go to a lot of movies.�

Gunter will have to find new theaters and bowling alleys next school year, when he transfers to Hill to be reunited with Woods. The nearest beach, though, is along the Gulf of Mexico, more than 250 miles to the south.

Afterward, Gunter hopes to play at a four-year school. But first, he has an important goal to reach.

“[The coaches] have told me that if I want to go anywhere after JC, I have to lose weight,� Gunter said. “I’d like to get down to around 250 [pounds].�