Vanguard restocks its baseball roster

The Vanguard baseball team will have a different look in 2004 as head

coach Kevin Kasper received commitments from 10 new players for the

spring season.

Included in the group are Joe Candelaria, Nikolaus Crouch and

Blake Rossi, all of whom have ties to Vanguard. Candelaria becomes

the third member of the family to play intercollegiate athletics at

Vanguard.

Crouch, a junior transfer who can play first base, catch, and may

see time at the designated hitter, joins his father, Bruce, the

Director of Facility Services at the Costa Mesa campus.

Rossi, a freshman outfielder from Big Pine, is a cousin of former

VU softball pitcher Gina Liebengood.

The other new players are three transfers, Brent Erickson, Mike

Guernsey and Mike Sparks, while freshmen Adam Yoder, Josh Reed, Matt

Voorhies and David Hudgins join the Lions from the high school ranks.

Lions ink pair of pitchers

* SOFTBALL: Vanguard completed its off-season recruiting with the

recent signings of two pitchers Jenna Willis and Jennifer Rynda, both

right-hander.

Willis transferred to Vanguard from Arizona Western College after

playing one season for the Matadors in Yuma, Arizona. The Northern

California native graduated from Foothill High in Palo Cedro prior to

attending AWC.

Rynda, of Moreno Valley, enters VU from Notre Dame High in

Riverside, where she played softball and tennis.

In softball, she was a three-time all-league player and was

honored to play in the 2003 De Anza League All-Star game as a senior.