Mike Leake turned down a chance to play professional baseball last year because he didn't want to be just a pitcher.

He elected to play at Arizona State, where the coaching staff promised the former Fallbrook High star the opportunity to both pitch and play center field.

Things, however, don't always follow the script.

While Leake got a chance to play the field early in the season, a lack of pitching has forced him into a full-time pitching role -- and he has delivered big time.

The freshman right-hander has become the team's Friday starter and is 8-1 with a 3.38 ERA. In 17 games (six starts) he has walked just 11 while striking out 50 in 66 2/3 innings.

Eleven days ago against Stanford, he threw his first nine-inning complete game, beating the Cardinal with a 140-pitch effort. Friday in an 8-3 win, he blanked Washington State for six innings before leaving the game with his scoreless streak intact at 13.

At the plate this season, however, he's hitting just .176 (3-for-17) with five RBIs.

"I still want to play in the field," Leake said. "But the team needed me more on the mound, so I made the switch.

"If I wasn't having success as a pitcher, I might be upset with not playing. I hope I get a better opportunity to play next season."

For this season, though, Leake -- who was a seventh-round pick of the Oakland A's last season -- is a mainstay of the pitching staff.

"I don't know where we'd be without Mike Leake," Arizona State coach Pat Murphy said. "We needed him in a number of games early. Now we need him to start, and he has been outstanding."

Leake, an All-CIF performer at Fallbrook last season when he was 11-1 as a pitcher and hit .342 with eight homers, said he has changed his pitching style in college.

"I still have the same stuff, but you can't just hit spots in college," Leake said. "I'm much more aggressive now.

"I've developed a 'You're-not-going-to-beat-me' attitude. I was pitching in a lot of games earlier in the season, then moved in as a starter.

"Either way, I'm OK. As a reliever, you get in more games, but a starter gets to be on the field longer. I'm a little bit of an old-timer when it comes to starting. I like to finish what I start."

Leake was never able to finish the season on a high note at Fallbrook, as the Warriors advanced deep into the playoffs, but couldn't win a CIF San Diego Section title. Still, he loved his time at Fallbrook.

"High school, especially playing for Matt Parker, prepared me for college," Leake said. "He's a hard-nosed coach. He really rode our butts.

"Not everyone liked that, but I realized he was trying to prepare us for the next level."

The next level for Leake is playing professionally, but he'll have to wait until after his junior season to test those waters.

"The A's came after me hard last year (as a pitcher)," Leake said. "But I wasn't ready to play professionally. I'm more mature mentally and physically now. So I hope I have that opportunity again."

Prospect watch

- Baseball America lists outfielder John Drennen (Rancho Bernardo) as the No. 6 prospect in the Cleveland Indians' system. Drennen, who is at Kinston of the Single-A Carolina League, went 3-for-3 in exhibition games this spring for the Indians.

- Right-handed pitcher Trevor Cahill (Vista) is listed as the No. 10 prospect in the Oakland system. He's in extended spring training and will open the season in June with the Arizona League A's.

- Outfielder Danny Putnam (Rancho Bernardo) is the No. 16 prospect in the A's system and is hitting .280 after six games with Midland of the Double-A Texas League.

- Right-hander Wes Littleton (Vista) is the No. 21 prospect in the Texas Rangers' organization. The reliever appeared to have a breakthrough season last year with the Rangers, but struggled this spring and didn't make the team. Littleton hasn't allowed a run in three games at Triple-A Oklahoma City of the Pacific Coast League.

- Outfielder Thomas Neal (Poway) is listed as the No. 22 prospect in the San Francisco Giants' system.

Baseball

- Kyle Thompson (Valley Center/Palomar College) was named the Great Plains Athletic Conference player of the week after he knocked in 10 runs, including seven in one game, with two homers and a double. For the season, he's hitting .297 with a team-leading five homers and 28 RBIs. In a game last week against Mount Marty College, he had a two-run homer and pitched a scoreless ninth to earn the save.

- Andy Reilly (Mt. Carmel) is leading Point Loma Nazarene in hitting (.347), home runs (four), RBIs (30) and stolen bases (13). Kevin Campbell (Rancho Bernardo) is hitting .312 with three homers and 25 RBIs for the Sea Lions, while Mike Reynolds (Ramona) is hitting .333 with four homers and 28 RBIs. On the mound, Robbie Naegele (Rancho Bernardo ) is 1-1 with a save and a 1.84 ERA, and freshman Adam Herter (Fallbrook) is 2-1 with a 2.14 ERA.

- Jesse Nunez (Oceanside) is hitting .224 with a home run and 14 RBIs at Nyack College in New York.

- Shortstop Matt Vance (Torrey Pines) is hitting .279 and leads Harvard with two homers and 19 RBIs.

- Pitcher Brandon Adams (Oceanside/Palomar College) is 1-0 and has a 1.93 ERA after five appearances at Oklahoma State.

- Luke Iverson (Orange Glen) is having a great season at Vanguard University, hitting .381 with four homers, 20 RBIs and 11 doubles. He has struck out just 14 times in 142 plate appearances.

- Leadoff man Trevor Boucher (Escondido/Palomar College) is hitting .344 with a pair of homers at La Verne and leads the Leopards with 24 RBIs. Pitcher Ryan Rose (San Marcos) is 3-3 after nine starts at La Verne.

- Freshman Jonathan Purcell (Vista) has appeared in five games at Northwestern and has a 3.75 ERA in 12 innings.

- Catcher Keith Johnson (Mt. Carmel) is hitting .231 with 10 RBIs at Oklahoma Baptist.

Softball

- Vanessa Soto (Mt. Carmel) is hitting .389 with three homers and 27 RBIs for an LSU team that is 40-6 and ranked No. 6 in the nation. Erika Sluss (Vista) is hitting .245 with three homers and 12 RBIs for the Tigers.

- Raylene Asman (Escondido) has started 30 games as a freshman at Long Island University and is hitting .230 with three homers and 17 RBIs.

- Sarah Jensen (Rancho Bernardo) is hitting .308 with a home run and 18 RBIs at Biola.

- Stephanie Steel (Vista) is hitting .309 with 12 RBIs and leads the Princeton team with 14 runs scored.

- Sophomore outfielder Pam Webber (Poway) has started all 38 games for Eastern Kentucky.

- Emily Batt (Poway) has started 33 games as a freshman at Santa Clara.

Representing his country

USC freshman golfer Jamie Lovemark (Torrey Pines) was among eight selected to represent the United States in the 2007 Palmer Cup. The annual Ryder Cup-style event is between American collegiate golfers and their counterparts from Europe. The competition will take place June 7-8 at Caves Valley Golf Club in Maryland. Lovemark, a semifinalist for the 2007 Ben Hogan Award that goes to the nation's top men's collegiate golfer, is ranked as the nation's No. 1 player by Golfweek.com.

Two weeks ago, he tied for the individual title at the Oregon Duck Invitational. In October, he won the Big Ten/Pac-10 Challenge.

Lovemark leads the Trojans with a 71.07 stroke average and has been the team's top finisher in five of nine events. He has 12 rounds under 60, including a season-low 64 at the USC Collegiate Invitational.

In one stretch, he had seven consecutive sub-70 rounds.

In January, Lovemark played in the PGA's Buick Invitational as an amateur and tied for 39th with a 3-under-par 285.

Men's golf

- Aaron Goldberg (La Costa Canyon) is the No. 1 player at San Diego State with a 70.67 scoring average and a low round of 66. Jamie Puterbaugh (La Costa Canyon) is second on the SDSU team with a 72.93 scoring average and a low round of 66. Adam Porzak (Poway) is third with a 73.13 average and a low round of 68. Goldberg tied for first in the District 7 Shootout in Las Vegas. Puterbaugh finished second in the Callaway Invitational at The Farms in Rancho Santa Fe as the Aztecs tied for first in the 15-team event.

- Max Schechter (Torrey Pines) is a key player on the Princeton team.

- Blake Trimble (Torrey Pines) is averaging 75.11 after nine rounds for No. 6-ranked Nevada-Las Vegas. He finished fourth at the District 7 Shootout.

Start-up stars

Twin sisters Marcie and Jodi Baldridge (Oceanside) are the key players on the University of La Verne women's golf team, a program in its first season at the 112-year-old school.

They were also recruited by Cal State San Marcos, UC Riverside and Redlands, but chose to help get the program started at La Verne after being recruited by the men's coach.

The Tigers won their first event in March at PGA of Southern California Golf Club in Calimesa. Jodi was the medalist with Marcie finishing second.

In the team's second tournament at the Yucipa Valley Golf Club, Jodi placed fourth and Marcie was fifth as the team finished third.

Women's golf

- Tiffany Joh (Rancho Bernardo) has three top-10 finishes at UCLA and leads the team with a 73.6 scoring average. She has nine under-par rounds and seven rounds under 70. Hannah Jun (Torrey Pines) has three top-10 finishes for the Bruins with three under-par rounds and a 75.9 scoring average.

- Allison Goodman (Torrey Pines) has led the California team in scoring six times this season.

- Angela King (Torrey Pines), a freshman at Stanford, has a 77.0 scoring average.

Women's track and field

- Long Beach State has five former North County performers. Jasmine Winfield (Oceanside) has marks of 12.54 seconds in the 100 meters, 25.24 in the 200 and 58.78 in the 400. Missy Barclay (Westview) has bests of 2:18.63 in the 800, 4:40.84 in the 1,500 and 11:26.64 in the 3,000-meter steeplechase. Rebecca Adams (Rancho Bernardo) has cleared 11 feet, 11 3/4 inches in the pole vault, Tiana Johnson (Mt. Carmel) has bests of 38-3 1/4 in the triple jump and 15-9 in the long jump, and Miia Mobley (Mt. Carmel) has gone 38-11 in the triple jump.

- Jessica Eggleston (El Camino) has a best of 39-3 in the triple jump and 18-1 in the long jump at Cal Poly. Whitney DeWeese (Rancho Buena Vista) has a best of 119-10 in the hammer, 43-8 in the shot and 143-6 in the discus at Cal Poly.

- Renae Eaton (San Pasqual) has a best of 2:29.86 in the 800 at UC Davis.

- Jolando Diego (El Camino) is the anchor leg on a UCLA 400 relay team that has run 44.98, an NCAA regional qualifying mark. Individually, she has a best of 24.05 in the 200 and 56.19 in the 400. Allison Hall (Rancho Bernardo) has a best mark of 2:13.44 in the 800 and 4:32.52 in the 1,500. Claire Rethmeier (San Pasqual) has a best of 4:30.39 in the 1,500.

Men's track & field

- Joey Hauser (Vista) has a best of 44-8 in the triple jump and 21-2 1/3 in the long jump at Cal Poly.

- Jesse McLennan (Valley Center) has a best of 14-1 1/2 in the pole vault at Long Beach State.

- Lane Votapka (Fallbrook) has a best of 15-0 in the pole vault at Point Loma Nazarene.

- Freshman Stan Griffin (Mt. Carmel) has posted regional qualifying marks in the 100 (10.69) and 200 (21.40) at UCLA. James Rhoades (Ramona) has a best mark of 48.13 in the 400 and is a member of the 400 relay team that has run 41.35.

- Freshman Danny Belch (Torrey Pines) has bests of 10.79 in the 100 and 22.30 in the 200 at Stanford.

- A.J. Acosta (El Camino), a freshman at Oregon, has a best of 3:44.42 in the 1,500.

Women's lacrosse

Sophomore Patrice Clark (Poway) scored the first goal at UC Davis' new multi-use, on-campus Aggie Stadium as the Aggies beat Saint Mary's 17-5. Clark had five goals in the game, while Megan O'Connor (Poway) scored three.

Men's lacrosse

J.R. Oreskovich (La Costa Canyon) has been on fire. The junior attack at Stevens Institute -- located in Hoboken, N.J., on the banks of the Hudson River -- scored eight goals and had five assists on Easter Sunday for a school-record 13 points in a win over Ohio Wesleyan. He had two goals and two assists earlier in the week against Stockton College and earned Skyline Conference co-player of the week honors. Saturday, he scored three goals with four assists as the 11-2 Ducks -- ranked No. 9 in NCAA Division III -- beat the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy. Oreskovich leads the team with 34 goals and 24 assists.

Around campus

Jordan Paopao (El Camino), a two-time Mid-Major All-America football player at the University of San Diego, has been selected to attend the 2007 NCAA Leadership Conference in Orlando, Fla., from May 27-31. The conference provides student-athletes with a forum to discuss issues that may affect them on their campuses while providing them with an opportunity to enhance their leadership skills.

- John Maffei's Alumni Report appears every other Monday through the college season. He can be reached at (760) 740-3547, by fax at (760) 740-5045 or at jmaffei@nctimes.com. Readers are urged to submit information on former North County prep athletes.