the heart of a lion...
named All-Area as a junior and senior. The native of Glendale, Calif. also helped his high school squad to the CIF Division III Championship, and a No. 1 ranking, in 2008.
Outfield Junior Angelo Songco highlights the outfield for the Lions this season, and he will likely get the starting bid in centerfield to start the season. Songco, who was a member of the 2008 Brooks Wallace Award Preseason Watch List and a preseason All-Conference selection, earned 2007 WCC Freshman of the Year and Freshman All-American honors before turning in yet another great year in 2008. Last season, he garnered All-WCC First Team honors after starting 51 of LMU’s 55 games. The native of Granada Hills, Calif. finished the season batting .356 with 36 runs scored, 17 doubles, 15 home runs, 48 RBI, 130 total bases and a .681 slugging percentage. A pure hitter, he ranked first on the team in batting average, slugging percentage, on base percentage, RBI, home runs, walks and total bases. In conference games alone, he batted .429 with 17 runs scored, nine doubles, six home runs and 23 RBI. Songco finished the year ranked second in the WCC in home runs, third in slugging percentage, and fourth in total bases and doubles. He posted 19 multiple-hit games, including 10 two-hit, eight three-hit and one four-hit performance. Following a stellar sophomore year, he went on to play in the Cape Cod League where he won the Cape Cod League Home Run Derby.
w season preview
Sophomore Jonathan Johnson is the early favorite to start at second base once again this year. Johnson batted .281 in 46 games played and 30 starts as a freshman. Last year, he tallied 19 runs, three doubles and eight RBI, including recording a season-high two RBI at Portland on March 29. The native of Lakewood, Calif. collected six multiple-hit games, including a season-high three hits against Santa Clara on May 2.
The 2009 Lions
season preview
“Angelo is going to start in the outfield, likely in centerfield to start the season,” Gill said. “He provides a powerful bat in the middle of the lineup, and has some speed in the outfield on defense. The battles for the other two outfield positions will be won and lost in February. Right now Coach Jeff Walker is working with all of our outfielders, and I’m looking forward to the competition for starts throughout the year.” Returners Will Dugoni, Brett Mendoza, Andrew Irvine and Joe Vierra will be joined by a foursome of freshmen who will all compete for time at the corner outfield positions. Redshirt freshmen Mike Lowe and Evan Simonitsch are battling with sophomore Joe Vierra and true freshman Ryan Hawthorne for time in left field. The competition for starts in right between freshman Josh Bryan and Irvine is also heating up as the team inches closer to the start of the regular season. Dugoni and Mendoza, who have been used at various positions throughout their careers at LMU, also provide competition at both outfield positions. “Dugoni is one of the best athletes we have on the team, and we’d like to utilize his speed in the outfield if possible. He is a utility player that is currently working in both the infield and outfield, and we expect to use him in a variety of roles this season,” Gill said.
angelo songco
2009 LMU BASEBALL • 7
2009 LMU BASEBALL media guide
According to Gill, The Lions are “going to take the approach of play the game hard and come to the park ready to battle and leave it all on the field. We want to play each game inning-by-inning, pitch-by-pitch and at the end of the day we’ll look at the scoreboard and see what it tells us. In terms of strengths for this year, our strength will hopefully be our ability to play as a team. We don’t necessarily stand out in any particular category, but we have balance as a team. If our attitude stays right, and our ability to grow together as a team happens the right way, great things will come forth. We need to continue to put the team first and make sure no one is acting based on individual agendas. Our players have to like each other and want to win for each other, and if that continues to happen throughout the season, we will be successful.”