Rancho Cucamonga, Calif., is more than 1,500 miles from Lawrence but there was a distinct Kansas University flavor there Tuesday night.

Former Jayhawk pitchers Pete Smart and Brandon O’Neal faced off in a Single-A baseball contest between the High Desert Mavericks and the Rancho Cucamonga Quakes.

“It’s always fun to pitch against anybody you know,” Smart said over the phone before the game.

“There’s a little something extra but I’m not going to be throwing any harder because of it.”

The game wasn’t over at press time, but if it went anything like the past few times Smart’s Mavericks have faced O’Neal, Smart probably came out on top.

Smart, who signed with the Milwaukee Brewers as a free agent before the 2001 draft, said the Mavericks were a “really good hitting team” and had gone 2-1 against O’Neal, who is 5-10 with a 4.56 earned run average for the Anaheim Angels’ minor league affiliate.

Smart is 8-5 with a 5.34 earned run average for the Mavericks, striking out 78 batters in a team-leading 1211*3 innings.

O’Neal isn’t the only former Jayhawk in the Angels’ organization.

Brent Del Chiaro, who was chosen in the 41st round of last year’s draft by Anaheim, is currently playing for another of the Angels’ single-A teams, the Cedar Rapids (Iowa) Kernels.

A third-string catcher for the Kernels, Del Chiaro is hitting .265 with a .379 on-base percentage.

He was called up to the Double-A Arkansas Travelers earlier in the summer to replace their injured back-up catcher and went 0-for-8 with three strikeouts in two starts and a pinch-hitting appearance.

St. Louis is another team with two former Jayhawk players Les Walrond and John Nelson.

Walrond, who both pitched and played the outfield for the Jayhawks, was selected by the Cardinals in the 13th round of the 1998 draft.

Moving up the minor league ranks slowly but surely, Walrond is now with the Triple-A Memphis (Tenn.) Redbirds and leads the team with six wins, 15 starts, 83.0 innings and 74 strikeouts.

Ignoring Monday’s blowout loss to the Oklahoma Redhawks in which he gave up 10 runs in one-third of an inning, Walrond has an ERA of 4.35 good enough to land him a roster spot in the Triple-A All-Star game on July 8.

Nelson, selected in the eighth round of the 2001 draft, has been having a solid year for the A Peoria (Ill.) Chiefs.

KU’s career leader in triples and single-season leader in stolen bases is hitting .276 with 19 doubles, four triples, eight home runs, 35 RBIs and 12 stolen bases as the starting shortstop.

The Cleveland Indians have also selected two Jayhawks in recent drafts, taking pitchers Doug Lantz in 2001 and Jeff Davis this summer.

Lantz is 3-2 with a 3.54 ERA with the Single-A Columbus (Ga.) RedStixx and has just recently come off the disabled list. In 23 appearances, the former Jayhawk has three saves and a 3.5/1 strikeout-to-walk ratio.

Davis has also faced injury problems this season, pitching just three innings for the rookie-league Burlington (N.C.) Indians.

The Lawrence High graduate has allowed two runs and a .417 batting average in his short time on the mound.

The other Kansas player chosen in this summer’s draft pitcher Dan Olson, taken in the 32nd round by the Florida Marlins has also fallen victim to the injury bug.

Olson is no longer officially on the Jamestown (N.Y.) Jammers’ roster after failing his physical June 20 and leaving to undergo medical tests in Florida, but is still part of the Florida organization.

One former Jayhawk is continuing his baseball career in the Northern League thanks to a current Kansas assistant coach.

Doug Dreher, who played for KU from 1998 to 2000, went to a tryout for the Sioux Falls (S.D.) Canaries in early May with the help of Brett McCabe and earned a contract from the independent team.

A utility player for the Jayhawks, Dreher has spent most of his time with the Canaries at second base and is hitting .233 in 21 games.

“I played quite a bit of second base my junior year so it’s not that big of a deal,” Dreher said.

He has also played some at third and spent time as the bullpen catcher.

“This is a real high profile league,” Dreher said, “and each team has two or three guys with big league experience so I’m getting to play against a lot of good competition.”