April 2008 Archives

Riverside Athletic Director Barry Meier announced today that he has hired
Monica Trainer as the Tigers' volleyball coach. Trainer has been an
assistant coach at UC Riverside for the past 22 years to UC Riverside Head
Coach Sue Gozansky.

Trainer becomes Riverside's first full-time coach in nearly 10 years.

"This is a great time for me in my career," said Trainer. "I'm excited to
run my own program. Obviously, I've learned a lot while at UCR, but I'm so
excited to try things on my own."

Trainer said she knew from the beginning this was the right move for her.

"It's funny as soon as I stepped on campus I felt welcome," she said. "I
remember thinking after the interview how much I would love to work at the
college.

"Everyone was so supportive and so personable."

Trainer and her family have a lot of tradition with the community college
system. Her husband, Joe, is a graduate of the Riverside District's nursing
program. Trainer herself attended San Bernardino Valley College and her
daughter attended Mt. San Jacinto College.

After attending San Bernardino Valley, Trainer began an outstanding
three-year career at San Jose State. She was drafted by the San Jose Diablos
of the International Volleyball Association, and a year later, she embarked
upon a four-year European semi-pro career, playing in Luzern, Switzerland
from 1981 to 1983 and in Albizzate, Italy, in 1983-84, winning championships
in both stops.

She returned to the United States in 1985 and joined Gozansky's staff at UC
Riverside as an assistant. In her tenure, UCR has won a Division II national
title and made three trips to the Elite Eight.

Since 1978, Trainer has instructed at many summer camps throughout the
United States with UCLA volleyball coach Al Scates, AAF, Converse, and the
USVBA. In 1995 she traveled to Italy as coach of "Sports for
Understanding," She has teamed with Gozansky to work with the Department of
Defense Dependent Students (DoDDS) Camp in Manheim, Germany, where she
taught volleyball to United States students who are living in Germany,
Italy, Turkey, Belgium and Greece.

Trainer has continued her volleyball playing career by participating in US
Volleyball Association (USAV) tournaments across the nation and has earned
11 All-America selections. She was a member of the Seniors national
championship team in 1990, 1992, 1994, 1999, 2000, 2002 and 2003.

Trainer attended Rim of the World High School, graduating in 1976. She
played softball, tennis and basketball, but did not play volleyball until
her senior year.

Trainer attended San Bernardino Valley College as a freshman, then
transferred to SJSU, where she graduated with a degree in human performance
and a minor in psychology. She went on to earn her teaching credential and a
master's degree in guidance counseling from Cal State University, San
Bernardino. She is an American Red Cross Instructor Trainer for various
health, safety and aquatics programs for future teachers.

Trainer and her husband Joe live in Murrieta and are proud grandparents of
Daniel, Abigail and Elena.

By winning the 2008 Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) Championship, the Bulldog softball team earned the right to host the first-ever conference postseason tournament. The inaugural double-elimination event takes place on Friday, May 2, and Saturday, May 3, at the Softball Field of Dreams at the University of Redlands. 

 

As the top seed, Redlands faces #4-seed Pomona-Pitzer Colleges at 11:30 a.m. on Friday.  The complete tournament schedule is listed below.

 

The winner of the postseason tournament earns the SCIAC's automatic qualification to the NCAA Championships, which begin Thursday, May 8, at the University of Texas, Tyler.

 

Friday, May 2:

Game 1 9 a.m.                    #2 Claremont-Mudd-Scripps vs. #3 La Verne

Game 2 11:30 a.m.            #1 Redlands vs. #4 Pomona-Pitzer

Game 3 2 p.m.                    Loser Game 1 vs. Loser Game 2

Game 4 4:30 p.m.              Winner Game 1 vs. Winner Game 2

 

Saturday, May 3:

Game 5 9 a.m.                    Loser Game 4 vs. Winner Game 3               

Game 6 11:30 a.m.            Winner Game 4 vs. Winner Game 5

Game 7 2 p.m.                    Only if necessary (first loss)

 

 

For the second year in a row, the University of La Verne golf team finished the conference schedule undefeated en route to claiming a SCIAC Championship.

This year, the Leopards put an exclamation point on the SCIAC title with a dazzling performance of 559 (284-275) at the SCIAC 36-Hole Championship Monday at Los Serranos Country Club in Chino Hills to outdistance second-place Redlands (573) by 14 strokes.

Prior to 2007, no SCIAC golf team had ever finished an entire season undefeated in league competition.

La Verne had five of its golfers finish in the top seven in the individual standings. Sophomore Andrew Kramer paced ULV with a second-pace effort of 138 (70-68). Senior Jordan Talah placed fourth overall at 141 (73-68) with senior Chris Davis placing fifth at 142 (71-71). Junior Rizal Amin earned a sixth-place finish carding a 143 (73-70) over 36 holes while freshman Kevin Smith finished tied for seventh at 144 (76-68).

Redlands golfer EJ Stenftenagle took first place in the individual standings at 136 (70-66).

Under head coach Rex Huigens, the Leopard squad racked up several conference honors following the 36-hole competition. Amin was named Co-Player of the Year while Smith earned Freshman of the Year honors.

ULV dominated the First-Team SCIAC selections with four spots. The quartet included Davis, Talah, Kramer and Mitchell Fedorka. Smith earned a spot on the Second Team.

Amin also was the co-winner of the Jess Clark Sportsmanship Award.

As the SCIAC Champion, La Verne secures an automatic bid to the NCAA Championships, held next month at Chateau Elan Resort in Braselton, GA. The Leopards are ranked sixth nationally in Division III.

The Cal Poly Pomona women's tennis team will enjoy postseason play for the sixth time in the last seven years as the Broncos have been selected to the NCAA Division II Women's Tennis Championship, the NCAA announced Wednesday.

 

            The Broncos, who finished the regular season 7-9 overall and 5-3 in the California Collegiate Athletic Association, are seeded fifth in the West Region and will face fourth seed and CCAA champion UC San Diego at 11 a.m. Saturday in La Jolla.

            "It's an honor for our team to earn an NCAA berth,'' Bronco coach Sandy Kriezel said. "It's a deserving honor. No question, playing UC San Diego will be our biggest match of the season. We have a chance to win, although they've gotten us twice. We've gotten closer against them each time.''

            The Tritons won both of their matches against the Broncos, winning 9-0 at Cal Poly Pomona on Feb. 23 and then winning 8-1 on April 16. The Tritons have won 49 consecutive conference matches.

            The winner of the Cal Poly Pomona-UC San Diego match will play at two-time defending champion Brigham Young-Hawaii - the West Region's top seed - at 1 p.m. May 7. The winner of that match will move on to the Round of 16 to be played in Houston on May 14-17.

            The Broncos have won four national championships in their history - 1980, 1981, 1991 and 1992.

            Representing Cal Poly Pomona are: senior Jenny Tsai (Artesia), junior Jessica Winkler (Fullerton), sophomore Mallory Brady (Torrance), freshman Jennifer Chow (Diamond Bar), freshman Kaitlin Wooldridge (Fort Collins, Colo.), freshman Michelle Stock (Valencia), sophomore Kara Fisher (Southampton, Bermuda), sophomore Fallon Blattner (Kihei, Hawaii), senior Ellyn Caprara (Carlsbad) and junior Kelley Wong (Rowland Heights).

 

Nothing seems to get done quickly at San Bernardino Valley College. So it should be no surprise that the school is no closer to hiring a men's basketball coach than it was months ago. That's too bad because it was once the marquee sport at the school.

Gerry Wright did an admirable job the last two years, taking over in an emergency situation two years ago when Derrick Pugh (hired after the departure of Phil Mathews) was dismissed in December, just hours before a game.

Wright directed the team to a Foothill Conference title in 2006-07 and had his team in contention on the last day this season, despite having two big-time players.

But the school did not want to keep him on because the full-time staff position is based in the PE department, meaning he needed a master's in PE. Forget that he has a master's in education which would seem more impressive anyway. And forget that he has taught PE at every level.

So the job was listed again and now we wait.

Rumor is that the school has an impressive pool of candidates. But interviews haven't even started and quality coaches aren't going to stick around and wait for SBVC to do something. They're going to look elsewhere before its too late.

And that means no one is out recruiting either. There are reasons athletes are still available late in the summer and none of them are usually good.

The longer this drags out, the worse the season is likely to be. The school is putting whoever it does choose behing the eight-ball from the start.

MANCHESTER, N.H. - Senior Mary Bradford (Big Bear, CA) of the Southern New Hampshire University softball team was named the recipient of SNHU's Sportsmanship Award given out at the University's annual athletic awards ceremony Monday night.

                A four-year starting pitcher for SNHU, Bradford has appeared in 65 games over her career.  Over that span the Penmen have enjoyed two of the most successful seasons in program history, including the program's first NCAA Division II tournament appearance in 2006, and have won 75 games.

                This season, Bradford has registered a career and team-high nine victories, going 9-9 with a 3.22 ERA.  She has fanned 60 batters on the season while recording three shutouts.  She has allowed four or fewer hits in five starts this season, including complete-game two-hit victories over Bentley and AIC.  She was named Northeast-10 Pitcher of the Week on April 14 of this year after going 3-1 with a 1.50 earned run average and .147 opponent batting average that week.

                In 65 career appearances, Bradford has recorded 20 victories, 165 strikeouts and a 2.97 ERA in 313 innings of work.

 

By Michelle Gardner

 

Staff Writer

 

RANCHO CUCAMONGA -- The Chaffey College baseball team isn't just about offense after all.

Sophomore left-hander Andrew Steinmeyer proved that, pitching the Panthers to a 6-2 win over Foothill Conference foe Antelope Valley Tuesday. It was Chaffey's first complete game of the season and came in the school's last home game of the regular season.

Steinmeyer (5-1) needed just 119 pitches to dispose of the Marauders. The Corona native gave up two runs (both unearned), scattered four hits, walked none and struck out five.

"I was getting some calls on the inside fastball," Steinmeyer said. "My curveball wasn't great but I was able to throw for strikes a couple of times when I really needed it."

Steinmeyer allowed lone runs in the second and sixth innings, an outfield error giving the Marauders (13-22, 7-12) the first and one by the catcher helping them to the other.

But Chaffey (27-8, 18-3) managed enough offense to make up for those miscues. It got one in the first, then took the lead with a pair in the second, with James Koerner singling and scoring on a hit by Robert Escalera who later raced home on a sacrifice fly by Jonathan Costantino.

The Panthers added to that in the fifth, extending its lead to 4-1 on a run-scoring double by Ryan Delgado.

They rounded out the scoring in the sixth with another pair. This time it was Costantino driving home a run and Mychal Johnson plating another with a ground out.

Antelope Valley threatened in the ninth as pinch hitter Jake Wood and Bryan Rasch singled with two outs, putting runners on the corners. The Chaffey pitching coach George Barnes made a trip to the mound just to give his pitcher a breather.

"He told me they were sticking with me, just to bear down," Steinmeyer said.
The respit worked as Steinmeyer got the next hitter, Chase Doremus, on check swing to end the game.

The Panthers tallied nine hits with Ryan Delgado, Willie Holmes and Escalera getting two each. Costantino had two RBI and Johnson, Koerner and Escalera each scored twice.

About the only thing bothering coach Jeff Harlow after the game was the way his team ran the bases. It had three runners picked off the basepaths, the most notable problem coming in the third when it got its first two runners on, only to have them picked off in successive at-bats.

"That is definitely something we're going to have to address before we get in the playoffs," he said. "It didn't hurt us here, but it did prevent us from blowing the game open and when you get in the playoffs you're not going to have a lot of chances."

Steinmeyer has combined with another sophomore, right-hander Andrew Schile, to give the Panthers a formidable 1-2 combination on the mound. Harlow said the duo is looking as strong as they did early in the season.

"They both pitched gems our first two games of the season," Harlow recalled. "So it is nice to see us finishing the way we started. Hopefully we'll carry that momentum into the playoffs."

The Panthers close out the regular season with a double header against the Marauders at noon Friday at Clear Channel Stadium in Lancaster. The playoff should be announced over the weekend.

Cal State San Bernardino senior infielder Jordan Dahl today was named the California Collegiate Athletic Association's most valuable player of the year by a vote of the conference coaches

Dahl, of Vacaville (Will Wood HS/Sacramento City College),  played 18 games at third base and the last 12 at shortstop for CSUSB in CCAA play, and was No. 1 in conference competition in hitting (.418), doubles (12), total bases (70), slugging percentage (.714), and was No. 2 in on base percentage (.491) and third in runs scored (25), hits (41),  RBI (21) and steals (10).

In the field, she handled 94 chances at third and shortstop with only two errors (.979 fielding percentage).

Overall, this season, Dahl batted ..375 in 61 games with 11 home runs,  15 doubles, a team-high 72 hits, a team-high 50 runs scored and stole 23 bases in 26 attempts. In 30 CCAA games she hit .475 in the leadoff position and .452 with runners in scoring position.

Joining Dahl on the all-CCAA first team were:

• Freshman centerfielder Priscilla Curiel (San Bernardino/Cajon HS), who batted .329 in 30 CCAA games with a CCAA-leading eight home runs and 19 RBI and a .659 slugging percentage. Curiel handled 49 chances in the outfield without an error. Overall, Curiel hit .285 in 58 games with 10 home runs and 33 RBI.
• Junior right-handed pitcher-outfielder Debbie Shisler (Phoenix, AZ./Scottsdale Christian Academy/West Alabama), who batted. .371 in 26 CCAA games and made only one error in 51 chances (.980) playing both left and right fields. In the circle, Shisler was 3-3 in CCAA play with a 2.77 earned run average. Overall, she hit .351 in 54 games with 10 doubles and 11 stolen bases, posting a 5-6 record in the circle with a 2.29 ERA and six complete games, two of them shutouts.
• Senior second baseman Jamie Lowe (Norco, Norco HS, Cal Baptist) who batted .349 in 30 CCAA games with a CCAA-leading 12 sacrifice bunts hitting behind Dahl who led off most of the season. Lowe was an "at-large" selection. She hit .339 in 61 games, drew a team-high 30 walks and led the team in sacrifice bunts with 17.

Capping off the honors, Coach Tacy Duncan was named the CCAA's "Coach of the Year". In her three seasons, she had taken the team that struggled before she arrived to a third-place finish in the CCAA standings and the program's first-ever appearance in a post-season championship tournament. CSUSB is also ranked No. 9 in the West Region.

Duncan's team is 32-28-1 this season, equaling the second most wins in the history of the program dating back to 1987. In her three years, her teams are 80-87 overall and 47-47 in the CCAA. The program produced a dismal 38-129 record in the three years before her arrival.

Other first-team selections were Marissa Slattery, Natalie Galletly, Caitlin Klug and Lizzy Prescott from Humboldt State; Meghan Franksen, Jessica Gaumnitz and Alyssa Guzman of Cal State Stanislaus; Katie Jordan and Katie Garcia from Cal State Dominguez Hills and Allison May of UC San Diego.

Prescott was named the CCAA "Pitcher of the Year" while Nikki Ketteringham was selected as "Freshman of the Year."

No Coyotes were selected to the second team..

Two athletes from San Bernardino Valley College will be continuing their careers at Division II Cal State Los Angeles. Both basketball player Shy Walter and soccer standout Megan Dias will attend the school which competes in the CCAA along with locals Cal State San Bernardino and Cal Poly Pomona.

Dias, a midfielder out of Colony High School, is the schools all-time leader in scoring (28 goals) and points leader (72). She was a two-time all-conference selection, managing 11 goals and 14 assists last season in helping the Wolverines to their best season ever.

She will be joining an Eagle team coming off its best season ever at 13-6-4. The team was ranked as high as No. 15 nationally last year.

Walter, a 5-foot-10 shooting guard out of Perris High School, averaged 11.8 points, 4.5 rebounds and 2.4 steals in helping the Wolverines (26-6, 15-1) to a Foothill Conference title. She had a season-high of 23 points against Rio Hondo and a high of nine rebounds twice. She was a first-team all-conference selection.

“That’s a good place for her,” Crebbin said. “It’s close to home but not too close to home. What she does well will work into their style of play and she should be able to play right away. I am very happy for her.”

Cal State Los Angeles (9-17) finished ninth in the 11-team CCAA last year.

Cal State San Bernardino rode the clutch hitting of Ashley Collinwood and Nicole Camarena and the solid relief pitching of Tawni Baker to a 3-2 victory over Cal State Stanislaus Saturday in the first game of their CCAA softball doubleheader.

    That victory was enough to give the Coyotes the No. 3 seed in the CCAA conference tournament next week at Humboldt State. The Lumberjacks (24-8) are the No. 1 seed while the Warriors (20-12) are the No. 2 seed and Cal State Monterey Bay (18-14) is the No. 4 seed.

    The Coyotes will play the Warriors in the first game of the tournament at 1 p.m. Thursday followed by the Humboldt-Monterey Bay game at 3:30 p.m.

    CSUSB lost the nightcap to the Warriors, 5-2, finishing the regular season with a 32-28-1 record and 17-13 in the CCAA, equaling the most wins the softball program has won in CCAA play since it joined the conference in 1991-92.

    The irony here is that two teams who didn't make the CCAA tournament -- UC San Diego and Cal State Dominguez Hills -- are shoe-ins for the NCAA West Regional since they are ranked No. 2 and No. 5 respectively in the region. 

    The NCAA tournament is an eight-team affair and right now the Coyotes are in the No. 9 spot, behind San Francisco State, another team that didn't make the CCAA tournament, having tied UCSD for sixth place at 15-17 in CCAA play. The Gators took three of four from UCSD this weekend.

    Other teams in the region top 10 are No. 6 Western Oregon, No. 7 Seattle and No. 10 Hawaii Pacific.

    For this moment in time, the Coyotes are celebrating their rising like a Phoenix from the ashes over the past three seasons since it was a cellar-dweller in the conference in 2003, 2004 and 2005.

    Head Coach Tacy Duncan has rebuilt the team into a regional contender, posting a .500 record against the top 10 teams CSUSB faced this year and taking three of four from UCSD in their CCAA series. The team went 27-27 in 2007 and was picked by the coaches to finish seventh this year.

    In game one Saturday, the Coyotes rallied from a 2-0 deficit to take a 3-2 lead in the top of the fifth and Duncan brought in Baker to relieve freshman left-hander Cassidy Lee. Baker pitched three dominant innings, allowing one hit and striking out three to give Lee her eighth win of the season.

    The three Coyote runs came when Tayler Wilson led off the fifth with a single and Debbie Shisler moved her to second with a bunt single. With one out, Jamie Lowe sacrificed both runners along. Collinwood, who had four RBIs on the day, touched Warriors pitcher Jessica Gaumnitz (14-7) for a double to score two runs. Camarena then singled to score Collinwood to make it 3-2 CSUSB.

    Camarena and Shisler were both two-for-three in the game as CSUSB had nine hits. The Warriors had just four hits off the combined efforts of Lee and Baker.

    In game two, Lee again was in the circle to pitch and went three innings, yielding three hits and two runs, both coming on a two-run homer by Alicia Reid.

    The Coyotes tied the game in the third as Wilson walked, Shisler reached on a fielder's choice. Both runners moved up on a sacrifice by Jordan Dahl and Collinwood delivered again, this time a two-out double to tie the score at 2-2.

    Jackie Jacob (10-8) came on to pitch for CSUSB and Stanislaus scored two runs in the fourth and another in the fifth for a 5-2 lead before Baker came in to pitch the final 1.2 innings, giving up two hits and no runs.

    CSUSB tried to come back in the seventh, putting runners on first and second with two out but Wilson was thrown out at third on a steal attempt to end the game with the potential tying run at the plate with Jamie Lowe at bat.
    
        

  Sophomore Kaitlin Hartman scored the match-deciding goal with 5:32 left in the fourth period Saturday to advance Cal State San Bernardino to the consolation final of the Western Water Polo Association championship tournament.

 

The Coyotes, 19-17 on the season, will face the winner of the Cal State Bakersfield-Cal State Monterey Bay match at 11:30 a.m. Sunday at the Burns Recreation and Aquatics Center at Loyola Marymount University.

Before Hartman’s deciding goal, the Coyotes – seeded No. 7 in the tournament – had a nip-and-tuck battle with No. 6 seed Sonoma State before prevailing 8-7, keeping the Seawolves at bay during the final 5:32 of the match.

 

All-WWPA first-team selection and two-time all-American Freyja Berg had three goals for the Coyotes as did her teammate, senior Ashley Hays. Senior Italia Iossif scored the other point for CSUSB. Freshman goalkeeper Bryanna Burns had three saves.

 

The Coyotes took a 3-1 lead early in the first period but SSU rallied to tie the match at 3-3 and then took a 4-3 lead over CSUSB in the second period and led 5-4 at halftime.

 

CSUSB got two goals from Hays and a third from Berg to forge a 7-7 tie after three quarters.

Harman’s goal came right after Samantha Mullins of Sonoma State was cited for an ejection foul at 5:52, leaving the Seawolves short a player and the Coyotes capitalized 20 seconds later.

 

CSUSB’s defense held Sonoma State scoreless in the final period.

 

CAL STATE SAN BERNARDINO 8, SONOMA STATE 7

 

CSUSB goals: Freyja Berg 3, Ashley Hays 3, Italia Iossif, Kaitlin Hartman. Goalie saves: Bryanna Burns (3).

 

Sonoma St. goals: Samantha Burchard, Jessica Scott, Jenna Bole, Lauren Smith, Emily Pearce, Sara Watt, Samantha Mullins. Goalie saves: Lysa Limbard (9).

Cal State L.A.’s baseball team dropped the first game of its California Collegiate Athletic Association doubleheader against Cal Poly Pomona, but the Golden Eagles salvaged a split with a big performance in the nightcap.  

Max Moya drilled a pair of home runs – giving him three for the day – and Yuichiro Fujiwara pitched five strong innings to lead Cal State L.A. to an 11-6 win in the nightcap. That win was badly needed because Cal Poly Pomona rode some outstanding pitching from Brandon King and Peter Shiner in the opener to post a 3-1 win.

 

Cal State L.A. (25-21, 19-12 CCAA) pulled to within one-half game of fourth-place Cal State Stanislaus (31-18, 19-11) in the conference race. Chico State (32-12, 21-10 CCAA) is in third place, two games ahead of the Golden Eagles. Cal State Stanislaus hosts first-place Sonoma State in a doubleheader on Sunday and then finishes the regular-season with a four-game series at Cal Poly Pomona. Chico State finishes with a four-game series at Cal State San Bernardino and Cal State L.A. wraps up its regular-season with a four-game series at San Francisco State.

 

The Golden Eagles got a big day from Moya, who accounted for their only run in the first game with a solo home run in the first inning. He then belted a two-run home run in the first inning of the nightcap and added a solo shot third. He was 3-for-3 in the nightcap with two runs scored and three RBI.

 

The first game featured strong pitching from both teams. King didn’t allow another run after Moya’s first-inning homer and went seven innings, allowing eight hits while walking two and striking out five. Peter Shiner allowed only one hit and struck out three over the final two innings to pick up the save.

 

The Golden Eagles were paced by John Mitchell, who allowed seven hits and three runs over seven innings. Erick Hong allowed only one hit over the final two innings to give Cal State L.A. a chance to rally.

 

Cal Poly Pomona broke a 1-1 tie in the seventh when Chris Wilson singled, took second on a sacrifice by Jeff Ringholm and scored on a double by Andres Fernandez. Kyle Boggio followed with a double to score Fernandez and make it 3-1.

 

In between games, the Golden Eagles honored their six seniors – Dustin Birosak, Theon Bourdaniotis, Tyler Warmerdam, Darrick Hale, Manny Urresti and Henry Contreras – in a special ceremony.

 

Cal Poly Pomona took a 1-0 lead in the nightcap on a leadoff home run by Matt Davidson, but Fujiwara didn’t allow another run in his five innings of work. Cal State L.A. countered with four runs in the bottom of the inning – two on a home run by Moya – to take command.

 

The Golden Eagles made it 5-1 on a solo home run by Moya in the third and then broke the game open with three runs each in the fourth and fifth innings. Joe Park had a two-run single in the fourth, while Devin Ramirez, Nico Moreno and Christian Ramirez had RBI in the fifth.

 

Cal Poly Pomona battled back for five runs in its half of the seventh inning. Davidson drove in a run with a single, Jordan Alcantar had a sacrifice fly to drive in a run and Manny Navarro drove in a run with a sacrifice fly for the Broncos.

 

Cal State L.A. had 14 hits in the nightcap. Park and Devon Ramirez had two hits and scored two runs each, while Christian Ramirez drove in a pair of runs.

 

Cal State L.A. will play its final home game of the season on Tuesday when the Golden Eagles host Point Loma in a non-conference game. The Golden Eagles will travel to San Francisco State for a four-game series to conclude the conference regular season beginning with a single game on Friday.

Led by conference champion Sonoma State, five California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) teams received regional tournament bids to the 80-team NCAA Division II Men's Golf Championships, the NCAA announced on Friday.

Joining the Seawolves from the eight-team West Region will be Cal State Stanislaus, Chico State, Cal State San Bernardino and Cal State Monterey Bay.

The teams will join eight others from the Northwest Region to comprise the Northwest/West Super Regional that will be conducted May 5-7 at the Adobe Creek Golf Club in Petaluma, Calif.

The top team from each region within the super regional and the top individual not with a team from each super regional (regardless of region) will advance to the finals May 14-17 at the Division II Spring National Championships Festival in Houston, Texas. Rice University and the Harris County-Houston Sports Authority will serve as the finals co-hosts.

Ten additional teams will earn berths to the finals. These teams will be determined based on the previous three-year average of top-10 finishes of a super regional at the finals. For the 2008 championships, the additional super regional allotments are as follows:

Atlantic/Southeast - Three
Great Lakes/Central - One South/South Central - Three West/Northwest - Three

In addition to the five CCAA teams, two individuals from UC San Diego were selected to participate in the super regional. Juniors Billy Olsen and Nathan Phan were part of a group of five individuals that will compete in the tournament.

Sonoma State, which captured its first-ever CCAA men's golf title on Tuesday, is currently ranked No. 2 in the latest Golfstat rankings. Cal State Stanislaus is sixth, while Chico State is No. 15, Cal State San Bernardino No. 24 and Cal State Monterey Bay No. 36.


NORTHWEST/WEST SUPER REGIONAL
Adobe Creek Golf Club; Petaluma, California; hosted by Sonoma State University.

Northwest Region:
1. Colorado-Colorado Springs [Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference]
2. St. Cloud State
3. Western New Mexico
4. Colorado State-Pueblo
5. Minnesota State Mankato
6. Fort Lewis
7. Nebraska-Kearney
8. Colorado Christian

Individuals:
1. Matt Pridey, Augustana (South Dakota)
2. Bobby Arranga, Regis (Colorado)
3. Wally Byrne, South Dakota
4. Aaron Hieb, Augustana (South Dakota)
5. Jimmy Spierings, Regis (Colorado)

West:
1. Sonoma State [California Collegiate Athletic Conference]
2. Cal State Stanislaus
3. Western Washington
4. Cal State Chico
5. Hawaii-Hilo
6. Grand Canyon
7. Cal State San Bernardino
8. Cal State Monterey Bay

Individuals:
1. Nathan Phan, San Diego
2. Hiro Nezu, St. Martin's
3. John Eisentrout, St. Martin's
4. Dale Raybould, Northwest Nazarene
5. Billy Olson, San Diego

Winner of each region advances to finals (2 teams, 1 individual)

Both San Bernardino Valley College baseball coach Bill Mierzwik and Rio Hondo counterpart Mike Salazar have crunched the numbers. Their teams are among the three vying for the one last playoff spot behind Foothill Conference-frontrunner Chaffey.

Salazar think his team needs to win four of its last six, while Mierzwik said his needs five of six.
It was the Roadrunners creeping closer to their goal, blasting SBVC 15-3 Thursday at Arrowhead Credit Union Park in the opener of a three-game set.

Rio (21-15, 14-4), which has won eight straight games, was in control from the start, pushing across four in the first frame off Wolverines starter Tommy Bills (6-1).  It didn’t get any better, as the Roadrunners added to that lead the next five innings. They were never set down in order.

“This gets us off to a good start,” Salazar said. “We never come in expecting to slug it out with someone but today we had some things fall in and we were able to build on that.”

Rio got an infield hit by Kevin Mort and winning pitcher Leo Madrid (5-2) walked with one out. Matt Smoley then hit a fly ball that was badly misplayed by left fielder Dwight Robinson. Two runners scored and Smoley coasted into third. It was 4-0 before Bills got out of the inning.

While the game turned into a rout, Mierzwik said that inning set the tone.

“We make that catch and we get out of the inning,” he said. “It changes the inning because your pitcher throws 15 pitches instead of 30. He gets out of that inning and it gives him some confidence, the rest of the team feels better. You never know.”

The visitors led 7-2, then added four more in a fourth that featured the ejection of Mierzwik and assistant Rene Leal. Dominick Guerrero, the third pitcher of the day, had come in after Trent Veleker walked the first two.
After a 2-0 count to Willie Sandez, home plate umpire Barry Sosa began exchanging words with coaches in the SBVC dugout, who thought their pitchers were being squeezed.

Sosa first tossed Leal, then Mierzwik, probably the most even-tempered of the seven coaches in the SBVC dugout. Mierzwik said it was just the second time he had been tossed in 18 years. He took in the rest of the game from the press box.

“I know you can’t argue balls and strikes. I didn’t say anything to him. I was talking to my catcher,” he said.

The rest of the game was just a formality. It took two hours to get through the first two innings. SBVC used six pitchers who surrendered a total of 15 hits. Every starter had a hit and eight of nine scored at least a run. Smoley led the Roadrunners, going 2-for-3 with four RBI and three runs scored. He also walked four times. Ian Kammerer had three hits, three runs scored and two RBI.

Madrid went six innings before giving way to Chris Dorado. Sal Ramirez went the last two innings.
SBVC was led by Zach Baker with two hits - a double and a triple. Adrian Carmona stroked a solo home run in the fourth.

The teams will play a doubleheader at Rio Hondo at noon saturday.

“It was a tough way to start but we can still reach our goal,” Mierzwik. “Of course it would be a lot easier if we didn’t lose the first game.”

SBVC finishes the season with a series against Cerro Coso while Rio finishes with College of the Desert, the other team in the playoff hunt.

The San Bernardino Valley College baseball team is fighting with three other teams for the second playoff spot out of the Foothill Conference with Chaffey close to wrapping up the top spot.

The Wolverines squared off against Rio Hondo, another team in contention, Thursday at Arrowhead Credit Union Park and the host team was never in this one, losing 15-3. The biggest problem was pitching. The Wolverines walked a total of nine and hit three, one with the bases loaded.

The play of the outfield was also shabby as balls that should have been caught went for doubles or triples, paving the way to big innings.

Veteran coach Bill Mierzwik was ejected in the fourth after Dominick Guerrero, the third SBVC pitcher ran the count to 2-0 with two Roadrunners already on base courtesy of free passes.

His ejection came after assistant Rene Leal was tossed first. It's a good thing SBVC has seven coaches.

All coaches chirp when they get squeezed and this was no different. It was an important game and the team was off to a bad start. The umpire definitely had rabbit ears. Mierzwik is about as mild-mannered as they come and he wasn't saying anything, just trying to get the attention of his catcher. Umpire Barry Sosa was looking for trouble. His ejection of Leal was also quick.

So Mierzwik kicked back in the press box and took in the debacle from there. Cell phones come in handy when one has been ejected.

The coach said it is only the second time in 18 years he has been tossed. The first came many years ago in a game against College of the Desert when he was tossed, along with his pitcher, for supposedly throwing at a hitter in a 5-3 game. So he doesn't have a track record of bad behavior.

SBVC now faces the formidable task of having to win a doubleheader on the road to have any chance of making the playoffs for the first time in three years.

When it comes to athletics at the collegiate level, none have been put more at a competitive disadvantage than the baseball teams at San Bernardino Valley College and Cal State San Bernardino, neither of whom have a field to call their own.

This is the second year the Wolverines have had to bear the nomad label, treking everywhere from Fiscalini Field to Arrowhead Credit Union Park to the University of Redlands. Yucaipa High School. Cal Baptist. You name the field, they have probably played there.

The team had to abandon its field for games when neighbors started compaining about balls flying into the street which runs behind the outfield fence. It gets worse when balls are flying through windows so it is an understandable complaint.

Athletic director Dave Rubio said the school wants to extend the netting in the left field area to prevent that problem and enable the team to use its field for games. That could be done before the team opens its 2009 season. Let's hope that is the case. It may be costly. But in the meantime the school is doling out money to rent venues elsewhere - about $1,500 for a day at ACUP. That adds up too.

It is admirable that the Wolverines are in the playoff hunt at all, given the circumstances. Coach Bill Mierzwik said his players have maintained a positive attitude which is also admirable.

Cal State is in much the same boat but it has always been in that boat. But that doesn't make it easier. The Coyotes have primarily used ACUP and Fiscalini but with SBVC having to use both too, scheduling has been a nightmare.

Coach Don Parnell said the school has an agreement in place, though not formalized, that would result in Fiscalini being the Coyotes primary playing ground. The city would foot the bill for some improvements and employ a fulltime groundskeeper while Cal State would help fund other upgrades including moving the fence back to a more legitimate haul. That would benefit both parties.

Fiscalini is in need of a major facelift as it has been deteriorating for years. A fresh coat of paint would help. And the scoreboard hasn't work in . . . well. It has been a LONG time!

This is in no way suggesting that athletics are more important than academics. The budget crunch has hit every area of education. But there are benefits to athletics. There are a lot of athletes who have no other options than a local school. Maybe athletics is their only other way to an education.

It is just a matter of all the parties putting their egos aside and figuring out a solution that can benefit everyone.

The Big West Conference named UC Riverside first baseman Ryan Goetz Big West Co-Player of the Week Monday afternoon.

It is the first career player of the week honor for Goetz who went 6-for-14 with six RBI in this past weekend's series win over #5 UC Irvine. He shares the award with Long Beach State's Shane Peterson.

Goetz (Temple City, CA/ Bishop Amat HS) finished the week 10-for-18 (.389) with a double, a triple, and seven RBI. In Saturday's 5-3 win over UCI, he had two hits and two RBI both coming on a two-run single in UCR's three-run first inning. Goetz followed that performance with a three-hit and three RBI game the very next day. His RBI single in the sixth gave UCR a 2-1 lead and he later put the Highlanders up for good with a two-out two-run triple in the seventh.

This is the second player of the week award for UCR who had Paul Bargas earn pitcher of the week honors after he beat then #9 Long Beach State earlier this season.

Two-time NCAA Div. II all-American Freyja Berg and freshman goalkeeper Bryanna Burns have been voted to the all-Western Water Polo Association 2008 teams by a vote of the 12 coaches.

Berg earned first-team all-WWPA honors while Burns was named to the all-freshman team.

This is the first year that the WWPA has chosen both an all-association team and an all-tournament team. The latter will be named at the conclusion of the 2008 WWPA championship tournament on Sunday at Loyola Marymount University.

The Coyotes open the tournament as the No. 7 seed and will play UC Santa Cruz in the first round at 11 a.m. on Friday. If they win that match, they advance to the second round to play the host school and No. 2 seed, Loyola Marymount, at 4 p.m.

Berg  is tied for second in the nation in goals scored with 101 this season and her 3.1 goals per match average is No. 3 in the nation behind Amanda Ortiz of Cal State Bakersfield, the WWPA player of the year, and Billy Hoelck of Wagner (N.Y.).

In addition, the senior from Whittier (La Serna HS) has set a new Coyotes team record for career goals with 347, breaking the old career mark set by Sarah Reneker Schweiger at 324.

Berg scored seven goals against NCAA Division I UC Santa Barbara, ranked No. 17 in the nation, last weekend in a 13-12 overtime win by the Coyotes.

Burns has been a force in the cage for the Coyotes in her first year out of Rancho Buena Vista High School in Oceanside. She has 293 saves in 33 matches, averaging 8.9 saves per match, ranking her seventh in the nation, according to statistics compiled by Niall Adler of Long Beach State.

Veronica Campbell of Cal State Bakersfield was named “newcomer of the year” and Jamey Wright of WWPA leader UC Davis was named “coach of the year.”

The seedings for the WWPA tournament are: 1. UC Davis; 2. LMU; 3. UCSD; 4. CS Bakersfield; 5. Santa Clara; 6. Sonoma State; 7. COYOTES; 8. Cal State Monterey Bay; 9. Colorado State; 10. UC Santa Cruz; 11. Cal State East Bay; 12. Chapman.

 

 

Cal State San Bernardino’s  softball team heads to Turlock for a four-game CCAA softball series against Cal State Stanislaus with the goal of taking the fourth and final spot in the 2008 CCAA conference championship tournament.

The Coyotes are one of three teams with a shot at the fourth spot. UC San Diego and Cal State Dominguez Hills both have a mathematical chance of being the fourth team as well.

The bad news is that CSUSB (15-11) is facing  the second-place Warriors (18-10) while the Tritons (14-14) are playing San Francisco State (12-16) and Dominguez Hills (13-15) is at cellar-dweller Sonoma State (3-23).

In 2007, the Coyotes entered the final weekend of play with a shot at the fourth spot in the conference tournament but wound up fifth behind S.F. State.

            After taking three of four games from Chico State this past weekend, the Coyotes are now 30-26-1 overall, the team’s first 30-win season since 2002 when CSUSB won 32 games and narrowly missed a berth in the NCAA West Regional.

            First-place Humboldt State (21-7), a team which split with the Coyotes 2-2 in CCAA play, will host the conference tournament next weekend, the CCAA announced this week, and hosts Chico State (12-16) this weekend in its regular season finale.

            Cal State Stanislaus and Cal State Monterey Bay, which has finished its season at 18-14 after sweeping the Gators last weekend, have also clinched berths in the tourney.

            The Coyotes, picked for seventh in the CCAA in the coaches’ pre-season poll, is the top team in the CCAA when it comes to offense. CSUSB is batting .312 as a team with 57 home runs and 273 runs batted in 57 games.

            Senior Jordan Dahl (Vacaville) is the team leader in hitting with a .382 average in 57 games and is batting .440 in 26 CCAA games. She has 11 home runs and a team-leading 44 RBIs. She leads the squad in runs scored (48), hits (68),  stolen bases (22), and slugging percentage (.663).

            Freshman center fielder Priscilla Curiel (San Bernardino) is having a solid season, batting .295 overall with 10 home runs and 33 RBI and hitting .351 in CCAA play with eight of her homers and 19 of her RBI coming against conference foes.

            Sophomore Ashley Collinwood is hitting .327 with seven home runs, 13 doubles and 43 RBI. Senior catcher Nicole Camarena is batting .306 with 13 home runs and 35 RBI. Senior Jamie Lowe is batting .337 with three homers and 25 RBI overall and .347 in CCAA games.

            The team is 7-3 over its last 10 games.

  The Big West Conference awarded UC Riverside’s Brenda Martinez her third Women’s Track Athlete of Week award this season on Wednesday. Martinez recieves the honor after winning the 800m (2:05.71) and breaking her own school-record in 1500m (4:19.53) while competing at the Mt. SAC Relays this past weekend.

With her sixth place finish in the 1500m, she bettered her NCAA Regional Qualifying mark. This is her third Athlete of the Week honor after picking up the award on March 10^th after setting a national-best 5000m time and picked up the award on April 10^th after breaking the 1500m school-record, the first time this season.

Next up for the Highlanders are the Drake Relays in Des Moines, IA on Thursday and Friday.

Several Chaffey College football players have made decisions on their future.

Defensive backs Colin Barrier (Etiwanda HS) and Dennis Gilleylen and linebacker Derek Walker (Hesperia HS) will attend Fort Lewis.

Kicker Justin Veazie (Chino HS) has opted for South Dakota while running back Matt Biggers is going to Delaware State.

Coach Carl Beach added that running back Jahmel Rover (Eisenhower HS) will return for his sophomore season. He was debating Division I options but Beach said the right offer did not come up.

It looks like there will be a race to the finish in the Foothill Conference with three baseball teams battling for the runner-up spot, assuming Chaffey (23-9, 14-3) stays on top.

Three teams have advanced to the playoffs in some years past but that probably won’t happen this year.
Next up for the Wolverines (22-16, 12-6) is a three-game series against Rio Hondo (20-15-1, 13-4-1). The Roadrunners will come to Arrowhead Credit Union Park Thursday for a 2:30 p.m. contest. The teams will play a doubleheader Saturday at noon in Whittier.

SBVC finishes its schedule the following week against Cerro Coso. Meanwhile Rio Hondo closes out the season with Desert (21-16, 13-5) which faces Chaffey (24-9, 15-3) this week.

Rio Hondo also has to finish a seven-inning game with Mt. San Jacinto that was called after five because of darkness.

SBVC coach Bill Mierzwik said he is most concerned about Desert, not because he is overlooking Rio Hondo but because he has no control over what that team does while it has a head-to-head with Rio.

“We’re done with them (Desert) and they have the tiebreaker over us because they took two of three from us,” he said. “We at least control our own destiny when it comes to Rio Hondo.”

Mierzwik, in his 18th year, also said his current team has been one of the most enjoyable ones he has coached.
He says being in contention is an admirable feat because the teams does not have a home field and has had to play its “home” games at five different venues.

“These guys just deal with it,” he said. “There hasn’t been one complaint. They just go out and play. If it was our team from a few years ago they would do nothing but complain.”

Mierzwik adds the character of the team was evident early when a handful of players saved a women in the neighborhood from a pitbull attack before a practice in February.

“We have had a lot of close games and we haven’t had a break,” he said. “You would think we’re due some positive kharma our way. We’re still waiting.”

PASO ROBLES – Senior Dane Bagnell and junior Micah Burke both shot sub-par rounds Tuesday as Cal State San Bernardino finished third in the 10^th annual California Collegiate Athletic Association Men’s Golf Championship at Hunter Ranch Golf Club.

Bagnell shot his lowest round of the season, a four-under-par 68, to wind up in a tie for 11^th place among the 35 individuals in the event with a 54-hole total of 219, three over par for the tournament.

Burke came in with a three-under par 69 to finish on the 6,741-yard, par-72 course to tie for fourth place, 11 shots back of tournament medalist Eric Justesen of Cal State Stanislaus who lapped the field with a 14-under-par total of 202, closing with a five-under 67 after shooting 65 and 70 on Monday.

Both Burke and Webster were named to the all-CCAA first team selected by the conference coaches.

As expected Sonoma State led wire-to-wire for its first-ever CCAA championship in men’s golf  with an aggregate 54-hole total of 858, finishing four shots ahead of 2007 champion Cal State Stanislaus (862) and 11 shots ahead of the Coyotes (869).

Sonoma State’s Jarin Todd, who won three tournaments this year and had the lowest stroke average in the CCAA at 70.5, was named the CCAA’s player of the year.

His coach, Val Verhunce, was named CCAA coach of the year.

            The Seawolves will host the NCAA West-Northwest Super Regional on May 5-7 at Adobe Creek Golf Course in Petaluma.

            With its third-place finish, Cal State San Bernardino, ranked No. 8 in the region entering the tournament, most likely reserved a tee time for the regional where they are the defending West champions. The top eight teams and five individuals from non-qualifying teams advance to the regional.

            It takes a team to post an aggregate score and senior Bill Clayton stepped up when it counted, shooting a two-over-par 74 that enabled the Coyotes to post their low team round of the tournament – 284.

            Sophomore Gene Webster, tied for second place in the event after 36 holes with a four-under-par total of 140 on rounds of  69 and 71 on Monday, skied to a 79 on Tuesday and finished in a tie with Bagnell in 11^th spot at 219.

            Sophomore Joe Alldis improved his position each round, starting with a 76 on Monday morning, shooting 74 in the afternoon and posting a one-over 73 to help the Coyotes distance themselves from the fourth-place finisher, Cal State Monterey Bay. The Otters were 12 shots in back of CSUSB in fourth spot at 881.

            Four Coyotes finished in the top 20 while all five members of Sonoma State were in the top 16 and ties. The Seawolves are ranked No. 1 in the West.

            Hunter Ranch as been Justesen’s personal playground in three of the last four CCAA tournaments.  He won CCAA championship medalist honors for the third time in four years. He finished first in 2005 at 11 under over the same course while playing for Cal State Monterey Bay, then a provisional CCAA member,  and won it in 2007 competing for Stanislaus, also at 11 under. He has played nine rounds at Hunter Ranch at 36 under par.

            CSUSB has finished second or third in three of the last four CCAA tournaments.

                                    ---------------------

            2008 CCAA All-CONFERENCE TEAM

            Micah Burke (CSUSB), Gene Webster (CSUSB), Jarin Todd (Sonoma St.), Kyle Hopkins (Sonoma St.), Eric Justesen (CS Stanislaus), Lucas Delgado (Chico St.), John Jackson (CS Monterey Bay); Jacob O’Keefe (Sonoma St.); Andy Moren (CS Stanislaus); Ryan Trask (Chico St.).

            MVP – Jarin Todd (Sonoma St).

            Freshman of Year – Patrick Bauer (Sonoma St.)

            Newcomer of Year – Lucas Delgado (Chico St.)

            Coach of Year – Val Verhunce (Sonoma St.)

 

            2008 CCAA MEN’S GOLF CHAMPIONSHIP

                  @ Hunter Ranch Golf Club in Paso Robles

 

TEAM: 1. Sonoma State – 858; 2. CS Stanislaus – 862; 3. COYOTES – 869; 4. CS Monterey Bay – 881; 5. Chico State – 884; 6. UC San Diego – 891; 7. CS Dominguez Hills – 930.

INDIVIDUALS: 1. Eric Justesen (Stanislaus) 70-65-67 – 202; 2. Jarin Todd (Sonoma St.) – 70-72-68 – 210; 3. John Jackson (CS Monterey Bay) 71-69-72 – 212; 4. (tie) Micah Burke (CSUSB) 71-73-69 – 213; Jason McHargue (CS Stanislaus) 75-72-66 – 213.

COYOTE CARDS: 4. Micah Burke (71-73-69 – 213); 11. (tie) Gene Webster (69-71-79 – 219) and Dane Bagnell (76-75-68 – 219); 16. Joe Alldis (76-74-73 – 223);

30. Bill Clayton (81-79-74 – 234).

 

There might not be a more dominant pitcher in minor league baseball right now than the Inland Empire's own Tommy Hanson.

Hanson, 21, was drafted in the 22nd round of the 2005 June amateur free agent draft by the Atlanta Braves. He played locally at Redlands East Valley High School and Riverside Community College.

He is off to a terrific start with the Myrtle Beach Pelicans, the Braves High-A affiliate of the Carolina League, earning league Pitcher of the Week honors for the second straight week. He picked up wins against Kinston and Winston-Salem, going 11 scoreless innings in which he surrendered just four hits and struck out 12.

On the season the 6-foot-6 right-hander has pitched 22 innings in four starts and has 32 strikeouts, the most by a pitcher at any level. He has given up just five hits and one run (It was unearned) while walking six and has a batting average against of .071.

You have to wonder how long it wll be before the Braves move him up to see what he can do at the next level. He split last season between Low-A Rome of the South Atlantic League and Myrtle Beach. Between the two he tallied 154 strikeouts in 133 innings.

He was named the Braves ninth-best prospect by Baseball America and was tabbed at the No. 8 prospect in the Carolina League.

Cal State San Bernardino senior David Reichel has signed with the Los Angeles Lightning of the International Basketball League which plays through June.

The IBL is made up of  teams from the Midwest and West Coast along with teams from China, Canada and The Netherlands. The league is a showcase for professional leagues overseas as well the NBA, ABA and other domestic pro circuits.

The Lightning plays its home games at Cal Lutheran in Thousand Oaks, just a few miles from Reichel’s home in Camarillo where he played his high school ball and one year at nearby The Master’s College before coming to CSUSB.

The 6-8 Reichel scored six points in eight minutes of action in Saturday’s game against Battle Creek, Mich.

Two veteran NBA players are the marquee players for the Lightning – 11-year NBA veteran Lamond Murray and Fred Vinson, most recently an assistant coach for the Los Angeles Clippers. Murray was a first-round draft pick of the Clippers and also played for the Cleveland Cavaliers and Denver Nuggets.

“This is an opportunity for me to show what I can do and hope I can sign a contract with an international team in Europe, Australia or Asia,” said Reichel, who will get his bachelor’s degree in business from CSUSB in June.

He said the IBL has a 50 percent success rate of placing players with pro teams at higher levels and overseas.

Asked about the quality of play in the IBL compared to NCAA Division II, Reichel said, “Everyone is not that much quicker, but they are much stronger and the veterans know all the tricks of the trade.”

Reichel had an outstanding year for the Coyotes in 2006-07, averaging  5.6 points a game in 32 games, helping CSUSB post a 26-6 record and win the NCAA Div. II West Regional. The team made the Elite Eight for the third time in the history of the program and became the first to advance to the Final Four, beating Wingate 100-73 in the quarterfinals.

He averaged 14 minutes per game, shot 54 percent from the field and set a new all-time single-season record by hitting 50 percent of his three-pointers (39 of 78) in 2006-07.

His senior season was marred by a thumb injury that forced him to miss six games and affected his shooting and playing time. He averaged 5.1 points per game but shot only 36 percent from the field. Still, he averaged 15 minutes per game for a team that won a CCAA conference co-championship.

Reichel’s best performance of 2007-08 was a career-high, 17-point outing against Kentucky Wesleyan in early November in the Disney West Coast Classic. He averaged 7.4 points a game before being hurt during the Christmas break. He scored 11 points against Humboldt State in CSUSB’s 82-73 win on Jan. 26 and grabbed a career-high eight rebounds against UC San Diego in the CCAA tournament quarterfinals on March 4.

The Lightning is owned and managed by Mark Harwell, a television and film executive. The head coach is Ron Quarterman, former coach at L.A. Pierce College and an assistant with the L.A. Aftershock of the ABA.

The IBL teams include Bellingham, WA., Snohomish County, WA., Vancouver, WA.,, Portland, Ore., Tacoma, WA., Central Oregon, Las Vegas, NV., Elgin, Ill., Elkhart, Ind., Chicago, Grand Rapids, Mich, and three international teams – Edmonton, Alberta, Canada; Shanxi, China; and Holland.

The Lightning play most of their games at home at CLU, but will be traveling to Las Vegas, Chicago, Indiana and Michigan for games. The team is in the Southwest Division of the IBL along with Central Oregon, Portland, China and Las Vegas. The IBL is adding seven more teams in 2009, according to its website.

 

The Ninth Annual California Collegiate Athletic Association Men’s Golf Championships is scheduled to open
Monday at the par-72, 7,741-yard Hunter Ranch Golf Course in Paso Robles.

The 54-hole event opens with 36 holes on Monday and concludes with  the final 18 on Tuesday. Monday’s opening round is scheduled to begin at 7:34 a.m. and Tuesday’s final round is set to start at 7:25  a.m.

The seven-team field includes Cal State Dominguez Hills, Cal State San Bernardino, Cal State Stanislaus, Chico State, UC San Diego, Sonoma State and Cal State Monterey Bay. Cal State Stanislaus senior All-American Erick Justesen is the defending individual medalist after he helped the Warriors to the 2007 championship.

Sonoma State, which is coming off a win at the Buzzini/Stanislaus Invitational on Tuesday, enters the CCAA Championships ranked No. 2 in the latest Golfstat rankings, while Cal State Stanislaus is No. 6
and Chico State is No. 14.

The Seawolves enter the CCAA Championships with three team victories, while Cal State Stanislaus and Chico State have each won two tournaments.

Junior All-American and 2007 Jack Nicklaus Award winner Jarin Todd leads Sonoma State, which captured two tournaments during the fall portion of its schedule. The Redmond, Wash., native has captured three individual medalist honors this season, and tops the CCAA with a 70.5 stroke average.

The Seawolves boast four of the CCAA’s top five stroke average leaders as Apple Valley native Kyle Hopkins (73.2), Patrick Bauer (73.4) and Jacob O’Keefe (73.5) rank third, fourth and fifth, respectively.

Justesen is second in the CCAA with a 71.9 stroke average and has victories at the Sonoma State Invitational and CSUMB Otter Invitational.

Cal State Stanislaus captured last year’s championships with a 4- under par total of 860. The victory snapped a string of five straight wins by Cal State Bakersfield, which left the CCAA following the 2007 season to move to Division I. The Warriors captured the first-ever event when it won in 1999 at the Turlock Golf & Country Club.

CCAA Men’s Golf Champions

Team

1999 Cal State Stanislaus
2000 Grand Canyon
2001 Cal State Stanislaus
2002 Cal State Bakersfield
2003 Cal State Bakersfield
2004 Cal State Bakersfield
2005 Cal State Bakersfield
2006 Cal State Bakersfield
2007 Cal State Stanislaus

Individuall

1999 Yascha Feld (CSUS)
2000 John Davis (GCU)
2001 Marc Lawless (CSUS)
2002 Jason Boyd (UCD)
2003 Bill Noon (CSUB)
2004 D.J. Fernando (CSUB)
2005 Mark Baker (CSUB)
2006 Brady Baguio (CSUB)
2007 Erick Justesen (CSUS)

Local rivals Chaffey and San Bernardino Valley College squared off in a Foothill Conference twinbill Saturday at Cal Baptist University, both games ending up 9-8 with Chaffey taking the opener and SBVC the nightcap.

The conference-leading Panthers (24-9, 15-3) took a 9-6 lead into the final inning of the opener, only to see the Wolverines (22-16, 12-6) storm back in the ninth.

Dwight Robinson singled and Alex Aunchman walked. A pair of passed balls advanced the runners. Robinson scored on a single by Dustin Williams and Sam Konnoff stroked a run-scoring double.
Chaffey used three pitchers in the inning but Dane Delfs got the last two outs to secure the win for Tim Redmon (3-0).

Anthony Delgado had three hits, two of them home runs, for Chaffey while Adrian Carmona had three for the Wolverines.

It was the reverse in the second game with SBVC having to withstand a Chaffey rally. The Wolverines were up 9-3 through four innings and 9-5 going into the seventh.

A sacrifice fly by James Koerner plated Willie Holmes who had doubled. Ryan Delgado walked and eventually scored on a balk. The Panthers drew within one when Mychal Johnson singled home Delgado.

But with two outs and two runners on pinch hitter Gerry Hernandez grounded out to first.
Starter Tommy Bills (7-1) got the win and Adrian Carmona the save.

Junior right-hander Brandan King (Walnut) threw a three-hit shutout and junior Chris Brehm (Murrieta) continued his fine play at the plate as the Cal Poly Pomona Broncos earned a pair of victories over visiting San Francisco State in California Collegiate Athletic Association baseball Saturday at Scolinos Field.

 

            The Broncos, now 13-25 overall and 10-15 in the CCAA, look to earn a series sweep over the Gators (7-37-1, 1-26) with the finale played at 11 a.m. Sunday at Scolinos Field.

 

GAME 1: Broncos 11, SF State 0

            King (3-2) earned his first complete-game effort on the season and shut down the Gators. He struck out seven, issued no walks, but did hit two batters in a stellar effort.

            The Broncos earned a 1-0 lead in the first as Kyle Boggio (senior, Santa Clarita) tripled to open the game. Brehm picked up the RBI on an infield ground-out.

            Cal Poly Pomona gained another run in the second as senior Andres Fernandez (San Fernando) lifted a sacrifice fly to center that scored junior Josh Potter (Orange), who reached on a single.

            The Broncos broke the game wide open with an eight-run fourth inning and sent 12 to the plate. Fernandez hit a two-run double that scored junior Chris Wilson (Rancho Cucamonga) and freshman Joe Villa (Hacienda Heights), who both singled. After Boggio flew out to right field, the Broncos continued to score with two outs. Fernandez scored after Jason Jordan (senior, Huntington Beach) reached base on an error. After senior John Daniels (Rancho Cucamonga) singled, senior A.J. Cavaletto hit a run-scoring single that scored Brehm, who reached on an error.

            Junior Josh Potter (Orange) then walked, bringing Wilson to the plate for the second time in the inning. He answered with a three-run double and the Broncos led 10-0.

            The Broncos added a run in the sixth when Villa doubled to score Wilson, who also doubled.

            Wilson finished 4-for-5 with three RBI and a pair of doubles. Fernandez also had three RBI.

 

GAME 2: Broncos 5, SF State 2

            The Broncos grabbed a 5-0 run lead after three innings and held on for the sweep.

            Three straight walks put Daniels, Cavaletto and Potter on as the Broncos threatened in the second. Daniels scored on a wild pitch thrown by Gator starter Matt Edgecombe. Wilson added a sacrifice fly to left that scored Cavaletto. Two batters later, senior Matt Davidson (Laguna Hills) also hit a sacrifice fly, this time to center that scored Potter.

            Leading 3-0, the Broncos added their other two runs in the third. Brehm delivered with a two-run home run to left field that scored Jordan, who reached on a double.

            Freshman Casey Yokubaitis (Goleta) earned the win for the Broncos. He threw 5 2 /3 innings, scattering six hits, two runs – both earned – struck out two and did not issue a walk. Senior Sean Hunter (Oakland) entered in the seventh and picked up the save with two strikeouts. He now has five saves this season.

By Michelle Gardner

Staff Writer

SAN BERNARDINO - All season long the Cal State San Bernardino softball team has relied on its offense. The Coyote bats did their job again Saturday as the host team smacked four home runs in an 8-4win over Chico State in the nightcap of a CCAA doubleheader.

Chico State salvaged a split because of a 6-4 win in the opener but the Coyotes swept a doubleheader Friday, giving them three wins in a four-game set that rounded out the home schedule.

The Coyotes (30-26-1, 15-11) had nine home runs in the series. They lead the conference in that category as well as most other offensive departments. They are among the national leaders in home runs with 59.

“We have a lot of girls that can really hit the ball and it has been our strong suit all year,” coach Tacy Duncan said. “That really showed in the second game.”

The split helps the Coyotes in their pursuit of a conference tournament berth. They started the day third, one spot ahead of where they need to finish.They wrap up the season with a four-game set at second-place Stanislaus next weekend.

But players don’t feel the burden of the stretch run.

“It’s a game and it’s fun so we really don’t feel pressure,” said junior Tori Beaudette, who led the charge with two home runs in the nightcap.

The Coyotes trailed 3-1 early, their lone run coming on a solo shot by Ashley Collinwood in the first.

But the sticks woke up in the fourth as Beaudette launched her fifth of the season to lead off the inning. Tayler Wilson reached on a fielder’s choice and Debbie Shisler followed with an infield single. Jordan Dahl, the No. 5 hitter in the conference, then stroked a three-run shot to put the Coyotes up 5-3. Beaudette delivered a two run-shot an inning later and the Coyotes were not threatened again.

The win went to Tawni Baker who entered in relief in the top of the fifth.

The second game also featured a pair of great defensive plays by center fielder Priscilla Curiel. The Cajon High product made a nice catch to end the Chico sixth, then made an even better one to start the seventh. She raced to her right and made a sprawling grab of a ball off the bat of Nickie Jarrett that was headed to the gap.
Wilson and Shisler had two hits for the Coyotes in the opener but the difference was a five-run third by the Wildcats (24-25, 12-16).

A sweep would have been big given that the Coyotes end the season on the road against a quality for but Duncan was satisfied.

“It’s tough to sweep so we have to be happy winning three of four. This conference is tough and we’re playing each other so many times you’re not going to beat the same team every time,” she said.

The game was the last at home for six Cal State seniors who were honored after the game. That group includes Baker, Wilson, Dahl, Jackie Jacob, Nicole Camarena and Jamie Lowe.

By Michelle Gardner

 

Staff Writer

Cal Poly Pomona got off to a good start with its recruiting class signing a pair of players coach Greg Kamansky thinks can make an impact right away.

Kevin Ryan, a 6-foot-7, 220-pound forward out of El Segundo High School, and Dwayne Fells, a 235-pound forward out of Fullerton High School, are the first to sign letters of intent.

“I am very pleased. This gets us off to a great start,” Kamansky said. “They’re guys that can be program changers. You never know how guys are going to progress but they have that kind of potential.”

Ryan averaged 22 points and 15 rebounds, earning Pioneer League Most Outstanding Player honors this past season.

Fells averaged 20 points and 14 rebounds, earning first-team all-Freeway League honors. He was the league’s Most Valuable Player as a junior in 2007 and was a two-time, all-CIF selection.

Those additions address one of the Broncos biggest needs with the departure of center Kaelen Daniels and his backup Kein Neveu.

Kamansky said he is still looking to add three or four more players, with the biggest emphasis now going to the guard position. While the Broncos recruiting focus has typically been on high school graduates, he might look to fill that void with a more experienced transfer.

Cal Poly graduates shooting guard Angelo Tsagarakis but does already have a quality player in the fold in Austin Swift, a Division I transfer who redshirted last year because of an ankle injury.

“We never seem to have a problem with the big men but we never get enough guards,” he said.

The Broncos finished 13-15 this past season and just missed their fifth NCAA Division II postseason berth in six seasons by finishing second in the CCAA Tournament.

“We’re hoping these guys can get us back to where we’re challenging for a conference title and back up there with the elite teams,” he said.

University of Redlands senior track & field student-athletes Kevin Vollmer (Van Nuys, CA) and Natalie Calderon (Pasadena, CA) were named the Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) Athletes of the Week for April 7-13. 

 

Both competitors provided outstanding results at the SCIAC Multi-Dual meet that was hosted by Redlands on April 12 and led their respective teams to second-place finishes.

 

Vollmer posted two individual wins at Saturday’s meet, earning first-place times in the 100m Dash at 11.14 and the 200m Dash at 22.09.  He also ran the anchor leg of the winning 4x400 Relay that earned an NCAA Provisional time of 3:16.17.  In addition, Vollmer helped the 4x100 Relay take fourth place with a time of 43.85.

 

Calderon won a meet-high four individual events while competing in a total of six.  She earned NCAA Provisional marks in the Long Jump and Triple Jump with leaps of 18’ 6” and 37’ 9 ½”, respectively, earning first place in both events.  She posted the winning time of 12.45 in the 100m Dash and took first in the 200m Dash at 26.60.  Competing in the 100m Hurdles for the third time in her career, Calderon finished third with a time of 15.95 while contributing to the third-place showing of the 4x100 Relay that earned a time of 50.89.

 

The SCIAC Sports Information Directors nominate and vote on the SCIAC Athletes of the Week.

 

 

By Michelle Gardner

Staff Writer

RANCHO CUCAMONGA - Earlier in the season the Chaffey college softball team threw a scare into perennial playoff contender Antelope Valley, losing by only one run.

The teams squared off again in a Foothill Conference finale on Friday and this time it wasn’t close as the Marauders, ranked No. 6 in the state, trounced the host Panthers 11-3 for their 62nd straight conference win. It also capped off a fourth straight conference title.

“I think the last time we played them they took us lightly and we put a scare into them,” Chaffey coach Jimmy Rodriguez said. “They told us they would be ready the next time and they were.”

Antelope Valley (38-6, 14-0) was never threatened thanks to the efforts of sophomore pitcher Gracie Perez. Perez, the conference pitcher of the year in 2006, sat out last year. She has returned to form in dominant fashion, striking out 14 batters, 13 of them in the first five innings.

Jessica De Luna was the only Chaffey hitter to reach base in the first four innings, doing so on a walk in the second.

The Marauders led 4-0, highlighted by a two-run home run from Felecia Shepler in the fifth.
Chaffey finally got on the scoreboard in the bottom of that frame with Marissa Lavendera reaching on an error and scoring on a double by Krystal Gonzalez.

Antelope blew the game open in the last two innings, scoring three in the sixth and four in the seventh with four errors paving the way.

Chaffey (26-17, 11-3) made it closer, getting two in the seventh with Gonzalez again providing the big blow. The freshman out of Kaiser High School smacked a Perez offering over the left center field fence for her second home run of the season. It followed a double by Katelyn Outzen.

“She has a very good rise ball and it was really working today,” said Gonzalez, who struck out in the third. “You have to move up in the box and go for it before it rises.”

Antelope leadoff hitter Traci Wolf stole the show offensively, going 4-for-4 with a walk, triple and scoring five times.

Early in the week the Panthers thought the game would be for a share of the conference title but it ended up not meaning much because they suffered a 5-1 loss Wednesday to Mt. San Jacinto in which the team was lethargic from the start.

Rodriguez admitted it took some edge off the game on Friday but players say they were ready.

“We still had a chance to stop them from being undefeated in the conference,” Gonzelz said. “We still came in here with the attitude of winning the game.”

Rodriguez said he will give his team a few days off and await the playoff draw which will be announced next week. The Panthers should advance as the conference runner-up but will face a tough draw with a matchup against a strong Orange Empire conference team likely.

“We will give them a couple days off, then go back to basics and do the best we can to be ready,” he said.

By Michelle Gardner

 

Staff Writer

The University of Redlands women and Claremont-Mudd-Scripps men will take to the tennis courts this weekend looking to keep their perfect SCIAC records in tact. On the line will be a automatic bids to the upcoming Division III West Regionals.

“The way it used to be it didn’t matter if you lost early. You really wanted to peak at the right time,” Bulldogs coach Jim Ducey said. “Now you still want to peak at the right time but those matches early are also important because of the automatic bids.”

The two schools will be hosting the eight-team tournament beginning today. The women’s competition will be hosted by Redlands with some matches aslo played at Redlands East Valley High School.
The Stags will host the men’s draw with matches also played at neighboring Pomona-Pitzer as well as the Upland and Claremont Tennis Clubs.

The automatic bids will be awarded for a combined finish in the regular season and the tournament. Both host teams head in with 7-0 marks but that is just a coincidence since hosting rights are rotated alphabetically.

On the men’s side the Stags (20-7, 7-0) are currently ranked eighth nationally and third in the West but that was before they upset No. 1 UC Santa Cruz last Sunday.

CMS is led by junior Larry Wang, who holds down the No. 1 spot. Claremont native Drew Sabater has pulled out some clutch wins in the No. 5 hole.

“We’re playing pretty well right now and we’re coming off a couple of big wins,” CMS coach Paul Settles said. “We’re hoping to keep that momentum in this tournament.”

Redlands (18-6, 6-1), led by No. 1 Matt Liebman and No. 2 Eric Wagar, is seeded second and lost a hard-fought battle to CMS 5-4 a week ago in the regular-season conference finale for both teams.

No. 2 seed Pomona-Pitzer (11-7, 6-1) is the defending champion on the women’s side and boasts the reigning player of the year in sophomore Siobhan Finicane.
Redlands (13-4, 7-0) is currently ranked third in the West Region and has five of its six singles players returning. The new addition is sophomore Rachael Miller, whose father played for the Bulldogs in 1976 with Ducey.

“You like to think if you’re ranked high enough you can get an at-large bid if you don’t win,” Ducey said. “But you can’t take any chances.”

There is no admission charge for spectators at any of the sites.

MEN’S SCHEDULE

Friday’s matches (All at 9 a.m.) - No. 1 Claremont-Mudd-Scripps vs. No. 8 Caltech at CMS; No. 2 Redlands vs. No. 7 Whittier (at Pomona-Pitzer); No. 3 Cal Lutheran vs. No. 6 La Verne (at Upland Tennis Club); No. 4 Occidental vs. No. 5 Pomona-Pitzer (at Claremont Tennis Club).

Next round (All at 1 p.m.) - CMS-Caltech loser vs. Occidental-Pitzer loser (at Claremont TC); Redlands-Whittier loser vs. Cal Lutheran-La Verne loser (at Upland TC); CMS-Caltech winner vs. Occidental-Pitzer winner (at CMS); Redlands-Whittier winner vs. Cal Lutheran-La Verne winner (at Pitzer).

Saturday’s matches (All at 9 a.m.) - Seventh place match (at Claremont TC); Fifth place (at Upland TC); Third place (at Pitzer); Championship - (at CMS).

WOMEN’S SCHEDULE

Friday’s matches (All at 8:30 a.m.) - No. 1 Redlands vs. No. 8 Caltech (at Redlands); No. 2 Pomona-Pitzer vs. No. 7 Whittier (at Redlands); No. 3 CMS vs. No. 6 Cal Lutheran (at Redlands East Valley HS); No. 4 Occidental vs. No. 5 La Verne (at REV).

Next round (All at 1:30 p.m.) - Redlands-Caltech winnner vs. Occidental-La Verne winner (at Redlands); Pitzer-Whittier winner vs. CMS-Cal Lutheran winner (at Redlands); Caltech-Redlands loser vs. Occidental-La Verne loser (at REV); Pitzer-Whittier loser vs. CMS-Cal Lutheran loser (at REV).

Saturday’s matches (All at 10 a.m.) - Championship and third-place matches (at Redlands); Fifth and seventh place matches (at REV).

RANCHO CUCAMONGA - Chaffey College pitcher Andrew Schile is the first to admit he didn’t have his best stuff when he took the mound Thursday against San Bernardino Valley College. He also knows most of the time he probably won’t need it since his offense usually gives him room for error.
The Panthers (23-8, 14-2) pounded out 16 hits and cruised to a 16-2 win over the Wolverines (21-15, 11-5) in a battle between the top two teams in the Foothill Conference.
The series continues with a noon doubleheader Saturday at Cal Baptist University since SBVC does not have a home field.
“He (Schile) wasn’t his best but he is a sophomore, one of our team captains. He is always going to battle and give a great effort,” coach Jeff Harlow said.
Schile’s effort was more than good enough. He went five innings, allowing just four hits and two runs (one earned) while striking out two, walking three and hitting one. He exited after the top of the fifth with his team in control 9-2.
The right-hander out of Miller High School said he was slowed by a back injury that flared up when he arrived at practice Wednesday.
“When I got to practice I couldn’t even bend over. I don’t even know when it exactly happened,” he said. “With the way our guys hit I knew I didn’t have to have my best stuff because we have been scoring a lot of runs. I was just trying to get some ground balls.”
Chaffey, which started the day with a two-game lead over SBVC, jumped on Wolverines starter Sam Konnoff for two runs in the first, one on a run-scoring single by Ryan Delgado and the other driven home by his brother Anthony.
The Panthers tacked on five more when they batted around in the third. All the RBI came from different players, with the only extra-base hit in the frame a double by James Koerner.
That 7-0 lead was never threatened. Chaffey got hits from 10 different players and RBI from nine. Anthony Delgado and Jonathan Costantino had three each while Willie Holmes stroked a home run.
Even the reserves factored in as freshman Robert Escalera came off the bench and ripped a two-run double in a five-run eighth.
SBVC totaled just six hits on the day, three of those by No. 9 hitter Alec Ortez who had a double and a triple and scored one of the team’s two runs.
Veteran SBVC coach Bill Mierzwik will try and win the series with his two most consistent pitchers on the mound Saturday in right-handers Tommy Bills and Teddy Martinez.
“We could have come out and lost 3-2 and it’s still a loss,” he said. “They play well here so we’re taking a gamble. It might backfire but we thought it was our best shot.”
Mierzwik, in his 18th year directing the team, is hoping his team can at least hold its position because the conference traditionally gets two teams in the playoffs. It would be a fitting reward for a team he has enjoyed.
“I have had very few teams I enjoyed as much as this one,” he said. “They just come out and play. It isn’t easy playing every game on the road and not one of them has complained. I would love to get in the playoffs because these guys deserve it.”

By Michelle Gardner

Staff Writer

At 5 a.m. when most college students are sleeping soundly, Freyja Berg is starting her day. The Cal State San Bernardino senior reports to school an hour later for a two-hour water polo practice.

After a full day of classes, there is yet another practice, except on days the Coyotes have a match.
But the dedication has paid off. Berg recently became the school’s all-time leading scorer and currently ranks third nationally in scoring.

“I’m not going to lie, sometimes it’s really tough getting up,” she said. “But it’s what you have to do if you want to be good at something.”

Berg, a native of Whittier, is rounding out a storied career this month. The Coyotes (16-14) have three matches this week, starting with Division I foes UC Santa Barbara and Cal State Northridge on Saturday and rounding out the regular season against Pomona-Pitzer at home Sunday.

They will compete in the Western Water Polo Association tournament the following week in Los Angeles.

Every goal she scores adds to her legacy. She has 334 goals which breaks the career record of Sarah Reneker Schweiger who had 324 before graduating in 2006.

Berg didn’t know she was even close until sports information director Mike Murphy brought it up during a meeting of the Coyote Athletic Association at which she was being honored as the school’s athlete of the month for March.
Coyotes coach Tom Finwall didn’t know either.

Berg appreciates the honor, especially because the record she broke was that of a former teammate she respects. Schweiger also helped coach the team early this season.
But much like Schweiger did, Berg focuses on the bigger picture.

“It’s cool. But it will probably mean more to me later,” said Berg, the fourth All-American in the history of the program. “Right now I just want to help us win. It doesn’t matter how many goals I score.”

Berg’s big junior year set her up for the record run this season. She tallied 66 goals as a freshman and 68 as a sophomore.

She emerged as the dominant player last year with Schweiger having departed and managed 112 goals, 55 assists and 84 steals which earned her All-American honors for the second time.
Her 88 so far this season are enough to put her second nationally in a list of players in all divisions. Junior Amanda Ortiz of Cal State Bakersfield (102) is first.

She also has a team-high 64 steals and 37 assists.

Finwall says it is hard to compare his top two players of all-time since the styles of play are different. Berg is also five inches taller which comes into play both offensively and defensively, even in a pool.

“Freyja is a little taller and has a longer reach which really helps her,” he said. “She is able to get some shots off over an opponent where maybe Sarah had to pass it off. She (Berg) is also a little better defender. Not to say Sarah wasn’t good. Freyja is just a littler better.”

Berg admits she has progressed faster in the sport than even she believed was possible. She took it up in the eighth grade because older sisters Bridget and Kelby played. The three competed together for one year at La Serna High School and Bridget played with Freyja for two years at Cal State.

Freyja redshirted her first year at Cal State while she was working her way back from arm injuries suffered in a snowboarding accident.

Finwall also helped her with a few adjustments to her shot which apparently have helped.

“There were just some minor things on her motion,” Finwall said. “And old habits are hard to break.”

Schweiger currently lives in Seattle with husband Brian, a bullpen catcher with the Mariners. She also plays on a master’s team and has had some coaching offers.

If her record had to fall so soon, she is happy for her former teammate.

“She’s a great player because she has worked hard at getting better every year,” Schweiger said. “She has never been afraid to ask a question or do what it takes to get to the next level. She deserves it.”

 

When Tacy Duncan took over the reigns of the Cal State San Bernardino softball program three years ago, she was starting from scratch. The Coyotes had never made the playoffs and were a woeful 38-129 overall (24-70 in California Collegiate Athletic Association) the three years before she arrived.

But the Coyotes (27-25, 12-10) are heading down the homestretch with a chance to make the four-team postseason conference tournament. They are third behind Humboldt State (40-14, 17-7) and Cal State Stanislaus (25-19, 18-10) with Monterey Bay (27-22, 14-14), UC San Diego (28-18, 13-13) and San Francisco State (26-18, 12-12) in pursuit.

Cal State has two four-game series left — a winnable one against Chico State (23-22, 11-13), then the tougher one against nationally ranked Stanislaus.

“Six of eight will get us in,” Duncan said. “Anything less than that and we just have to see how it plays out. It would be great to get in and have that opportunity.”

In Duncan’s first season the Coyotes improved by 10 wins, it progressed by six more the following year and has equaled its win total of 2007 with eight games to go. The Coyotes are slightly ahead of the timetable she laid out.

“It really takes five years. You have to get all your own players in and have the chance to work with them,” she said. “I’m hard to please so I think it can always be better, but I am satisfied.”

Pitching depth has helped. Last year seniors Tawni Baker and Jordan Dahl carried the load with Dahl doing so out of necessity. She prefers to play the infield.

This season Baker (9-6, 2.78) has been joined by freshman Cassidy Lee (4-7, 4.73), senior Jackie Jacob (9-6, 3.83) and junior Debbie Shisler (4-5, 2.33).

Senior Nicole Camarena (.294, 31 RBI, 12 HR), a Victorville native, is behind the plate.

Duncan’s infield usually consists of sophomore first baseman Ashley Collinwood (.331, 41 RBI), senior second baseman Jamie Lowe (.361, 31 runs) and senior third baseman Tayler Wilson (.298), with Dahl (.378, 36 RBI, 43 runs, eight HR) at short.

Cajon graduate Priscilla Curiel (.294, 31 RBI, eight HR), whom Duncan touts as a conference Freshman of the Year candidate, patrols the outfield, along with junior Tori Beaudette and Shisler with freshman Jaclyn Holtzclaw in when Shisler (.328) is pitching.

The Coyotes lead the conference in hitting (.308), slugging (.475) and on-base (.388). They also have a conference-high 48 home runs.

It has also been a challenging season for Duncan, who is balancing coaching and a full-time teaching job in Riverside with motherhood. She and husband Shannon are the parents of 8-month-old twin girls.
The school is elevating her position to full-time next year, which should ease some of the burden.

Sophomore basketball standout Lewis Leonard of San Bernardino College has made a verbal commitment to continue his playing career and education at Division I St. Bonaventure in New York, which competes out of the Atlantic-10 Conference.

Leonard visited the school earlier this spring and was also considering Robert Morris University in Pittsburgh.

Leonard, a native of Philadelphia, was Most Valuable Player in the Foothill Conference, averaging 25.2 points and 5.9 rebounds with a high of 41 points. He was second in the state in scoring behind Pasadena’s Harold Cleveland (25.6 ppg).

Leonard is the seventh player from the school to continue to a Division I program in the last four years.

Now for the latest in the on-going saga of the College of the Desert softball team which seems to have gotten out of playing Chaffey - AGAIN!

The teams were to have played on March 26 at Chaffey at 3 p.m. but the school called to cancel at 1 p.m., just two hours before the game was to take place. The school said it didn't have enough players.The Roadrunners wanted to just forfeit but the Panthers refused to accept that because they wanted the game, especially since it was a Foothill Conference game.

This wasn't the first time Desert forfeited a conference game. It ditched first-place Antelope Valley the previous week but somehow had enough players to compete in a tournament at Golden West the same week.

Chaffey and Desert agreed to make up the game April 1, but Desert decided that was no good either. The teams then agreed to today - April 14th.

Not surprisingly the school called at noon, again saying it did not have enough players but since this was the last week of the regular season they were calling it a season, also begging off the other two games it had left on the schedule.

Conference administrators should look into the validity of the claims. One school's troubles shouldn't put others at a disadvantage which is what will probably happen. The only way a team gets better is by playing. Chaffey's entire roster consists of freshmen, so every game is a building block toward the future.

Desert is also the second team to bag their season early. Barstow did so about 10 games in. Two teams folding early makes the conference look ridiculous. The lack of credability is going to hurt the two quality teams that do make the playoff draw and will hurt those players' chances of individual accolades when the season is over.

Former Cal State San Bernardino basketball standout Ivan Johnson has finished his first season in the NBA's Developmental League.

Johnson, who helped the Coyotes to a berth in the Division II national semifinal in 2007 as a senior, spent much of the season with Anaheim Arsenal but was part of a three-way trade a month ago that sent him to the Rio Grande Valley Vipers who are based in McAllen, Tex.

Johnson, who lost 30 pounds since leaving Cal State, averaged 13.3 points, 16.6 rebounds and 0.9 blocks in 35 games with the Arsenal. He started slowly and was reeling a bit after the death of his mother just before Thanksgiving but worked his way into the starting lineup halfway through the season.

He fared slightly better with his new team which was in dire need of a big man. In 10 games there he averaged 15.8 points, seven rebounds and 1.5 blocks.

Johnson moves well and handles the ball well for a guy 6-foot-8 and 230 pounds. He used to talk often about getting a shot in the NBA. Here's to hoping he will get that chance. He seems to have gotten his emotions in check, which was the only thing holding him back.

The Coyotes have had several players go and excel overseas but have never had one in the NBA. Johnson could be the first.

 For the second time this season, Cal State San Bernardino pitcher Matt Long has been selected as the Wilson/California Collegiate Athletic Association baseball pitcher of the week.             Long was recognized for his complete-game six-hitter in an 11-1 win over San Francisco State last Friday that set the stage for the Coyotes to sweep all four games from the Gators.

            The 6-3 senior right-hander from Woodland, Calif., struck out 12 batters in the game to give him an even 100 on the season which leads the CCAA by a wide margin.

            Long is now 6-5 on the season with a 3.14 earned run average. He is 4-4 in the CCAA with 70 strikeouts and a 3.38 ERA in eight CCAA starts totaling 56 innings.

            In last Friday’s win over SFSU, Long was strong from start to finish. He demonstrated that in the bottom of the ninth when he struck out the side to end the game after giving up a leadoff hit.

            Over his last three outings, all victories, Long has pitched 25 innings, yielded just 12 hits and five runs and struck out 38 batters while walking nine. Only three of the hits off him went for extra bases.

            Long needs five more strikeouts this season to eclipse the all-time single-season record of 104 set by John Major in 1996. He has already smashed Major’s career strikeout mark of 150, having fanned 227 batters in two-plus seasons. One more win and he equals Major’s career win record of 15. Long has 14 in his third season with CSUSB.

            Long also earned CCAA pitcher of the week honors in March for a 5-0 shutout win over Cal Poly Pomona. He has three complete games in 12 starts for CSUSB.

He is expected to start Thursday at Cal State L.A. The Coyotes take a six-game win streak into the four-game series with the Golden Eagles and are now 22-19 overall, 13-15 in the CCAA.

                       

Cal Poly Pomona designated hitter/catcher Chris Brehm was named the Wilson California Collegiate Athletic Association player of the week Monday for the week of April 7-13. He is the first Bronco player to earn the honor this season.

            Brehm, a Murrieta native, played a key role in helping Cal Poly Pomona win a four-game series from Cal State Monterey Bay last weekend. The junior batted .647 (11-for-17) with seven runs scored and seven RBI, while totaling seven extra-base hits. He had multiple hits in all four contests and concluded the series with a 4-for-5 effort that included three doubles, three runs scored and an RBI. He opened the series with three hits, including a grand slam, on Friday.

            He leads the team in batting average at .415 that is second in the CCAA. He has played in 31 games and owns 30 starts for the Broncos, who are 10-25 overall and 7-15 in the CCAA. Incidentally, the 11-4 victory Sunday marked coach Mike Ashman’s 300^th victory while at Cal Poly Pomona.

            The Broncos return to play this weekend with a four-game series against visiting San Francisco State. The series starts Friday with a 2:30 p.m. start at Scolinos Field.

           

Jan. 28-Feb. 3: Darrick Hale (Cal State L.A); Feb. 4-10: Cody Puckett (Cal State Dominguez Hills); Feb. 11-17: Evan Kehoe (UC San Diego); Feb. 18-24: Cameron Cook (Sonoma State); Feb. 25-Mar. 2: Cody Dee (Chico State); Mar. 3-9: Kyle Loretelli (Cal State Stanislaus); Mar. 10-16: Jon Alia (Cal State Dominguez Hills); Mar. 17-23: Shane Farmer (Chico State); Mar. 24-30: Kenny Shanahan (Cal State L.A.); Mar. 31-Apr. 6: Ian Bridges (Sonoma State); Apr. 7-13: Chris Brehm (Cal Poly Pomona).

 

A Foothill Conference title is fine. But the Chaffey College baseball team has loftier goals. It is looking to make some noise in the playoffs instead of being sent home after the first round.

The Panthers (22-8, 13-2) finished off a three-game sweep of Victor Valley with convincing 14-6 and 16-6 wins Saturday at Lowder Field. They outscored the Rams 59-13 in the three games.

Even though the host team was comfortably in front most of the way, Chaffey focused on the little things it needs to do to get better - whether it’s putting down a bunt or moving a runner over. Coach Jeff Harlow used the big lead to his advantage, also working in some of his younger players.

The Panthers slipped up last weekend against Cerro Coso but still have a two-game lead with nine games left.

“Every inning we play we’re out there, working on something, no matter what the score is,” he said. “You can’t take anyone lightly because the minute you do bad things happen.”

In the past three years, the Panthers have been eliminated in the first round of the playoffs with Orange Empire Conference contender Cypress sending them home last year. The Panthers lost two straight games in the best-of-three set to the Chargers, blowing late leads in each game.

The playoff draw hasn’t been much help as the Foothill teams traditionally first draw a foe from the Orange Empire Conference which has the most depth of any in the state.

All say they are looking to change that trend last year. The Panthers have 15 sophomores on their roster so 2007 has not been forgotten.

“It was like that in high school too,” said shortstop James Koerner, who went 7-for-7 with three doubles and six RBI in the twinbill. “It was very disappointing because we know we’re better than what we showed and we want to make up for it this year.”

This Chaffey team has different strengths. Last year it relied on a solid pitching staff but this season it features a more powerful offense.

The Panthers pounded out 53 hits in the series against the Rams. Saturday third baseman Ryan Delgado had five - three doubles and two home runs. Koerner, designated hitter Willie Holmes, center fielder Jonathan Costantino and twins Chris and David Gwin have led the charge.

Harlow is looking to solidify some roles among his pitchers. Right-hander Andrew Schile and left-hander Andrew Steinmeyer, both sophomores, have been solid starters but the Panthers have not settled on a No. 3 hurler.

The Panthers are also looking for someone to pick up the slack for closer Steven Raburn, who is out with an arm injury. Freshman right-hander Erik Bastio is one candidate.

“I like the way we have been hitting the ball and it has been everyone contributing,” Harlow said. “That’s really what we’re going to need.”

The opposing team walked away impressed.

“I like what they have put together,” Victor Valley coach Bob Smith said. “They can play the short game, they can hit the long ball. It looks like they’ll win the conference and will be a strong representative.”

 

SAN FRANCISCO -- Cal State San Bernardino extended its win streak to five Saturday with a CCAA conference doubleheader sweep of host San Francisco State, helped by the pitching of seniors Ward Minich and Kevin Wilson and the hitting of Brent Planck, Johnnie Haas and Jason Klug.

    In defeating the Gators 5-4 in the opener and 7-4 in the seven-inning nightcap, the Coyotes improved to 21-19 on the season, 12-15 in the CCAA. The last-place Gators are now 7-32-1 overall and 1-22 in the conference. The two teams wind up the four-game series with a single game at noon on Sunday.

    CSUSB has now won eight of its last 10 games.

    Planck went four-for-eight in the twinbill with three runs batted in and two runs scored while Haas was three-for-seven with two RBI and two runs scored. Klug hit a two-run homer, his eighth of the season, in the first inning of game two. His three RBIs in the game give him a team-leading 53 on the season.

    Wilson went 8.1 innings in the opener, yielding three runs on seven hits while striking out six and walking none to improve his record to 3-4. He needed relief help in the ninth from Michael Leal  after giving up a two-run homer to Jeff McCall. Leal gave up another run but got Matt Kavanaugh to hit into a game-ending double play in the 5-4 Coyotes win, earning a save in the process.

    Trailing 1-0 after two innings, the Coyotes took a 2-1 lead in the third on two hits and an error, the big blow being a two-run single by Billy Haynes. 

    The score remained 2-1 until the eighth when the Coyotes erupted for three runs aided by three hits and another Gators error. Planck singled in one run. Haas doubled in another and Chris LeFay singled in the third run to give Wilson a 5-1 cushion heading to the ninth.

    In game two, the Coyotes banged out 11 hits and stranded 11 runners but still scored seven runs to back the six-hit pitching of Minich, a senior right-hander who improved his record to 3-0 with six innings of work. Chad Borowski came on in the seventh and gave up a run in the 7-4 victory.

    CSUSB jumped on Gators starter Matt Edgecombe (0-4) for three runs in the first, two coming on Klug's homer, and made it 5-0 in the second with a pair of runs on an RBI single by Planck and a bases-loaded walk to Klug, forcing in the other run.

    The Coyotes made it 6-0 in the third as Mike Minjares was hit by a pitch, stole second, and scored on Planck's single. CSUSB made it 7-1 in the top of the fifth as Minjares singled, stole second and scored on Haas' RBI single.

    The Coyotes return home to face Cal State L.A. in a four-game CCAA series starting Thursday at the Golden Eagles field. Game two will be played Friday afternoon, also at L.A. CSUSB will host the final two games on Saturday, April 19, at Riverside Community College, starting at noon.
    

Junior Chris Brehm hit a grand slam and senior Jason Jordan went 3-for-3 with three RBI as the Cal Poly Pomona Broncos snapped a nine-game losing streak with a 15-10 victory over CS Monterey Bay on Friday at Scolinos Field.             The Broncos are now 8-24 overall and 5-14 in the California Collegiate Athletic Association, while the Otters dropped to 8-29, 6-23. The two teams play a doubleheader Saturday, beginning at 12 p.m., and a 9-inning game Sunday.

            The game was tied at 2-2 through 3 ½ innings before the Broncos looked to gain control. Jordan (Huntington Beach) led off the inning with a walk and freshman Joe Villa (Hacienda Heights) was hit by a pitch. After an out, senior Kyle Boggio (Santa Clarita) walked and senior John Daniels (Rancho Cucamonga) reached on a fielder’s choice. That brought up Brehm (Murrieta), who sent a 3-2 offering from Otters starter Justin Aguilera to deep left field and cleared the wall for his first grand slam and third homer of the season.

            Brehm finished 3-for-6 and had a double.

            The Otters, who trailed 6-2, scored five runs in the fifth inning – all unearned off Bronco starter Ryan Screnar (junior, Claremont). The right-hander went five innings for the Broncos, scattering seven hits, seven runs, and two strikeouts. He did not issue a walk, but hit two batsmen.

            Down 7-6, Cal Poly Pomona scored twice in the fifth to back on top. Jordan hit a run-scoring double and Villa singled in Jordan.

            CS Monterey Bay scored one run in the sixth to tie the game at 8-8, but the Broncos took control for good with five runs in the sixth.

            Junior Josh Potter (Orange) had a two-run double to cap the inning, while Daniels, Jordan and Villa each RBI for the inning.

            Matt DeJesus had a two-run home run for the Otters in the eighth.

            Sean Moreno (junior, La Mirada) earned the victory in relief. He threw three innings and struck out four, walked one and allowed three hits, three runs (two earned).

            Nadav Poringer (0-3) was the loser. He threw 1 2/3 innings and allowed four runs – all earned.

            Senior A.J. Cavaletto (Santa Barbara) went 4-for-6 with two RBI and Potter went 2-for-4 with two RBI for the Broncos. Villa also had two RBI.

 

A pair of Kaiser High School products delivered big as the Panthers (26-14, 10-1) surged past visiting San Bernardino Valley College 12-3 in Foothill Conference action Friday.

Freshman catcher Jessica DeLuna had three home runs, including a grand slam in the second inning and collected nine RBI. She now has six home runs on the season.

Britni Baca, also a freshman, turned in a strong effort in the pitching circle, giving up just five hits and three runs and striking out six.

Freshman Chelsea Navarro had two hits for SBVC.

Chaffey will play nonconference games today against Citrus and Cerritos, both of whom are state-ranked.

 

It was announced earlier today that senior short stop/second baseman Billy Lavelle (Phoenix, AZ) was named the Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) Male Athlete of the Week for March 31-April 6.

In last week’s three-game sweep over Cal Lutheran University, Lavelle led the Bulldogs with a .714 average on 10-for-14 batting.  He tallied four runs, three RBI and 13 total bases, to go along with one double and one triple.  Lavelle earned a slugging percentage of .929 and an on-base percentage of .750.  He was 3-for-5 for stolen bases and was walked twice.  Playing both short stop and second base, Lavelle provided a .947 fielding percentage with 10 putouts, eight assists, and one error.

By starting 29 games, Lavelle has been instrumental in the Bulldogs’ 20-11 overall showing and 8-4 mark in conference so far this season.  He currently owns a .407 batting average with 48 hits, 20 runs scored, and 20 RBI.  Lavelle has offered six sacrifice hits and three sacrifice flies while amassing 13 stolen bases, leading the team in each of these categories.  Finally, he has provided 64 putouts and 69 assists with three errors for a .947 fielding percentage.

The Female Athlete of the Week was awarded to Caltech’s Rene Davis, who broke the school record in the high jump and long jump at the Pomona-Pitzer Invitational.

The SCIAC Sports Information Directors nominate and vote on the Athletes of the Week.

 

The U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCA) released its first Division I Outdoor Rankings for the 2008 Track & Field Season, and the Highlanders Women's Track & Field team currently ranks No. 42 in the nation.

UCR is the top rated team among Big West Conference institutions and ranks ahead of several programs with longstanding athletics reputations such as North Carolina (No. 43), Kentucky (45), South Carolina (46), Alabama (51) and Georgia Tech (67). The rankings take into account the times and scores of all track and field athletes who have qualified for NCAA regional competition.

Highlanders' sophomore Brenda Martinez of Rancho Cucamonga is ranked second in the nation in the 800m (2:05.54), fifth in the 1500 (4:19.81) and sixth in the 5000m (16:27.51). Junior Cristina Olivas, out of Bloomington High School, is 13th in the steeple (10:38.45), senior Lisa Lopez of Victorville is 15th in the 800m (2:08.40) and junior Uchechi Egeonuigwe is 23rd in the 400m hurdles.

Also scoring points for the Highlanders are sophomore Allison Wilder who is 38th in the triple jump (12.45m, 4-' 10.25") and senior Melissa Genisauski who ranks 42nd in the discus (48.75m, 159' 11").

The UCR Men's and Women's Track teams next compete in the Rafer Johnson/Jackie Joyner Kersee Invitational at UCLA from April 10-12.

Andrew Bogrand (JR, Portland, OR) of Claremont-Mudd-Scripps was selected SCIAC Athlete of the Week for the week of March 24-30.

He finished second at the California/Nevada Championships in the javelin throw on Saturday with a throw of 192-0.

The meet is open to schools from all three NCAA Divisions as well as NAIA teams and there were five Division I (including the winner) and five Division II competitors in the final. His qualifying mark in Friday's prelims was a personal best of 202-4. This mark qualifies him for the NCAA Championships, is third best in CMS history and 10th best in SCIAC history and is currently ranked second in the nation.

In Saturday's finals he led the competition until the second to last throw in the final round. All six of his throws would have taken second place and five of them were better than the NCAA-qualifying mark.

Marlon Pierce, the senior guard from Cal State San Bernardino who has earned all-conference, all-region and honorable mention all-America honors this season, is heading to his second post-season all-star event later this month.

Pierce, the 6-2 guard from San Diego who competed in the NCAA Division II All-Star game at the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame in Springfield, Mass., on March 28, will this time compete in the Collegiate Basketball Invitational on April 24-26.

The three-day event features eight teams of eight players representing NCAA Division II, Division III and NAIA schools. Each team will play three games in the tournament, considered a showcase for pro scouts from various  pro leagues including the NBA.

An all-star game, featuring 20 players chosen from the 65 that will be playing in

the tournament, will be played on Saturday, April 26, at 8 p.m. central daylight time and be televised live on cable channel ESPNU.

            CBI will take place at Wadsworth High School in the town of Wadsworth, Ohio, located 16 miles from Akron and 40 miles from Cleveland. Wadsworth’s roots date back to its founding in 1814 and is named for a Revolutionary War hero named Elijah Wadsworth.

            “I am confident that this class of players will help make the public aware of the high level of talent at the NCAA Division II, NCAA Division III and NAIA levels,” said CBI founder John McCarthy. “With approximately 1,000 colleges and universities within these divisions, the selection of players has truly been a challenging task. Narrowing this field to 65 players has been very difficult.”

            The three-day event exposes the players to professional team representatives, agents and national media while competing against many of the best non-Division I players in the nation.

            Each of the eight teams is sponsored by a Wadsworth business or organization and Pierce is on the Premier Pontiac-GMC team coached by Jim Tribbett of Chowan University in Murfreesboro, N.C. His teammates include 7-foot center Eder Araujo of Walsh College (NAIA), 6-8 forward Jeremy Black of Tampa, 6-3 guard Ryan Williams of Pace and 6-5 wing Sam Belt of Central Oklahoma.

            Other West Region Division II players playing in the tournament are: Rob Will, a 6-10 center from Seattle Pacific; 7-foot center Marko Lkoaric of Chaminade; guard Luke Cooper of West Region champion Alaska Anchorage;

            Also in the tournament are 6-5 guard Jonte Flowers and 6-8 forward John Smith from NCAA Div. II national champion Winona State.

            “This event is simply good for the game of basketball on several levels,” McCarthy said.

            Pierce’s team opens the tournament at 10 a.m. on April 24 against Renacci-Doraty Chevrolet led by Kolaric of Chaminade.

            Each team has a host family from the city of Wadsworth.

            Pierce averaged 12.2 points, 3.5 rebounds and nearly four assists per game for the Coyotes in 2007-08, helping them win a share of the California Collegiate Athletic Association title and a berth in the NCAA tournament. The team finished 22-8 on the season and ranked 14^th in the nation.

            He scored a team-high 13 points with three assists in the the Coyotes’ 67-63 loss to BYU-Hawaii in the West Region quarterfinals.

            He earned all-CCAA first-team, all-West Region first team and Division II Bulletin all-America honorable mention. He scored a career high 29 points against UC San Diego.

            At the Div. II all-star game in Springfield, Mass., Pierce acquitted himself quite well, dishing out six assists and making four steals for the West All-Stars while scoring four points, making two of four shots from the field.

            Pierce played at Cuyamaca Community College in San Diego for two seasons before coming to CSUSB at the start of the 2006-07 season, helping the Coyotes win the West Region title and advance to the Division II Final Four for the first time in the history of the men’s basketball program. He is a graduate of Helix High School in San Diego, the same school that produced NBA and former UCLA great Bill Walton.

           

  Will Kimble, who served as an assistant coach for the Citrus College Men's Basketball team this season, has accepted a position on the Pepperdine University Men's Basketball Coaching staff for the 2008-2009 season. Kimble also becomes the third Citrus assistant coach in three years to except a position at the four-year level.

 

Kimble played at Pepperdine for two years before finishing his eligibility at UTEP.

“First of all I want to thank God, Dr. Andrew Benton, Dr. John Watson and Coach Asbury, as well as everybody in the athletic department at Pepperdine,” Kimble said in a press release issued by the Pepperdine Athletic Department. “It feels great to get back to the place where I began my college career, and I felt like this has always been my home. To have the opportunity to come back and contribute to this university, I’m just really, really honored. I take great pride in representing Pepperdine.”

Kimble, a graduate of Pacific High School in San Bernardino, played a pivotal role for Citrus during the 2007-2008 season, as he helped lead the Fighting Owls to their first ever California State Championship. Kimble, who played for and received his BA from Pepperdine, will be rounding out the Waves staff for Head Coach Tom Asbury who resumes the helm at Pepperdine this year after a previous 15 season stint (1980-1994) as both an assistant and head coach for the Waves.

“Hands down, I feel like the staff at Citrus could compete with anybody at any level,” Kimble said. “I couldn’t have asked for a better situation than last year with Citrus. These guys were the best, and I just tried to soak in all the knowledge and apply it to my own strengths. Coach Croy and his staff have left me with a wealth of knowledge, and I will keep the things they taught me and continue to remember the journey we shared forever.”

“Will is unbelievable,” Citrus College Head Men’s Basketball Coach Rick Croy said in the Pepperdine press release. “He’s destined for greatness in the coaching profession because he’s all about helping people get better. We were so fortunate to have him on staff this year. He’s an amazing role model and he just has a great feel for who he is and how to help other people find success and how to handle adversity.”

While the Fighting Owls have had great success in matriculating its players, since the arrival of Croy three short years ago. The Citrus College men’s basketball coaching staff has also been a great stepping stone for great coaching minds. Kimble follows in the footsteps of former assistants Jim Saia, who took the head coaching position at Fresno Pacific after last season, and Chris Victor, who took the top assistant coaching position at Concordia two years ago.

Cal State San Bernardino's women's water polo team came away empty-handed from the 2008 UC Davis Aggies Shootout Sunday dropping its final two matches -- 12-6 to the host Aggies and 9-7 to Cal State Monterey Bay.

The silver lining in the 0-4 tournament performance was senior all-American Freyja Berg breaking the career scoring record held by Sarah Reneker Schweiger of 324 goals. Berg tallied seven goals in the four matches to improve her career total to 328 and her 2008 season total to 82.

Berg netted three goals, one of them on a penalty shot in the loss to the Otters in the final match of the tournament. The teams were tied 3-3 at the half and CSUSB took a 5-3 lead in the third period but the Otters rallied with four straight goals to lead 7-5 heading into the final quarter.

Kaitlin Hartman had two goals for CSUSB in the Monterey Bay match while Sabrina Marquez and Ashley Hays each scored one.

In the loss to UC Davis, which recorded its 20th win of the season, Cheryl Salazar had two goals while Aimee Salcido, Berg, Hartman and Hays each scored one.

On Saturday, the Coyotes lost to Loyola Marymount 14-9 and Santa Clara 10-5. CSUSB is now 15-14 on the season.

The Big West Conference announced Monday that UC Riverside sophomore Paul Bargas was named Big West Pitcher of the Week after he fired a complete game five hitter to beat 9th ranked Long Beach State this past Sunday.

It is the first career player of the week award for Bargas (Riverside, CA/North HS/Arizona) who held the 49ers to just one run and five hits in the Highlanders 7-1 series-clinching victory on Sunday. He allowed only one hit for the first 5.1 innings before surrendering a solo homer for the only LBSU run of the day. Bargas then settled down and struck out five, of his career-high six strikeouts, over the next five innings. His nine-inning effort was also the first of his career and the first for the Highlanders this season.

This marks the first weekly award for the Highlanders this season after they picked up 10 last season.

UCR matches up with #13 San Diego for a home and home series beginning with a 6 p.m. game at the Riverside Sports Complex on Tuesday. Bargas won't take the mound again until Sunday's series finale with UCLA in Westwood, CA.

CAL STATE SAN BERNARDINO

Starting pitcher Cheyne Hann turned in another quality outing as he led the visiting Cal State San Bernardino baseball team to a 5-1 win over Cal State Monterey Bay in a CCAA series finale on Sunday.

Hann (5-1) went seven scoreless innings, scattering five hits and striking out five without a walk. Mike Leal picked up a save.

The Coyotes were led offensively by junior Johnnie Haas, who went 3-for-4 with a stolen base.

The Coyotes (18-19, 9-15) were clinging to a 2-1 lead but pushed across three runs in the ninth, aided by three Otter errrors.

CAL POLY POMONA

Chico State played small ball, beating Cal Poly Pomona 7-5 in CCAA play. The No. 16 Wildcats (27-9, 16-7) laid down six bunts, used the hit-and-run play three times and stole three bases to complete a four-game series sweep.

Starter Joel Garcia (3-1) logged five innings, allowing just one run. He allowed a run in the fifth, snapping a streak of 17 consecutive innings without an earned run, but still got the win.

The Broncos (7-24, 4-14) got three hits from Joe Villa.

Broncos starter Sheldon McGregor (1-4) went only one-and-a-third innings, allowing three runs on four hits with two walks.

VICTOR VALLEY BASEBALL

The Victor Valley College baseball team split a Foothill Conference doubleheader against Barstow.
The Rams (9-22-1, 4-11) lost the opener, 12-11, but salvaged a split with a 15-4 win in the nightcap.

Freshman Derek Richie had a triple in each game, accounting for three RBI. Blane Lloyd was 6-for-9 on the day with two doubles and two RBI.

Barstow’s Robert Ratliff hit the only home run of the day with a two-run blast in the fifth inning of Game 1. He was 3-for-5 on the day with four RBI.

Cal State San Bernardino’s men’s soccer team has nowhere to go but up when the 2008 season begins in late August and returning players are participating in spring drills and non-traditional season matches to help them get ready.

In the meantime, Head Coach Noah Kooiman has been on the recruiting trail to find replacements for the seven seniors that completed their eligibility on a disappointing note, posting a 5-13-2 record (2-10-2 in the CCAA) in 2007.

Already in the fold for next season are two stars from the Foothill Conference champion Rio Hondo College team that went 19-2-2 last season, 8-0 in the conference before losing to Palomar College in the state tournament. The team was ranked No. 3 in the Southern California region. Both signed national letters of intent to join the Coyotes.

One is Jeremiah Marquez of Whittier, co-captain of the Rio Hondo team who scored three goals and assisted on four others in 2007.

The other is Michael Cirrincione of Diamond Bar, also one of the team captains.

Kooiman is expecting big things from Obi Agwu, who impressed as a freshman with three goals and three assists along with central defender Jeff Meyer, another Rio Hondo product. Other returnees who figure prominently in next season’s plans are Jahmel McDermott, Albert Cabrera, Jorge Aguirre, Harry Cruz and Ryan Larson.

After losing goalkeeper Lucas Pepi to graduation, Kooiman is also looking at Arath De La Rocha and Jorge De Horta as Pepi’s replacement.

 

 

Cal State San Bernardino's women's soccer team made solid strides in 2007 under interim head coach Diego Bocanegra, posting an 8-8-4 record after three straight losing seasons, and the coach is hoping to continue that upward trend in the fall of 2008.

To do that, Bocanegra, who has since shed the interim tag and is now THE head coach, has recruited seven players that he thinks will bolster the team's ability to play better than .500 ball but also compete for post-season play in the highly-competitive CCAA conference.

The team's last post-season appearance was in 2003.

Eighteen members of last year's team plus redshirts turned out for non-traditional spring season drills, including leading scorer and all-CCAA second team pick Katie Liby,  second-team all-CCAA goalkeeper Leslie Rhodes, and defender Ashley Salas, a CCAA honorable mention.

The seven recruits that have signed to play at CSUSB in 2008 are:

• Kristina Gomez, a forward or outside midfielder from Arrowhead Christian Academy in Redlands where she was first team all-CIF Southern Section three times and a member of the 2005 CIF champion team. She was first-team all-league all four years and the league MVP in 2006-07. Her focus of study will be business administration.
• Casey Hirsch, a central midfielder from Esperanza High School in Yorba Linda where she was second-team all-CIF Southern Section this past season and first-team all Sunset League on a team that was ranked No. 2 in the nation and No. 2 in the Southern Section. She served as team captain. She was the team's offensive player of the year in 2006-07, the year the team reached the CIF semifinals. Her team won Sunset League titles in 2005-06 and 2007-08. She plans to major in business.
• Mackenzie Dill, an outside midfielder/forward from Los Osos High School in Rancho Cucamonga, member of the 2007-08 Baseline League champion team. She was first-team all-league in 2006-07 and 2007-08 and an honorable mention in 2005-06. She plans to major in nursing. Her team went 17-5-5 in 2007-08.
• Jaclyn Clark, a central midfielder-defender from Los Osos High School and teammate of Dill, who also wants to major in nursing. She earned second-team all-Baseline League in 2007-08 scoring two goals and assisting on six others. The team was 9-0-1 in the league under coaches Joe Kulm and Matt Stevenson, both former CSUSB men's soccer players.
• Jalissa Kluz, a defender from Rancho Cucamonga High School who earned first-team all-Baseline League in 2007-08 and second-team honors in 2006-07, was the team's defensive MVP and captain for two years. She will major in education.
• Nina King, a central midfielder from Redlands High School where she was first-team all-Citrus Belt League in 2007-08. She scored nine goals and had three assists during the season. She has not declared a major.
• Ashley Cabrera, a defender from St. Lucy's Priory in Glendora, a soccer travel ball player who did not compete for her high school. She plans to major in kinesiology.

The Coyotes will get an early indication of far they've come when they face Seattle Pacific University on Aug. 28 in the season-opener. The Falcons were 23-1 in 2007, losing their bid for a perfect season and a national title in the NCAA semifinals. Coach Chuck Sekyra was named the NCAA Division II Coach of the Year.

CSUSB will face another Great Northwest Athletic Conference team, Saint Martin's, on Aug. 30 in Seattle.

FUND-RAISER NOTE - The women's soccer team will host a benefit golf tournament on Friday, April 18, at Sierra Lakes Golf Course in Fontana. Entry fee is $195 per golfer. A shotgun start is planned for 1 p.m. followed by dinner at 5:30 p.m. For more information, contact Coach Bocanegra at 909-537-7232 or email him at dbocaneg@csusb.edu

UCR Riverside sophomore Brenda Martinez, a graduate of Rancho Cucamonga High School, set a Highlander record in the women's 1500m over the weekend at the Stanford Invitational - one of the biggest annual track meets of the season featuring collegiate and high school teams from around the nation. Martinez' time of 4:19.81 was the fourth fastest of the day and broke the school mark of 4:21.18 which she set on March 30, 2007. It also places her in the top ten in the nation in the 1500m.

"The race did not go out fast like we had hoped," said Highlander Track and Field Coach Irv Ray. "It started really slow and everyone kind of waited for someone else to take the pace. Nonetheless Brenda stayed near the front of the race and finished well after falling back a few spots. it's a weird feeling for us as coaches to be somewhat disappointed with a 4:19 race effort."

Junior Uchechi Egeonuigwe finished second in the women's 400m hurdles with a time of 61.32. Other top finishers in the invitational included Lauren Reid and Jackie Lewis who finished second (18' 10.75") and third (18' 7.75") in the women's long jump and the women's 4x400m team of Egeonuigwe, Ashley Williams, TreAna Hundley and Tajma Stephenson who finished third with a time of 3:46.18.

The University of Redlands baseball team swept a doubleheader from host Cal Lutheran, winning 11-3 and 13-12 in SCIAC play Saturday in Thousand Oaks.

Mike McCarthy earned the win in the opener with another brilliant outing. He went eight innings and gave up just three hits. He gave up two runs but both were unearned.

The offense banged out 12 hits behind him. Jefre Johnson went 2-for-5 with three RBI and two runs scored. The highlight was a two-run homerun in the fourth. Matt Goldstein had three hits, two of them doubles.

The Bulldogs (20-11, 8-4) won a slugfest in a 10-inning nightcap, collecting 22 hits, four of those by Billy Lavelle. Brian Schumaker and Goldstein stroked home runs. Matt Hughes drew a bases loaded walk for the difference.

Nolan Nicholson (9-2) got the win in relief.

The Pomona-Pitzer baseball team remained in first place in SCIAC with a 13-8 and 9-8 sweep of local rival Claremont-Mudd-Scripps.

The Sagehens (23-5, 10-2), ranked 18th nationally have a one-game lead over La Verne which swept lowly Caltech.

Shortstop Brandon Huerta supplied the power in the opener, stroking two grand slam home runs, opne ion the fourth and one an inning later.

Zach Mandelblatt, returning to leftfield after missing three weeks with a wrist injury, had two hits, as did Mike Silva and Michael Joannides.

CMS was led by Travis Nishioka with four hits and Andrew Blomberg with two home runs and four RBI.

The second game was closer with CMS taking an 8-7 lead into the seventh when the Sagehens got the tying and go-ahead runs. Drew Hedman walked and Mandelblatt doubled. After an intentional walk to load the bases and set up a double play, Nick Frederick knocked in two with a single to left.

James Brunswick (3-1) got the win in relief of starter Joannides.

  University of La Verne Athletic Director Chris Ragsdale has announced that he has accepted a new position as the Commissioner of the Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference and will resign his position at ULV effective June 30.

The Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference (HCAC) is a league comprised of nine Division III member institutions representing the states of Indiana, Ohio and Kentucky.

“It has been a privilege to serve as the director of athletics the last five years at the University of La Verne,” said Ragsdale. “I have thoroughly enjoyed working with President Morgan, senior management, coaches and student-athletes on a daily basis to promote the athletic program and stress its value to the overall strength of the institution.”

Ragsdale, who came to ULV in July 2003, said he will continue his athletic director duties through the end of the current spring sports season.  

"Chris Ragsdale brought his extensive experience and his commitment to Division III values to the University of La Verne at an important time,” said ULV President Stephen Morgan.  “We are grateful for his many contributions to our athletic programs.  We wish Chris and his wife Cindy well as they return to their Midwest roots."

He was instrumental in the renovation of the Sports Science & Athletics Pavilion. The Pavilion, formerly known as the Super Tents, also included the restructuring of Frantz Athletic Court, home to ULV’s volleyball and basketball teams. He also has helped develop plans for the new West Campus Athletic Complex.

He also hired eight new head coaches during his time at La Verne, including Rich Reed in men's basketball, Julie Smith in softball and Andy Ankeny in football. La Verne has captured 12 SCIAC team championships during Ragsdale’s tenure. Additionally over 30 Leopard student-athletes have earned All-America status while 13 student-athletes have been named SCIAC Player of the Year. In addition, he has helped establish annual department events such as the Scholar-Athlete Luncheon and the Leopard Senior Blanket Award Dinner.

PHOENIX, Ariz. -- Senior Dane Bagnell and sophomore Joe Alldis finished in a tie for 20th place among individuals to lead Cal State San Bernardino's men's golf team to a sixth-place finish Tuesday in the 19-team Grand Canyon Thunderbird Invitational at Palm Valley Country Club.

    Bagnell rebounded from an opening round 80 to shot 69 and 70, five-under-par for his final 36 holes to finish at 219 for 54 holes, the same as teammate Alldis who suffered through a first-round 78 and then posted rounds of 69 and 72 to finish with the same 219 score.

    The Coyotes team shot the second lowest final round of any team in the tournament, a collective 284, to move up from eighth place after Monday's first 36 holes.

    Gene Webster and Micah Burke each closed with one-under-par 71s and Bill Clayton was one-over at 73, one of the tightest groupings the team has experience all season. Webster wound up tied for 22nd place at 220, a stroke back of Bagnell and Alldis while Burke and Clayton tied at 222 for 54 holes.
 

   Alldis was six under par on the par-5s while Webster was three-under on the par-4s in the event. Bagnell had 12 birdies, only two fewer than the leader in that category.

    Wayland Baptist University won the tournament at 845, four shots ahead of second-round leader Central Oklahoma with host Grand Canyon third. Medalist honors went to Kevin Stinson of Wayland Baptist who shot a sizzling eight-under 64 on Tuesday to finish at 205, 11 under par for the event, played on the par-72, 7,015-yard Palm Valley layout.

                        GRAND CANYON THUNDERBIRD INVITATIONAL
                        @ Palm Valley Country Club near Phoenix, Ariz.
    TEAM SCORES: 1. Wayland Baptist -- 845; 2. Central Oklahome -- 849; 3. Grand Canyon -- 863; 4. Western Washington -- 864; 5. Point Loma Nazarene -- 870; 6. COYOTES -- 872; 7. Northern Kentucky -- 877; 8. Fort Lewis College -- 881; 9. Colorado-Colo. Springs -- 882; 10. Cal State Monterey Bay -- 883;
11. Notre Dame de Namur -- 891; 12. UC San Diego -- 895; 13. Dixie State -- 897; 14. Saint Martin's -- 902; 15. Nebraska-Kearney -- 913; 16. BYU-Hawaii -- 916; 17. Grand Canyon White -- 921; 18. Saint Cloud State -- 932; 19. Colo. State-Pueblo -- 934.
    INDIVIDUALS -- 1. Kevin Stinson (Wayland Baptist) -- 72-69-64-- 205; 2. (tie) Jeff Dagg (Wayland Baptist) -- 70-66-72 --208; Jake Koppenberg (Western Washington) 69-73-66 -- 208. 4. Colby Schum (Central Oklahoma) -- 68-72-69 -- 209; 5. Bently Nakasawa (Grand Canyon) -- 71-67-72 -- 210.
    CSUSB COYOTES CARDS -- T-20. Dane Bagnell (80-69-70 -- 219) and Joe Alldis (78-69-72 -- 219);
25. Gene Webster (72-77-71 -- 220); T-38. Micah Burke (75-76-71 -- 222) and Bill Clayton (74-75-73 -- 222.)
    

Chaffey College softball coach Jimmy Rodriguez was more than a little miffed last Wednesday when College of the Desert called to forfeit a game it was supposed to play at Chaffey in two hours.

Panthers athletic director Bob Olivera forced the Roadrunners’ hand and refused to accept the forfeit, telling the school to pick another day, any day.

The schools originally agreed on Tuesday but Desert came up with another excuse on why that wasn’t good. The schools finally settled on April 14.

It turns out it isn’t the first time Desert has tried to take the easy way out. It forfeited to Antelope Valley on March 5, because it supposedly didn’t have enough players. But it was able to play three games two days later at a tournament hosted by Golden West.

What makes bailing on the games a little fishy is that Antelope Valley (26-4, 9-0) is the top team in the conference and Chaffey (20-14, 7-1) is second. Is it just coincidence that Desert couldn't put a team on the field against the top two teams? Probably not.

Officials are now looking into the Desert-Antelope situatuation and might now require the teams to play that game as well.

The season has been a difficult one for Rodriguez, who has a solid team but would make the playoffs by default, just because the Foothill Conference is so weak. Getting to the playoffs isn't the only goal, advancing once the Panthers get there is equally important.

But competing in such an inept conference isn't helping, no matter what kind of nonconference games you manage to squeeze in.

SBVC, Victor Valley and Rio Hondo are a combined 17-63. Add in third place Mt. San Jacinto and it is a still-woeful 28-79. Barstow (0-27, 0-9) started the season with a team but folded. Victor Valley and San Bernardino Valley haven’t been competitive.

The former SBVC coach quit in September and the only reason the Wolverines have salvaged a season is that soccer coach Kristin Hauge, who played softball at Cal Poly Pomona when it had a team, stepped in.

“It has been tough,” Rodriguez said. “We want to try and be competitive in the postseason but this makes it very difficult and our conference is losing credability.”

Rodriguez is right. There might be a time when the conference does get better, maybe even good, and more teams are worthy of playoff consideration. But they aren't likely to be given any benefit of the doubt because of the conference track record of futility.

It is tough to change perception. That has happened in women's soccer which has gotten increasingly better but still got just two teams in the playoffs last fall.

Players from quality programs such as Chaffey and Antelope could also be passed over for postseason state honors because their conference is so weak. That's too bad.