Community College Baseball Preview : Preparing for the South Coast Conference Schedule Is Not an Easy Task

Ask community college baseball coaches about the importance of the preseason and you’ll hear the same answers. What counts is getting the team to play well, making sure everybody is healthy and starting the conference season on a positive note, coaches invariably say.

Ask Cypress Coach Scott Pickler about his preseason and he might say things went too well.

The Chargers won their first 12, and 13 of 14. They won the College of the Desert and the Cypress/Golden West tournaments and also became the top-ranked team in the state.

Still, Pickler’s optimism remained reserved.

“We’ve just been dodging bullets,” he said during the streak. “We’ve had a lot of things go right that could have gone the other way.”

Once the South Coast Conference season opened, Pickler’s fears became real.

The Chargers opened with defending state champion Cerritos and lost, 8-3. Next, they lost to Orange Coast, 2-1, on Longo Garcia’s one-hitter.

“The little things that were going right just stopped,” Pickler said. “The conference is a tough one. You just can’t find the competition to play in the preseason to get the guys ready for what they see once we get into the regular season.”

Pickler is not panicking, though. The conference schedule is 24 games. For the first time, the second-place team advances to the state tournament along with the winner.

Orange Coast Coach Mike Mayne, in his 10th season, was not surprised by Cypress’ troubles.

“It’s really tough to prepare for the South Coast Conference,” he said. “Cypress is a very good team, most of the teams in the conference are. This league is just so tough. I tell my kids that it prepares them for whatever level of baseball they go on to play at.”

The state poll bears out Mayne’s beliefs.

Five of the top 10 teams are from the SCC. Rancho Santiago (7-2) is second, Cerritos (9-4) third and Cypress (13-3) has dropped to fourth. Orange Coast is sixth, Golden West 10th, and Saddleback 12th.

There are two first-year coaches in the conference this season--Marshall Adair at Saddleback and Nick Fuscardo at Fullerton. Both were assistants at their respective schools last season. The dean of SCC coaches, Golden West’s Fred Hoover, is in his 20th season and recorded his 400th victory when the Rustlers beat Grossmont, 3-2 on Feb. 26.

A closer look at the Orange County teams in the SCC follows:

CYPRESS: 1986 Records--0-2, 13-3. 1985 Records--13-11, 23-14. Returning players--Jim Jackle (IF), Chris Kocman (IF), Ed Evans (IF) Jeff Nicks (IF), Rene Licon (IF), Mark Baca (OF), Bret Lizarraga (OF), Bob Blankenship (P) and Randy Bouman (P).

Outlook--The team’s question mark--pitching--was not a problem in the early season because the team scored a large number of runs. If the offense can continue to support the pitchers, their inexperience should not hurt Cypress. Freshman left-hander Robbi Jones is 4-2 with one of his losses coming to Orange Coast, 2-1, in which he threw a five-hitter. The Chargers have plenty of offense in Jackle alone. The all-SCC first baseman from Fullerton High School hit .431 as a freshman, with 11 home runs and 35 RBIs. He already has six home runs this season.

FULLERTON: 1986 Records--1-1, 5-5. 1985 Records--10-14, 24-20. Retuning players--Jeff Oberdanck (IF), Rob De Young (P), Mike Alvarez (OF), Gary Stotereau (P), Tony Tubbs (P), David Toigo (P) and Lin Smith (P).

Outlook--The pitching staff, one of the team’s strong points, got added help with the transfer of Jim Bennett from Cypress. Bennett (2-1) pitched a five-hit, 4-1 win over Mt. San Antonio in the SCC opener last Tuesday. Sophomore right-hander Stotereau, De Young and Smith add some experience to an otherwise young staff. Fullerton benefited from an influx of talent via transfers. Besides Bennett, catcher Morgan Flynn (Rancho Santiago), Anthony Moreno (Cypress) and John Morin (Cypress) are at Fullerton.

GOLDEN WEST: 1986 Records--1-1, 5-5. 1985 Records--14-10, 23-11. Returning players--Keith Kaub (IF), Todd Nash (OF), Scott Rath (IF), Chad Reed (OF), Eric Shirley (C), Larry Salaets (P), David Ulibarri (P) and Tom Kilpatrick (P).

Outlook--Early season injuries have hurt the Rustlers and forced Hoover to move players around. Nash, Jim Ingram and Tom Smythe all had broken hands and only Nash is expected back. Catcher Gregg Martin hurt his knee and has been moved to pitcher. Another catcher, Darrin Tomasick, also hurt his knee, which forced first baseman Kaub behind the plate. Kaub hit .318 with 43 RBIs as a freshman and has hit five homers this season. The pitching staff was helped by three transfers, Dean Douty (Arizona State), Shaun Takkinen (Cal State Long Beach) and Adam Sanchez (East Los Angeles College) who is 3-1 this season.

ORANGE COAST: 1986 Records--1-0, 9-4. 1985 Records--14-10, 19-16. Returning players--Longo Garcia (P), Jim Brennan (P), Paul Ellison (C) and Rob Gibbs (IF).

Outlook--Gibbs (who hit .376 as a freshman) is back at third base after being limited to the role of DH because of a rotator cuff injury to his throwing shoulder. Sophomore right-hander Garcia (2-1) figures to lead the staff. Brennan, a sophomore right-hander, is the other returing pitcher. After that, the staff is “young and inexperienced,” Mayne said. Working with the freshman-dominated staff is sophomore catcher Ellison, who hit .300 last season.

RANCHO SANTIAGO: 1986 Records--1-0, 7-2. 1985 Records--16-8, 30-11. Returning players--Matt Beltran (C), Ruben Gonzalez (IF), Steve Scarsone (IF), Mike Sanders (P), Mike Schwabe (P) and Ed Calderon (P).

Outlook--Despite only returning two experienced players (Gonzalez and Schwabe), the Dons are still picked to finish second. To do this, however, Coach Don Sneddon will have to depend on freshmen and transfers. Pitchers Dan Vosloo (Cypress) and Chris Shiflett (USC) should take some of the pressure of 12-game winner and all-SCC pick Schwabe, who is 4-0 this season. A majority of the Dons’ bullpen work goes to Wayne Gilles. He has two saves this season, which is two short of the team record. Freshman Chris Chase (Western) won the starting catching job in the fall. The Dons are counting on power from Gonzalez, who set the team record for home runs with 11 last season and has hit 2 this season. He also was an all-SCC selection and hit .428 with 53 RBIs. He set another club record last season with 13 consecutive hits.

SADDLEBACK: 1986 Records--1-1, 7-3. 1985 Records--9-15, 16-19. Returning players--John Sinclair (P), Bucky Bollinger (IF), Todd Inglehart (IF), Joe Holden (OF), Jeff Frei (C), Paul Prinz (P) and Greg DeValk (IF).

Outlook--The real news around Saddleback is the presence of former Capistrano Valley High School star Bill Dodd. After a season at Arizona State, Dodd left because of differences with the coaching staff. He is 3-2 so far and hitting .393.