Wet Start Fails to Make Baseball Season Slide : Cal Lutheran Lends NAIA Distinction

Ignoring the NAIA District 3 has been something of a tradition in Southern California-area baseball. Pepperdine, USC and Cal State Fullerton get the headlines, while NAIA teams continue to play their schedules in anonymity.

The publicity problem can be explained, in part, by the NAIA schools’ penchant for changing names. Cal Lutheran University, for example, recently changed its name from Cal Lutheran College.

Al Schoenberger, the baseball coach at Cal Lutheran, takes the theory of unfamiliarity one step further.

“I think one reason is because a lot of the schools have funny names--like Point Loma Nazarene and The Master’s,” said Schoenberger. “The NAIA itself sounds funny.”

The Master’s is another member of the Name of the Month Club. Until the fall, it was known as L.A. Baptist College. The NAIA District 3 includes Cal Lutheran, The Master’s, West Coast Christian, Westmont, Biola, Azusa Pacific, Point Loma Nazarene and Southern California College.

A household name the NAIA is not. But, while you rarely see Stu Nahan recapping the day in the NAIA, there may be a couple of reasons to take notice of the district this season.

One is the play of Cal Lutheran. The Kingsmen have opened the season impressively.

In its first eight games, Cal Lutheran has outscored opponents, 89-44. Its pitching staff has allowed only 64 hits and opposing teams are hitting just .262. Cal Lutheran has a .385 team average.

The result is a 7-1 overall record and a 3-0 mark in the NAIA.

Cal Lutheran figures to challenge defending district champion Southern California College of Costa Mesa for first place this season.

The Kingsmen have four regulars batting at least .400. Junior center fielder Jay Knight leads the team with a .531 mark and 17 RBIs. Junior first baseman Ed Howard is hitting .485 with four home runs and 15 RBIs. Kevin Wynn, a catcher-designated hitter, has a .424 average and eight RBIs and third baseman Rob Burden is hitting .400.

But the surprise for Cal Lutheran has been on the mound. The Kingsmen staff has posted a collective earned-run average of 4.00 and has four straight complete-game victories.

At the start of the season, pitching was Schoenberger’s biggest concern. Cal Lutheran had lost most of its 1985 staff to graduation, and their only returners came in with ERAs higher than 7.00.

Senior Dan Pastor, one of the returners, has pitched especially well. He is 3-0 with a 3.86 ERA. Gene McGary is 2-0 and Charles Vanole and Dan Meltregger are both 1-0.

It’s a surprise that Schoenberger can live with.

“I didn’t think, at this point, that they’d be doing quite this well,” he said. “They’re not particularly young, but they are very inexperienced.”

Terry Sloan, the do-everything player for The Master’s, is another reason to keep an eye on the NAIA. He has pitched, caught and played the infield. He has also hit .403 with six home runs and 22 RBIs and been the most stable player for the Mustangs, who have struggled to a 5-11 overall record. Sloan has already caught the eye of several professional scouts.

Tuesday against district rival West Coast Christian of Fresno, Sloan almost single-handedly led The Master’s to a doubleheader sweep. He was 6 for 8 that afternoon, pitched nine innings in the first game and hit the game-winning homer in the bottom of the ninth in the nightcap.

Despite Sloan’s early-season hot streak, the Mustangs are only 2-4 in the NAIA. Three of the losses have been to Cal Lutheran.