Cal Lutheran Is Homered in Two-Game Sweep

There are no signs on the fences of the Cal Lutheran baseball diamond denoting the dimensions of the field.

But when the infield dirt nearly serves as the warning track, it’s a good bet the field never will be mistaken for Yosemite National Park.

The Cal Lutheran diamond wasn’t exactly an airport last season, but the school opted to move the fences in about 10 feet during the summer.

There were two ways to look at the move--from the batter’s box or from the mound.

From where Cal Lutheran pitcher Dan Pastor stands, there was only one point of view.

“I have no idea why they would move in the fences in a park that was short to begin with,” Pastor said.

He was breezing through Southern California College’s lineup Saturday until the seventh inning when Jeff Motske lofted a two-run homer over the right-field fence. The home run erased a 1-0 Cal Lutheran lead and propelled the Vanguards to a 3-1 victory in the second game of a National Assn. of Intercollegiate Athletics doubleheader. Southern California also took the first game, 9-5.

Motske’s shot barely cleared the fence and probably would have been caught for an out last season.

It wasn’t that bad of an idea, if you ask Motske, who bats eighth in Southern California’s lineup.

“In a park like this, anybody can hit a home run at any time,” he said. “In fact, I didn’t even get all of it.”

According to Cal Lutheran Coach Al Schoenberger, the fence was moved for a practical reason--money, or the lack thereof.

“They had X number of dollars to put a fence in,” he said. “And the number of dollars paid for only so much fence. It was a matter of us having to go with what was budgeted.”

The homer, Motske’s third of the season, gave the Vanguards a sweep of their four-game season series with the Kingsmen. Southern California improved to 27-13 overall and 9-5 in the NAIA District III. Cal Lutheran fell to 21-14 and 5-9.

The Kingsmen took a 1-0 lead in the fourth inning of the second game when Vanguard pitcher Tim Fortugno (7-2) walked the bases loaded with one out, and Mitch Ennis followed with a sacrifice fly to right.

But three innings later, Motske took advantage of the shortened dimensions and a Pastor fastball to give the Vanguards the game.

A home run was also the deciding factor in the first game.

Catcher Ron Nelson powered a three-run shot, his 10th, over the left-field fence in the sixth to break open a 6-5 game and give Southern California a 9-5 lead.

Steve Overeem got the Vanguards off to a good start in the first, when he hit his ninth home run, a two-run blast, to left, giving them a 2-0 advantage.