Community College Notebook : Rancho Santiago Coach Wary Despite Record

Until recently, everything seemed to be going Rancho Santiago College’s way during baseball season.

The Dons, with a .379 team batting average, have one of the best hitters around in sophomore first baseman Bobby Hamelin. In 18 games, he has compiled numbers that are outstanding seasons for most players--a .554 average with 36 hits, including 12 home runs and 51 RBIs.

Rancho Santiago (15-3) also opened the season with a school-record 14 victories. The Dons have been the top-ranked team in the state for a month.

But Don Sneddon of Rancho Santiago isn’t the most confident coach around as the Orange Empire Conference season opens Thursday. Rancho Santiago has lost two in a row and three of its last four.

“Going into it (conference) we’re not playing too well,” he said. “We can look at it and say that 15-3 is a good record but we have to look at the fact that we’ve lost three of the last four. This is not the time for that kind of thing to happen.”

Even with its recent struggles, Rancho Santiago remains every other conference coach’s pick to win the conference title.

“They don’t have any holes,” Cypress Coach Scott Pickler said. “Everyone else has holes and they don’t.”

Rancho Santiago finished a game behind Orange Coast last season as the conference race went down to the final game. The teams meet Thursday at 2:30 p.m. at Orange Coast. Saddleback is at Cypress and Riverside is at Citrus in the other conference openers.

Here is a closer look at the other Orange County teams in the conference:

CYPRESS

Tim Churchill, a transfer from Fullerton College, is playing first and hitting .498 with 5 home runs and 39 RBIs. Kevin Clancy, who starred for the 1986 Esperanza High School team that won the Southern Section 4-A title, has transferred from San Diego State and is starting in left field.

Cypress (13-2) also has an impressive pitching staff. Rich Lodding, who went to Cal State Fullerton but was a redshirt last season, joins Benny Gonzales and Jeff Patterson in the starting rotation. Patterson, a freshman from Loara, is also playing third base.

ORANGE COAST

The Pirates won the South Coast Conference title in 1986 primarily with freshmen and then the Orange Empire Conference championship last season mainly with sophomores. So it’s back to freshmen this season. The Pirates lost Joey James, who hit 35 home runs in two seasons with OCC, but have replaced his power with that of Derek Dehdashtian, a sophomore transfer from Cerritos College.

Dehdashtian, a right-handed hitter, has 13 home runs and 51 RBIs for OCC (15-9-1). He started the season catching, but has moved to third as part of a series of changes OCC made last week.

Greg O’Halloran has moved from right field to catcher. Mike Misuraca, an all-conference shortstop last season, started the season at third but has returned to shortstop. Jason Young, who injured his back two weeks ago, is at second.

“We have all our people in the right spots now,” Mayne said. “I think this is our best lineup.”

RANCHO SANTIAGO

Rancho Santiago (15-3) has plenty of talented players and would still be the conference favorite even without Hamelin. David Tellers, a sophomore right-hander, is joined in the starting rotation by Willie Navarette, a sophomore left-hander, and Jack Bailey, a freshman right-hander. Steve Watson, a sophomore left-hander who transferred from Golden West, will provide depth along with Tim MacNeil, a sophomore right-hander. Brett Snyder, a freshman right-hander, is expected to work in late-inning relief.

Rich Gonzales, the designated hitter who bats after Hamelin, is hitting .548 and with 29 RBIs and leads the team with 40 hits. He’s also expected to do some relief pitching. Todd Lloyd, another sophomore, has been bothered by a hip pointer and missed five games but is expected to be ready for conference play.

SADDLEBACK

Two freshmen--Matt Lundin and Jeff Walter--are the leading hitters for the Gauchos (10-9). Lundin, a freshman middle infielder from Tustin, is leading the team with a .435 average. Walter, a freshman outfielder from Irvine, is hitting .357. Doug Barron is hitting .313 and has a team-high three home runs. Donny Harrell, a freshman catcher, is hitting .313. Carl Watkins, a sophomore first baseman, is hitting .370 with a team-high 14 RBIs.

Bill Lasher, a sophomore third baseman who hit .380 with 8 home runs and 31 RBIs last season, has been bothered by a sore hamstring this season. He is hitting .281 in 10 games, but is ready for the conference opener.

Danny Blacett, a sophomore left-hander, is 3-1 with a save and a 2.97 ERA to lead the staff. Dean Martinez, a sophomore left-hander, is 3-2.

There’s not much new about the South Coast Conference baseball season, which begins today.

Cerritos, the defending state champion, is once again the coaches’ pick to win the conference title. Cerritos, which was 44-5 overall and 21-3 in conference play last season, is 14-5 so far this season.

And once again, there is a pack of teams looking to move into contention. Fullerton has been the most impressive so far, with a 14-2-1 nonconference record. Mt. San Antonio is 14-3 and Golden West is 9-6, including two victories over Rancho Santiago.

Fullerton is led by a sophomore-dominated pitching staff.

“We’ve been having a lot of fun so far,” Fullerton Coach Nick Fuscardo said. “But we are 0-0 now that conference is here. There are a lot of good teams, but Cerritos is the favorite. They have to be.”

Fullerton is at El Camino, and Pasadena is at Golden West in the conference openers today at 2:30 p.m.

Here is a closer look at the Orange County teams in the South Coast Conference:

FULLERTON

The pitching staff is led by sophomore right-handers Brad Hooper, Jeff Petredes, Mark Tranberg and Mark Keifer. Keifer is 4-0 with a 3.78 earned-run average, Hopper is 3-0 with a save. Petredes is 3-0 and Tranberg is 3-1.

“The team has a lot of confidence in the staff,” Fuscardo said. “When the starters are throwing well, we feel like we are going to be in each game.”

Fullerton’s offense is led by sophomore first baseman Rod Klopfer, hitting a team-high .475 with 4 home runs and 22 RBIs. Third baseman Deryk Hudson is hitting .359 with 4 home runs. Scott Einhorn returns in left and is hitting .377 with 6 doubles and 4 triples.

Shawn Blankenship returns at shortstop and is joined by Phil Diplock at second. Diplock, who played at Fullerton two seasons ago, is hitting .353 this season.

GOLDEN WEST

Fred Hoover returns for his 22nd season. Hoover had announced his resignation in late October to take an assistant’s job at Cal State Fullerton but returned a week later saying he couldn’t leave leave a team he had already recruited.

Sophomore right-hander Ken Hokuf returns to head the pitching staff. Hokuf is 4-1 this season with a 2.66 ERA. Tom Thobe, a freshman left-hander, has been impressive early with a 3-0 record.

James Buccheri, who returns to play center field and hit leadoff, has 14 stolen bases and is hitting .438. Mike Huyler, a sophomore second baseman, is hitting .396. Freshman Craig Paquerre is hitting .373. First baseman Tom Smythe, who hit .372 with 11 home runs and 49 RBIs last season, is struggling.