The Colleges : Community College Notebook : Rancho Santiago and Cypress Follow Form With Conference Rivalry

Cypress College’s baseball is, if nothing else, consistent this season.

Cypress was ranked second behind Rancho Santiago in the first state poll, which came out the third week of February. The teams have remained in the same spots since.

When the teams started Orange Empire Conference play three weeks ago, Cypress was picked second behind Rancho Santiago.

Rancho Santiago (23-3 overall and 5-1 in conference) leads Cypress (21-5, 4-1) by a game after the first of four five-game rounds.

“We had a feeling before the season that it was going to be this way,” Scott Pickler, Cypress coach, said. “But there are plenty of other teams to be worried about in the conference. The only time we can worry about Rancho Santiago is when we play them.”

Cypress won the Alan Hancock tournament last week with some impressive hitting. Bobby Thome hit four home runs to lead Cypress, which got home runs from seven players.

Thome was 7 for 14 in the tournament and voted the most valuable player. Thome started slowly this season and didn’t become the designated hitter until the Hancock tournament. He is hitting .395 (15 for 38) with 4 home runs and 18 RBIs.

Cypress is led on offense by Tim Churchill, a sophomore first baseman. Churchill has a 26-game hitting streak, best in the state. He is hitting .486 (52 for 111) with 8 home runs and 46 RBIs.

Paul Bunch and Ken Briggs have hit 4 home runs each for Cypress, which has 35 home runs this season.

Cypress also has impressive pitching, led by Benny Gonzales, who is 6-0 with a 1.96 earned-run average. Rich Lodding, a freshman transfer from Cal State Fullerton, is 4-1 with a 3.09 ERA.

Vicky Silva of Cypress and Jeannine Battaglia of Golden West have been voted to the all-state women’s basketball team by the state coaches’ association.

Silva, a freshman guard, averaged 16.3 points and 8.7 rebounds for Cypress, which won the Orange Empire Conference title. Battaglia, a sophomore guard, averaged 15 points for Golden West, which won the South Coast Conference.

Golden West reached the state tournament but was eliminated by Long Beach in the semifinals. Golden West was 65-4 in games Battaglia played in during her two seasons. She missed one game this season because of an ankle injury and Golden West lost.

Pam Pearson of Long Beach and Lora Alexander of City College of San Francisco were voted the state players of the year. Santa Rosa defeated Long Beach for the state title.

The Saddleback men’s tennis team goes after its 10th consecutive conference championship this week. Saddleback (14-1 overall and 7-0 in the Orange Empire Conference) plays host to Cypress at 2 today and plays host to Orange Coast Thursday. OCC is 6-1 in conference, with the only loss a 7-2 decision to Saddleback earlier this season.

“I have to feel good about our chances on winning the conference championship,” Bill Otta, Saddleback coach, said. “It’s worth a point when you play at home and we want to be clear-cut champions.”

Saddleback is ranked third in the state and its only loss is to top-ranked Grossmont, 5-4.

In the women’s Orange Empire Conference race, OCC is 7-0 and Saddleback is 6-1. OCC plays host to Saddleback Thursday and can clinch the title with a victory.

Here again, gone again. Jack Fullerton, who took over the Orange Coast water polo coaching job two weeks ago, has decided not to take the job for personal reasons. Bob Shupp, who Fullerton replaced, is back.

Fullerton coached water polo at OCC from 1965 to 1984, then retired from coaching for medical reasons but remained a physical education teacher at OCC. Shupp, a walk-on from Costa Mesa High School, took over last season but resigned at the end of the season.

Community College Notes

James Buccheri of Golden West has raised his stolen base total to 28 to lead the state. Buccheri, who has yet to be caught, is chasing the Golden West record of 35 held by John Moses in 1978 and has 15 South Coast Conference games left . . . Kelley Wilson of Saddleback has the best discus throw in the state this season at 139 feet, 11 inches. Wilson is fourth best in the shot put at 40 1/2. Anna Gill of Fullerton is third in the discus (131-4) and sixth in the shot put (38-9).