UC Irvine Notebook : John Seeburger Learns to Grow With the Flow

Adjustment has been a way of life for John Seeburger.

Seeburger, a UC Irvine baseball player, was born in Hawaii and lived in California, Virginia and again in Hawaii--playing youth baseball in all three places--before his family settled in Orange County. He played for El Toro High School, and in 1984, his senior year, he led the Chargers in hitting.

Seeburger started his college baseball career at UCLA, walking on as a freshman and playing on the Bruin junior varsity team. But when he learned that he wouldn’t have a chance to make the UCLA varsity team, which was overstocked with first basemen, he transferred to Saddleback College.

At Saddleback, he played one season and batted .406, made the All-South Coast Conference team and was named Gaucho of the Year.

Then, after he spent the first semester of the 1986-87 school year at Saddleback completing his associate of arts degree, he transferred to Irvine.

“I was surprised he was still available when we got him,” Irvine Coach Mike Gerakos said. “He’s a quality player who just didn’t get the recognition. He’s made a big impact here.”

Last season, Seeburger led the Anteaters in hits (70) and in runs scored (40), was a second-team All-Pacific Coast Athletic Assn. selection and set a school record for doubles (23).

After his strong showing last season, Seeburger almost made another adjustment. To professional baseball.

The Kansas City Royals drafted him in the 18th round, but Seeburger decided to stay put for a change.

“It’s a crap shoot,” Seeburger said of passing up the offer. “But they weren’t offering me very much money and if I had signed, it would have taken me another two or three years to get my degree.”

As it is, Seeburger will graduate in June with a bachelor’s degree in economics.

“It was his option to stay,” Gerakos said. “He had worked hard to get where he was.”

But Gerakos certainly is pleased to have Seeburger back on the team. And Seeburger’s performance this year isn’t going to tarnish his image among the scouts.

He is batting .353 (10th in the PCAA) and is tied for fourth place in the conference in doubles (17) and RBIs (55). Seeburger has hit in 28 of the past 32 games and, with six more doubles, he will break his school record.

The master of adjustment is getting used to playing a new position this season. A first baseman all his life, Seeburger has been splitting time at third base while Gerakos shifts players to find the best defensive combination.

“He’s adjusted well,” Gerakos said. “It’s a new challenge for him.”

Gerakos thinks Seeburger’s varied baseball experiences have helped him grow as a player.

“He’s a level-headed young man who know what he wants and has worked very hard,” Gerakos said. “He’s been able to adjust and play for different coaches and mature as a player. He does what he has to do to improve.”

Gerakos praised Seeburger’s work habits, such as taking extra batting practice and working hard in the weight room.

“He has a mature approach to the game,” Gerakos said.

Changes and adversity can help a person mature. And this week, Seeburger matured a little more.

Sunday, Doug Maher--one of Seeburger’s best friends from El Toro--was asleep in the passenger seat of a car that was forced off a road in Fort Collins, Colo.

Maher, a senior outfielder and designated hitter at the University of Wyoming who had previously played at Rancho Santiago College, died Tuesday from injuries suffered in the accident.

“I’d been feeling sorry for myself,” Seeburger said. “I was worrying about my crummy game against Long Beach State (Sunday) when I went 0 for 5. It kind of puts things in perspective.”

Irvine’s baseball team, which was rained out against UCLA Tuesday and Southern California College Wednesday, is scheduled to open a three-game series against Cal State Fullerton Friday night. Fullerton, under its new coach, Larry Cochell, is 9-3 and in second place in the PCAA. The Titans are 31-11 overall, and ranked eighth in the nation.

Fresno State remains on top of the conference, 40-6 overall and 11-0 in PCAA play. Irvine is in fifth place with a 5-7 conference record, 26-21-1 overall.

Tricia Miller, a senior at Hesperia High School, Wednesday signed a national letter of intent to play basketball for UC Irvine.

Miller, a 6-foot 2-inch forward, averaged 11 points and 10 rebounds last season and averaged 8.3 points and 7.3 rebounds over her four-year career.

She joins Keiba Lewis of San Diego’s Lincoln High School and Kathy Lizarraga of Calexico High, who signed earlier in the week.

Irvine’s sailing team, ranked eighth in the nation, placed first in the 20-team U.S. Coast Guard Academy spring intersectional regatta in New London, Conn., last weekend.

Every team in the nation’s top 10 competed in the East Coast regatta. Among the teams the Anteaters--who finished with 242 points--defeated were Navy, Tufts, Harvard and Connecticut College.

Irvine skipper Jon Pinckney and crew Connie McKivett finished second overall in division A, and Jamie Malm won division C.

Coach Craig Wilson was pleased with his team’s performance in the cold, snowy weather.

“This is the first time that UCI has won an Eastern sectional in many years,” Wilson said. “It was a big hill for us. Now, we believe that we can win the national championship in five weeks.”

The Anteater crew took three of four from USC at Newport Beach last Saturday. Irvine won the junior varsity, freshman and novice races but lost the varsity race by 17 seconds. In that match, Anteater Gary Testa’s aluminum rigger snapped 800 meters into the 2,000-meter race with Irvine leading by a length. Testa had to jump out of the boat, leaving the Anteaters with just seven men.

According to Coach Greg Patton, the Irvine tennis team is exhausted after last weekend’s trip to Miami. The Anteaters (20-6), ranked sixth in the nation, took two of three matches in Florida, defeating Miami and Arizona but losing to Northeast Louisiana.

“We had to get up at 6 in the morning to play,” he said. “We never had a chance to make up for jet lag.”

The team, minus Mark Kaplan and Richard Lubner, will be playing in the Ojai tournament, which begins today. In the independent collegiate division, Mike Cadigan and Shige Kanroji will compete in singles and Mike Briggs and Trevor Kronemann will compete in doubles. In the invitational collegiate singles, Carsten Hoffman, Chris Ewing and Mike Saunders will compete in singles and Wayne Ober and Mike Janicin will play doubles.

The women’s tennis team, which defeated Loyola Marymount on Tuesday, finished the regular season at 18-6, the best record in eight years, according to Coach Doreen Irish.

Anteaters competing this weekend at Ojai include Courtney Weichsel and Kathy Rose in independent collegiate singles and doubles and Haruko Shigekawa, Karin Bering and Stacey Cadigan in invitational collegiate singles. Shigekawa and Dina Trenwith and Bering and Cadigan will compete in the invitational collegiate doubles.

Anteater Notes

Tennis coach Greg Patton has resigned as coach of the junior Davis Cup team, a position he held for four years. “Last summer burned me out,” Patton said. “The USTA wanted more of a commitment, but that wouldn’t be fair to Irvine or my family.” . . . Last Saturday, the UC Irvine men’s track and field team came the closest it has ever come to defeating PCAA champion Fresno State, according to Coach Vince O’Boyle. The men’s team, which finished in second place, 11 points behind Fresno and 7 1/2 points ahead of San Diego State, was led by senior Fred Simmons, who won the 100 meters and the 200 meters. . . . The women’s track and field team, which finished 30 points behind Fresno State and 5 points ahead of San Diego State, was led by sophomore Buffy Rabbitt, who won the 800 meters and the 1,500 meters. . . . The Irvine crew will be hosting “Henley on the Bay” this Sunday. The open house reception for alumni, family and supporters of crew will be held at the Irvine Boathouse on Shellmaker Island in Newport Beach from noon to 2 p.m.