Community College Notebook : Mayne to Take Year Off From Coaching OCC

Orange Coast College baseball Coach Mike Mayne said Monday he will take a break from coaching after this season but will remain on staff as a physical education instructor.

Mayne, now in his 13th year, plans to return to Orange Coast for the 1991 season, but also will explore the possibilities of working as an assistant with a four-year college or professional organization while away from his OCC coaching duties.

Mayne cited several reasons for his decision, including the recent illness of his wife, Patricia. She suffered a stroke last August.

Her condition has improved, but she will not be returning to her job as a teacher at Huntington Beach High School.

“I almost lost her, but she fought through it,” said Mayne, who made his decision three weeks ago. “When things like that happen, it makes you step back and take a look at what you’re doing. . . . I only know one way to run any program. It has to be an obsession, a passion. You have to be with it all the time. That’s the only way I know how to do it and make it successful.”

It’s not official yet, but OCC assistant Scott Groot is expected to take over the team next spring, according to Mayne, who will continue to oversee the program.

Mayne first thought of taking a break after the 1987 season, when OCC finished third in the state and his son, Brent, played for him as a freshman. Brent Mayne transferred to Cal State Fullerton in 1988 and is now considered one of the nation’s top college catchers.

“I should have done it then,” Mike Mayne said. “I just couldn’t make up my mind in time. It isn’t the players or the coaching, there are a lot of other things involved.”

Mayne began at OCC in 1977 and has a 324-144 record coming into this season. OCC is 10-4-1 overall this season, but the Pirates are off to an 0-3 start in the Orange Empire Conference.

Mayne, 42, won conference titles at OCC in 1980, ‘81, ‘82, ‘84, ’86 and ’87. Mayne’s 1980 team also won the state title.

Mayne went to Madison High School in San Diego, then played baseball at UC Riverside. His first coaching job was at Eisenhower High School in 1973. He was at Eisenhower four years and had an 89-21 record and three league titles.

Streaking Cypress: Bobby Thome, a sophomore outfielder at Cypress, currently has a 15-game hitting streak. He is hitting .317. Cypress is hitting .329 as a team with 25 home runs. Steve Gill leads with seven home runs.

Coach Scott Pickler figured his team would hit, but what concerns him now, as it has all season, is the lack of defense. Cypress has made 33 errors in 18 games.

For the first time in three years, the state men’s basketball tournament will not have an Orange County team participating.

Cerritos (28-4), Santa Monica (32-3), Mt. San Jacinto (29-6) and defending state champion El Camino (23-8) will represent the South in the eight-team tournament, which begins Thursday at the University of Santa Clara.

In the first round: Cerritos plays Columbia (27-6) at 3 p.m.; Santa Monica plays City College of San Francisco (25-9) at 5; Mt. San Jacinto plays Chabot (26-5) at 7 and El Camino plays Skyline (27-6) at 9.

Cypress reached the tournament last spring but lost in the semifinals. Saddleback and Rancho Santiago reached the final eight in 1987. Saddleback defeated Rancho Santiago in one semifinal, but Ventura defeated Saddleback for the title.

Community College Notes

Mike Taylor has taken over as defensive coordinator at Orange Coast College. Taylor, a linebacker coach the last three seasons, replaces Barry Waters, who resigned. . . . Rob Bailey of Fullerton has 21 steals in 22 attempts in 14 games this season. The Fullerton single-season record is 38 set by Randy Thomas in 1966. . . . Jody Fee of OCC has signed a national letter of intent to play volleyball at Cal Poly Pomona next fall. Fee, from Orange High School, was an All-Orange Empire Conference player the last two seasons. Sue Guest of Fullerton has signed a letter of intent to play volleyball at Cal State Fullerton next spring. Guest, who went to Troy High School, transferred from Washington State to Fullerton last fall. . . . Kelli McKinney of the Fullerton men’s basketball team set a school-career record for steals with 192. . . . Kristi Van Voorhis, daughter of Dick Van Voorhis, Cypress athletic director and men’s tennis coach, made her acting debut as a waitress in “thirtysomething” last week. . . . Last Thursday’s rained out baseball games will be made up Wednesday at the same times and locations.