They’re Paring Down Orange Empire Race

At the start of the Orange Empire Conference baseball race, there was plenty of talk of balance and parity, and all those cliches coaches use when trying not to pick a favorite.

But with the schedule about three-quarters completed, Rancho Santiago and Golden West colleges are making it a two-team race.

Rancho Santiago (27-6, 13-3 in conference) has eight consecutive conference victories to take a 1 1/2-game lead over Golden West. The Rustlers (22-7-1, 12-5) have five consecutive conference victories.

The teams meet at 2:30 p.m. today at Golden West. Sophomore right-hander Matt Lackie (9-2) will pitch for Rancho Santiago and sophomore right-hander Todd Long (5-1) for the Rustlers.

Riverside (24-11, 9-8) is in third place, 4 1/2 games back.

Fullerton (18-11, 8-8) is fourth, Cypress (20-14, 6-10) fifth, Orange Coast (12-17, 5-11) sixth and Saddleback (10-15, 4-12) seventh.

The top two conference teams receive automatic playoff berths, and as many as two others could get wild-card bids.

“There are still plenty of wars to be fought out there,” Rancho Santiago Coach Don Sneddon said. “Sure, we can see the light at the end of the tunnel, but we still have two games left with the team right behind us. Someone could get hot like we did and win the last eight, and that would change things a lot.”

Golden West and Rancho Santiago have split their two games this season. Golden West won the first, 4-3, and Rancho Santiago the second, 5-3.

The teams play again May 3, the second-to-last day of the regular season, at Rancho Santiago.

The Brothers Pickler: Scott and Brad Pickler, who coach across the street from each other at Cypress on the baseball and softball fields, each won a tournament during spring break.

Scott’s baseball team won the Alan Hancock tournament title by beating Cerritos, the second-ranked team in Southern California, 12-4, in the final.

Doug McConathy and Troy Babbitt, freshmen from Western High School, were picked as the tournament’s most valuable players.

Cypress’ Ken Tolbert was named pitcher of the tournament. Cypress (20-14) has at least 20 victories in each of Pickler’s six seasons as coach. The Chargers were 12-41 in the two seasons before Pickler took over in 1985.

Not to be outdone, Brad’s softball team won the Visalia tournament last week.

Sally Dugas won four games and was selected the most valuable pitcher and player of the tournament. Dugas, a sophomore from Gahr High, hit .625 (10 for 16).

The Sisters Reetz: Alexa and Erika Reetz, twin sisters and students at Orange Coast, recently finished third and fourth, respectively, at the national long distance swimming championships at Ft. Lauderdale, Fla., last week.

Alexa, a member of the OCC women’s swim team, swam the 10-mile course in 3 hours 20 seconds. Erika, who attends OCC and was a sophomore on the swim team last season, was fourth in 3:30.

Glenn Parker, formerly of Golden West, is projected as a second- or third-round pick in Sunday’s NFL draft.

Parker, an offensive lineman, didn’t play football at Edison High School and was redshirted his first season at Golden West. He had two strong seasons for the Rustlers and two more at Arizona. He was an All-Pacific 10 lineman last fall.

Parker, 6-feet-5 and 300 pounds, is ranked third at guard and tackle in the 1990 Scout’s Notebook.

Community College Notes

Frank Gonzales, who was wrestling coach at El Dorado High School, will be a walk-on assistant at Rancho Santiago. He will join the staff of Coach Gary deBeaubien. . . . Gene Altamirano, a sophomore guard/forward from Rancho Santiago, signed a letter of intent to attend UC Riverside in the fall. Altamirano averaged 15.7 points and helped the Dons win the state title. He also was a member of the All-Orange Empire Conference team. . . . Nate Shea-han, a reserve forward from Cypress, has agreed to play at Westmont College in Santa Barbara in the fall.