Cal State San Bernardino Gets Its Long-Awaited NCAA Berth

After completing its regular-season schedule with a 25-12 record last week, Cal State San Bernardino’s baseball team seemed a shoo-in to receive its first NCAA Division III playoff berth.

But Coach Chuck Deagle wasn’t about to take anything for granted.

At least, not until he received official word from the NCAA on Sunday that the Coyotes will be facing Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference champion Claremont-Mudd-Scripps in the Division III regional starting Friday in Claremont.

The coach still has bad memories from the previous two seasons, when San Bernardino was listed among the top 10 in the NCAA rankings, only to be passed up for a playoff berth. San Bernardino was ranked No. 5 in 1988 and No. 6 last season.

“We had two real disappointing years in a row,” Deagle said. “The year before we were 29-7 and last year we were 28-8 and there were always reasons given why we didn’t make it. You know, like we’re an independent or that they don’t think we play a tough schedule.”

The biggest surprise was last year’s, since the Coyotes were recommended for the playoffs by the Division III regional committee.

“We were 28-8 last year and, boy, it was a shock when we didn’t make it,” he said. “We just couldn’t believe it. We were even picked by the regional committee but the NCAA still didn’t pick us.”

Deagle, in his fourth season as coach of the Coyotes after four seasons at the University of Redlands, said he was particularly concerned for the seniors on the team.

“The thing that bothered me was that I’ve been through the ups and downs of life but for a lot of those seniors that was it,” he said. “I knew I’d always be back the next year but they wouldn’t be.”

This season, San Bernardino took the matter into its own hands, although the season didn’t start well.

The Coyotes won only three of their first 10 games and suffered a 17-3 loss to Cal Baptist in February. It didn’t help that the team had 12 newcomers and only one returning starter, first baseman Paul Gonzalez.

“As a coaching staff, we were very concerned,” Deagle said. “We felt we were better than that. It was almost like we didn’t know how to win.”

The team then swept a doubleheader from Menlo on March 10 in Menlo Park. The Coyotes returned home and won their own tournament in late March.

“I think the turning point was when we had our tournament here and we had some Division III teams and Southern California College here and that’s when we really felt like we could beat these guys,” he said.

San Bernardino has won 22 of its 27 games since March 10, but the team may have clinched a playoff berth with its play in the final weeks of the season. That’s when the Coyotes swept a doubleheader from UC San Diego and took a single game from Claremont--perhaps its two biggest challengers for a playoff berth.

That is the biggest reason, Deagle said, that the Coyotes have reached the playoffs, even though they finished with better records the last two seasons.

“What really helped us this year is we won at the right time,” he said. “It was a five-way race (for the playoffs) down the stretch and it just so happened that we won all of our games. Last year we lost a couple here and there and that had to hurt.”

The Coyotes have been led by the pitching of Rene Aguilar, a transfer from San Bernardino Valley College, who is 4-1 with a 2.40 earned-run average, and Brooks Peters, who is 6-1 with 54 strikeouts and only six walks. The offensive leaders are Gonzalez, batting .370, and second baseman Ryan Love at .363.

They will face a Claremont squad that finished with a 21-16 record and won the Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference title. It will be the fifth regional trip for Claremont and the first for San Bernardino, which has a 100-42-2 record in the first four years of its program.

The winner of the best-of-five, double-elimination series advances to the Division III World Series May 25 in Battle Creek, Mich.

San Bernardino has defeated Claremont twice this season, 6-1 Feb. 9 and 8-6 in 10 innings May 1. That should make the Coyotes the favorites this time.

But considering the team’s disappointment in the past, Deagle said the Coyotes are not taking anything for granted.

Cal State San Bernardino and Claremont-Mudd-Scripps are not the only College Division teams from the Southland competing in postseason play.

Cal State Northridge and UC Riverside have advanced to the NCAA Division II regionals, and Cal Lutheran has gained the National Assn. of Intercollegiate Athletics area playoffs.

California Collegiate Athletic Assn. rivals Northridge and Riverside, who tied for the conference title, will compete in the three-team Division II West Regional that starts Friday at Northridge.

The double-elimination tournament opens with Riverside (37-16) playing UC Davis (28-23) at 11 a.m. and the loser meeting top-seeded Northridge (34-20) at 2 p.m. The regional runs through Sunday, if necessary.

Northridge, making its first playoff appearance since 1987, has been led by pitcher Craig Clayton and first baseman Scott Sharts. Clayton has a 12-5 record and is batting .387, and Sharts had a conference-leading 24 home runs and 62 runs batted in.

Riverside, which is making its first playoff appearance since it won the Division II World Series in 1982, has been led on offense by outfielder Pete Weber and shortstop Mark Saugstad. The team’s top pitchers are Bill Jordan and Bob McElderry, each at 7-2.

Cal Lutheran may be the biggest surprise among the Southland teams in the playoffs. The Kingsmen had to sweep a doubleheader from Azusa Pacific, the regular-season District 3 champion, last Saturday to earn a berth in the area playoffs.

The Kingsmen (32-14) face District 29 champion Hawaii-Pacific (23-19) in their opening game Thursday at the University of Portland. The other teams in the double-elimination tournament are Whitworth of Washington and Lewis and Clark of Oregon.

There will be a distinct CCAA flavor when the NCAA Division II women’s softball tournament is held Friday through Sunday at Saginaw Valley State University in Midland, Mich.

Two of the four teams in the double-elimination event are Cal State Northridge and Cal State Bakersfield, which has won the Division II title the last two years. The other two entries are Bloomsburg State of Pennsylvania and Missouri Southern.

Northridge is ranked No. 1 in Division II, Bloomsburg No. 2 and Bakersfield No. 3. First-round pairings have yet to be announced.

Northridge (49-19) won the CCAA title, with Bakersfield (40-10) finishing second.

But Bakersfield has been difficult to beat in postseason play the last three seasons with a 16-2 record.

College Division Notes

Three players from Cal State San Bernardino have been selected to the NCAA Division III All-West Region softball team. Senior outfielder Anne Cordaro made the first team and senior second baseman Tammy Shearer and sophomore pitcher Tanna Cash were named to the second team. Cordaro, a Division III All-American in 1988, led the Coyotes with a .500 batting average, four home runs and 37 runs batted in, posting a career average of .477.

Cal State Northridge has placed three players on the NCAA Division II All-West Region softball team selected by the National Softball Coaches Assn. The players are senior pitcher Debbie Dickmann, sophomore catcher Patti Pearson and senior outfielder Lisa Erickson. Dickmann was previously named CCAA most valuable pitcher and Erickson was the conference’s co-most valuable player.

Senior Edna Olivarez of Cal State Los Angeles capped a brilliant college career by winning the singles title last week and combining with teammate Jennifer Choi to take the doubles title at the NCAA Division II women’s tennis championships in Sacramento. Olivarez defeated Julie Slattery of Cal Poly Pomona in the singles final, 6-4, 1-6, 6-4, and teamed with Choi to defeat Christy Murphy and Vicki Kanter of Cal Poly San Luis Obispo in doubles, 7-5, 7-5.

Cal Poly Pomona posted its highest finish in NCAA Division II women’s tennis by placing second to UC Davis in the championship match last week. The top-seeded Broncos (24-2) suffered a 5-3 loss in the final, which snapped a 20-match winning streak. San Luis Obispo finished third with a 5-2 win over Abilene Christian of Texas.