COLLEGE DIVISION NOTEBOOK : CCI Has Different Breed of Cleanup Hitter

Meet Paul Weldon: He’s not your average cleanup hitter.

At 6 feet 5 and 191 pounds, Weldon, who bats fourth for the Christ College Irvine baseball team, passes the appearance test. But looks can be deceiving, as early season opponents have discovered.

Weldon, a senior right fielder, has bunted for seven singles and has stolen 27 bases in 28 attempts. After 18 games, he is leading the National Assn. of Intercollegiate Athletics District 3 in batting average at .545 and has reached base in 62% of his plate appearances.

“Because he’s batting cleanup, people assume he’s all hit and no run,” Christ College Coach Scott Sarver said. “But he almost becomes a second leadoff hitter and he still hits the ball hard to drive in runs.”

Weldon, who has six doubles and 20 runs batted in, has been a big part of the Eagles’ early-season surge. Christ College (12-6, 3-0 in the Golden State Athletic Conference) is leading the district in team batting average (.373) and is off to its best start.

Weldon took a roundabout route to Christ College Irvine.

After playing baseball and basketball in high school in Mesa, Ariz., he turned down offers from local junior colleges and Cal Poly San Luis Obispo to play basketball in order to pursue a baseball career.

He hadn’t played baseball his senior year in high school after being hit in the face with the ball, an accident that broke his nose and required plastic surgery to repair split lips. But he made the baseball team at Arizona, where he was on a full academic scholarship.

Although he hit .421 and was asked by Arizona Coach Jerry Kindall to return for his sophomore season, Weldon decided he would develop better if he could get more playing time and transferred to Golden West.

Weldon struggled at Golden West, starting the season late because of injuries and finding it difficult to adjust to the move to California. At times he wondered whether he should give up.

“The only person that ever lost confidence in me was myself,” Weldon said. “I was so much into instant gratification. Every time I would get in a slump, every time it wasn’t going Paul Weldon’s way, I would get down on myself.”

With encouragement from his family and coaches, he joined the team at Christ College last season, batted .305 and made the all-conference team. Finally, he started receiving attention from professional scouts and it seemed to him that his goal of a professional career was within reach.

The scouts were impressed but concerned that Weldon didn’t weigh enough. He finished the season weighing only 167 pounds, but he has bulked up with off-season weight training and hopes to gain about 10 more pounds.

“I would rather look more like Jose Canseco than Darryl Strawberry,” Weldon said.

Add Eagles: Mike Adams, an honorable mention all-district selection as a utility man last season, is 5-0 with a 2.57 earned-run average this season. He also is second in the district with a .469 batting average and leads the Eagles with 25 RBIs. Center fielder Terry Robinson is batting .443.

Together again: Last season, Doug Yates, who plays baseball for Chapman, and Sandy Olivas, who plays for the Panthers’ softball team, each finished with 13 home runs. For Olivas, the total led the NCAA Division II. Yates’ total led the Panthers.

Currently, Yates and Olivas each have six home runs, totals that make them the leaders in the California Collegiate Athletic Assn.

After raising funds from players’ churches, parents and local businessmen, the Pacific Christian women’s basketball team was able to make the trip to Clarks Summit, Pa., for the National Christian College Athletic Assn. Division II national tournament last week.

The Royals defeated Atlanta Christian, 81-63, in the first round and lost to eventual champion Northwest College, 64-46, in a semifinal Friday. They defeated Philadelphia College of the Bible, 67-42, for third place Saturday.

Pacific Christian, which finished 18-16, had two players--junior forward Donna Allen and freshman guard Kandee Almond--selected for the all-tournament team. Allen and junior center Gina Atkins were selected as All-Americans.

It was the second consecutive season that PCC lost in the tournament to Northwest, which also won the title last season.

“I really think we were the second-best team,” PCC Coach Kelly Kappen said. “We played pretty good expect for the game against Northwest. It was a real good trip and I’m glad we went.”