COLLEGE DIVISION / MITCH POLIN : Deagle, Near 200 Wins, Not Losing Touch

In his ninth season as an NCAA Division III baseball coach, Chuck Deagle of Cal State San Bernardino is rapidly approaching an important milestone.

Deagle, 48, needs three wins to reach 200. He entered the week with a 197-98-2 record and could attain that goal when the Coyotes visit Southern Utah State for a three-game series today and Saturday at Cedar City, Utah.

Deagle entered the season 15th among active Division III coaches with a .703 winning percentage and 39th in total victories with 183. In his first four seasons at San Bernardino, his teams have averaged 26 victories a year--impressive when you consider that Division III teams never play more than 40 regular-season games.

But Deagle, whose team is 14-7 and was ranked No. 8 in a Division III preseason poll, has never been a coach wrapped up in his own success.

Ask him about his coaching success and Deagle is quick to pass the credit along to his players and assistant coaches.

More than anything, Deagle says, his success has been a result of the camaraderie that he has been able to establish between the players and the coaches.

“A lot of it has to do with personalities,” Deagle said. “You may have 25 different personalities on a team, but you have to be able to blend them together.

“As players and coaches, we all get along well, and it’s no accident. . . . It’s just like any business. If you enjoy coming into work every day, you usually put out a little harder.”

With his team’s personality in mind, Deagle said he is careful about whom he recruits.

“Every coach has a philosophy about how to win, and basically we recruit kids with a good attitude,” he said. “We don’t have a lot to offer at the Division III level other than a good program. So, basically, I tell kids that if you decide to come here, we’ll give you a fair shot to play.

“When I’m recruiting I spend a lot of time on attitude. I stay away from the donkeys. I don’t want to mess around with them because it’s got to be fun for everyone (on the team).”

Deagle has also managed to maintain continuity in his three-man coaching staff, all of whom played for or against him in the past. Jerry Magness, the team’s pitching coach, played against Deagle in Little League; Ron Carter was an All-American catcher at Redlands, and Perry Amador played for Deagle at San Bernardino.

“I take care of my own people,” Deagle said. “If a kid wants to go into coaching, I try to help him out.”

The continuity has carried onto the field, where his teams at Redlands and San Bernardino have never posted a losing record. Deagle has also coached his teams into the Division III World Series twice, in 1985 at Redlands and last season with the Coyotes.

The closest Deagle has come to a losing season was in 1987, the first year of the program at San Bernardino, when the Coyotes posted an 18-15 record.

“What we did the first year was lay the foundation,” he said. “We turned a lot of kids away that first year, but we made clear what kind of kids we wanted here.”

Despite a record that suggests otherwise, Deagle said success has not come easily at San Bernardino.

“We’ve been successful on the field, but we’ve had our growing pains,” he said. “It’s been a lot more difficult than it looks on the field.”

Besides the fact that athletic scholarships are not allowed in Division III, the Coyotes have never had their own facility. They practice at the Western Region Little League complex in San Bernardino and play their games at city-owned Fiscalini Field.

It’s a field they share with the San Bernardino Spirit, the Class-A affiliate of the Seattle Mariners. With the Spirit season under way, the Coyotes must play their final 14 games of the regular season on the road, although Deagle isn’t complaining.

“We sat our kids down at the beginning of the year and told them that’s the way it is and that’s that,” he said. “We have our own problems and we just have to try to work through it.”

Deagle must also deal with San Bernardino’s move from Division III to Division II next season. He is confident the program can make the adjustment although he never likes to look too far ahead.

“We’ll be ready when the time comes,” he said. “I’ve already got a Division II tournament scheduled for next year here, but what we’re really concerned about is this season. I think I owe that much to the players who are on the team this year.”

There is an impressive list of candidates among the six finalists for the men’s basketball coaching job at Cal State San Bernardino.

Included on the list are two NCAA Division I assistants, Mark Adams of Washington State and Rich Rider of Boise State, and Reggie Morris, coach at Los Angeles City College who formerly coached Manual Arts High.

Two other finalists coach Division II teams, Jim Woolridge of Central Missouri State and Gary Hulst of Cal State Hayward. And Mark Felix is a Division II assistant at Humboldt State.

Athletic Director David Suenram said there were 92 applicants for the position and there is no mystery about the intense interest. Not with San Bernardino moving up from Division III to Division II and the California Collegiate Athletic Assn. next season.

Suenram said the school hopes to make its decision by the end of next week and announce its selection by April 22.

For the Cal Poly Pomona baseball team, there has been a distinct difference between playing at home and on the road this season.

The Broncos (17-19), tied for first place in the CCAA with Cal State Dominguez Hills at 9-6, have won 15 of 19 games at home but are 2-15 on the road.

That could spell trouble since they have only four home games among their final 17.

College Division Notes

Azusa Pacific has lost three of four games since moving to No. 15 in the National Assn. of Intercollegiate Athletics baseball rankings, but the Cougars (19-6) still have the best College Division record in the Southland. Westmont broke Azusa’s school-record 15-game winning streak, 7-3. . . . Longtime Athletic Director Cliff Hamlow of Azusa Pacific and 11 others will be inducted into the Cougar Athletic Hall of Fame Saturday night at the Lower Turner Campus Center. . . . Four CCAA teams are ranked in Collegiate Baseball magazine’s NCAA Division II baseball poll. Cal State Dominguez Hills is No. 5, Cal Poly San Luis Obispo No. 7, Cal Poly Pomona No. 17 and UC Riverside No. 30.