COLLEGES / PAUL McLEOD : Toro Teams Had Their Share of Ups and Downs

It has been a tale of two seasons for Cal State Dominguez Hills athletic teams in 1990-91.

Despite success against nonconference competition, Toro teams have generally struggled in California Collegiate Athletic Assn. play.

Men’s basketball Coach Dave Yanai predicted before the season that the Toros would “be in the hunt” for the conference title. Dominguez Hills entered CCAA play with an 11-4 record, but failed to qualify for the postseason tournament and finished 17-11 overall and in a tie for fifth at 5-7 in the CCAA.

The women’s basketball team was in the middle of a five-year rebuilding plan under third-year Coach Van Girard. After a 13-3 start, the Toros lost point guard LaRonda Poydras to eligibility problems and finished last in the CCAA at 2-8.

Now the softball and baseball teams have continued the trend. The softball team started conference play 3-1, but injuries to three key starters helped put the team in a tailspin. The Toros lost eight of their last 12 games and finished in the CCAA cellar.

Two weeks ago, the baseball team was atop the CCAA standings and leading Cal Poly Pomona by a game. Then Dominguez Hills dropped two of three games to the Broncos and three games to UC Riverside.

The result: Entering this afternoon’s 3 p.m. game against Cal State Los Angeles, Dominguez Hills (25-19-1 overall, 12-12 in CCAA play) is in fourth place, two games behind front-runner Riverside with only six games left.

Athletic Director Dan Guerrero, who wants to build a program that will be “a force in the 1990s,” said the Dominguez Hills program is making strides.

“Any time you go through a transition at our level you have to go through a building stage,” he said. “It would be great to bring in a coach that would create a power immediately, but that is not possible at Dominguez Hills right now. The plan is to build programs with freshmen and sophomores and we have been doing that.”

Guerrero says playing in the CCAA presents major challenges.

“The (CCAA) is the finest Division II conference in the country, no question about it.” he said.

Guerrero pointed out that Cal State Bakersfield is three-time defending national champion in softball and Chapman College has been ranked No. 1 in the country this season.

Bakersfield has also advanced its men’s basketball team to the national finals the last two years. In women’s basketball, Cal Poly Pomona has won 10 consecutive CCAA titles. Before it left the CCAA at the end of the 1989 season, Cal State Northridge was a dominant force in men’s soccer.

“We like being in this conference because we know we are competing against the best,” Guerrero said.

All is not lost for the Toros. Sports Information Director Kevin Gilmore said that despite the CCAA failings, nearly every team at the school had a better overall record or finished better in the league standings than a year ago.

The softball won only four conference games last season, but won five this year. The men’s basketball team finished 10-17 and in sixth place in the CCAA in 1989-90 and rebounded last season to finish above .500 for the ninth time in 14 seasons under Yanai.

The women’s basketball team was 11-15 in 1989-90, but its 15-11 record last season was its first winning record since the 1985-86 season. The Toro baseball team finished 22-24-1 overall and 12-18 in CCAA play in 1990. Barring a total collapse this weekend against Cal State Los Angeles and next weekend at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, Dominguez Hills should still be in the running for a wild-card berth to the NCAA Division II Western Regionals.

The Dominguez Hills men’s soccer team was playing for first place with a week left in the season last year. But a 2-1 home-field loss to Bakersfield dumped the Toros into third place. Nevertheless, that was an improvement over 1989, when Dominguez Hills, knocked out of the title chase early, finished fourth.

The golf team and women’s soccer teams play at-large schedules and each held their own. The golf team finished 5-0 in dual match competition. Last spring it went 4-1.

The women’s soccer team, which advanced to the final four two seasons ago, narrowly missed repeating in 1990. It was ranked second in the West Region and eighth nationally.

Although the women’s volleyball team won only one CCAA match this season, it was one more than it had won in three previous seasons combined.

“The fact that we are in (the running in a sport like baseball or soccer) and that we are competing and doing well (in others) is just a pleasure for us,” Guerrero said.

Loyola Marymount first baseman Joe Ciccarella was named player of the week and Joe Caruso pitcher of the week for their efforts in helping the Lions sweep a three-game West Coast Conference series against Santa Clara. Ciccarella went eight for 16 batting and Caruso was the winning pitcher in two of the games. It was the third time this season that Ciccarella has been honored.

Notes

Loyola is in Reno this afternoon for a three-game series against the Wolf Pack. Reno is 20-27 overall and 7-19 in the West Coast Conference. Loyola is 32-19 and has won 10 of 13 games. The Lions have moved within 1 1/2 games of first-place Pepperdine. The rivals finish the season with a three-game series at Loyola May 17-18. . . . Loyola has signed one of the top prep tennis players in the state, Kelly McMillion. She attended Amador Valley High in Pleasanton and has been the No. 1 player there for four seasons. She is among the top 10 players of the Northern California Tennis Assn. The signing gives the Lady Lions a powerful 1-2 punch next season. Freshman Julie Oshiro, who finished 28-9 this spring, held a similar ranking in the Southern California Tennis Assn. when she was in high school.

Dominguez Hills golfer Enrico Montano won the Division II West Regional Tournament with rounds of 77-69-78 at Lake Shastina Country Club in Northern California. He is awaiting word as to whether his score was good enough to qualify for the finals later this month. . . . In its May 10-24 issue, Baseball America said Loyola shortstop Chris Gomez was “the top sophomore player in his class” and projected he will start on the 1992 U.S. Olympic Team.