Cal Poly’s Scolinos to Call It Quits

Longtime Cal Poly Pomona baseball Coach John Scolinos, who has coached the Broncos the past 30 years and has the most wins in NCAA Division II history, has announced that he will retire on Sept. 1.

Under Scolinos, Pomona won Division II national titles in 1976, 1980 and 1983 and seven California Collegiate Athletic Assn. championships, including a three-way tie for first place last season.

In 44 seasons of coaching at the college level, including the first 14 at Pepperdine, Scolinos had 1,198 victories. That ranks him behind Rod Dedeaux of USC (1,332 wins), Clint Gustafson of Texas (1,241) and Ron Fraser of Miami (1,216) in all-time NCAA victories.

He was also named coach of the decade for the 1970s by Collegiate Baseball magazine and was inducted into the American Assn. of College Baseball Coaches Hall of Fame in 1974. In addition, he was pitching coach for the U.S. Olympic Team in the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles.

Athletic Director Karen Miller said Scolinos will be missed.

“It is a great loss for Cal Poly and baseball,” she said. “He has done an outstanding job, not only on the playing field, but more importantly with student-athletes in educating them for what is to come.”

Said Scolinos: “I have had great memories through my coaching experience with baseball but now I feel that it’s time to step aside. My wife Helen has given me great support over the years and now I will have the opportunity to spend more time with her.”

Many of the top amateur players in Southern California are competing in the 30th annual Glendora Tennis Championships that started last week and will run through Sunday at Glendora High.

The final for juniors age 18 and younger will be Friday and the open final for all ages will be Sunday.

Among the favorites in open men’s singles play are top-seeded Paul Hubbard of West Covina and No. 2 Willy Quest of Long Beach. In the open women’s singles division, the top-seeded player is Jennifer Slattery of Huntington Beach and Helen Park-Bates is second.

The top-seeded team in open men’s doubles is Riverside’s Julian Barham and Steve Cluse. Slattery and Chico Bonner are the top-seeded team in open mixed doubles.

In juniors play, two of the favorites in the boys 18 and younger division are third-seeded Leonard Lee of San Marino and fifth-seeded Danny Wood of West Covina.