SPORTS BRIEFS : Cerritos Infielder Sets a Painful Record

Former Gahr High and Cerritos College infielder Greg Bergeron, playing third base for Cal State Dominguez Hills in Carson, set an individual record and helped set a team record April 24 when he was hit by a pitch thrown by Cal State San Bernardino pitcher Chris Brown in the third inning of a California Collegiate Athletic Assn. baseball game.

It was the 10th time this season that Bergeron was struck by a pitch, breaking the school mark of nine set last year by current Toro center fielder John Otte. This season Otte ranks second on the team in being hit by pitches with eight.

So far this season, 57 Toro batters have been awarded first base after being struck by pitches--a Division II record. The old mark would have been broken earlier, but another 14 times umpires have called Dominguez Hills batters back to the plate after determining that they did not try to get of the way of the pitch.

Coach George Wing said he teaches batters to attack the inside corner of the strike zone, creating the potential for more hitters to be struck by pitches. This season, he said, “we got a few guys who are actually looking to get hit and they enjoy it, which makes no sense to me.”

Former El Rancho pitcher Eddie Juarez, a senior at Cal State Los Angeles, has set a school record for most appearances in a career. The left-handed reliever has appeared in 86 games for the Golden Eagles, including 23 this season, primarily as a setup man.

Juarez has saved only four games in his career, but that ranks fifth in the school’s career record book. As a junior he won six games, the most by a non-starter at the school in more than 10 years.

“He has lots of guts and is a great competitor,” said Cal State L.A. Coach John Herbold. Juarez, 1-2 this season, has a career record of 7-12. Cal State L.A. (21-26, 14-13), which competes in the Division II California Collegiate Athletic Assn., has not had a winning record since 1977.

South Coast Conference champion Long Beach City College (35-12) was seeded third and will host one of four regional tournaments Friday that open the state community college softball playoffs.

Other Southern California regionals will be played at Orange Coast College in Costa Mesa, Cypress College and Palomar College in San Marcos.

At Long Beach, the Vikings (35-12) meet College of the Canyons from Valencia (11-13) at noon, and Pasadena (22-16) plays Fullerton (26-16) at 2 p.m. At Cypress, Cerritos College (18-17) meets the fourth-seeded Chargers (33-11) at noon, followed by a 2 p.m. game between Moorpark (29-10) and Grossmont of El Cajon (18-12). At Orange Coast, Rio Hondo (8-14) meets the second-seeded Pirates (30-9) at noon, and Chaffey of Alta Loma (22-12) plays Riverside (15-15) at 2 p.m. At Palomar, the top-seeded Comets (31-6) play Bakersfield (18-20) at noon, followed by a 2 p.m. game between College of the Desert from Palm Desert (21-13) and San Diego Mesa (22-14).

At all sites, Friday’s first-round losers play later that day at 4 p.m. The semifinals are scheduled for 10 a.m. Saturday, followed by the finals at 2 p.m. The winner of each regional advances to the state tournament May 15-17 in Sacramento.

Hitter Brent Hilliard of Cal State Long Beach has been named men’s volleyball player of the year by ASICS/Volleyball Monthly Magazine. Middle blocker Alan Knipe was a first-team selection and setter Jason Stimpfig was a third-team choice.

Previously, Hilliard was named player of the year by the American Volleyball Coaches Assn. Knipe was also a first-team choice by the coaches. Stimpfig joined teammate Matt Lyles, an outside hitter, on the coaches’ second team. Hilliard is currently trying out with the U.S. national team in San Diego.

Top-ranked Long Beach City College was upset by Pierce College of Woodland Hills last Saturday in the championship match of the men’s state community college volleyball tournament. The event was held at Palomar College in San Marcos. It was the second consecutive runner-up finish for the Vikings, who ended the season 20-2. Pierce, which won, 15-8, 12-15, 15-4, 12-15, 15-11, finished 18-2.

Whittier College, champion of the Western Conference Lacrosse League, finished the regular season unbeaten but was left out of the pairings for the Division III national playoffs.

The Poets, who defeated several Division I club teams last weekend to win the league’s tournament title, were 18-0 and ranked as high as 18th during the year. However, only eight teams, all from the eastern time zone, qualified for the playoffs, which begin this weekend.

Lacrosse is concentrated primarily on the East Coast, according to Whittier Athletic Director Dave Jacobs. “We’re kind of out here on an island,” Jacobs said. “We’re the only Division III team on the West Coast with a lacrosse team.”

Jacobs said travel costs prohibit the Poets from playing many East Coast teams, which makes it difficult for the playoff seeding committee to judge just how good Whittier is. Many of the teams the Poets played this year were club teams. Club teams are not funded by the athletic departments of the schools they represent. According to NCAA rules, games with club teams do not count in a college team’s overall record. Only seven of the games the Poets played were considered by the seeding committee.

“One of these years we hope to get enough of those caliber of games on our schedule,” Jacobs said. “We think we are pretty good, but those (East Coast) teams are very good. . . . One of these years we’d like to have a chance to prove ourselves.”

Veterans Stadium in Long Beach will host the state community college track and field championships May 15-16. The stadium, operated by Long Beach City College, was recently upgraded to include an all-weather track. This will be the first time that Veterans Stadium has hosted the state meet.

Kansas City Chiefs running back Christian Okoye will be the keynote speaker at a youth rally Friday at the Artesia New Life Community Church, 18800 Norwalk Blvd.. More than 400 junior and senior high school-age youths are expected to attend. Registration begins at 6:30 p.m. Okoye is expected to speak about 8 p.m. Information: (310) 924-4466.

Cerritos College plays host to Cuesta of San Luis Obispo, and Long Beach City College plays host to East Los Angeles in the opening round of the state community college baseball playoffs. The best-of-three series open Friday at 2 p.m. A doubleheader, if necessary, begins at each site Saturday at 11 a.m.

Cerritos (27-8-1) was seeded No. 2 in the 16-team field, which has eight first-round series slated this weekend. Long Beach (26-13-1) was seeded seventh. Cuesta (20-14) is 15th and East L.A. (26-13) is 10th.

The eight first-round survivors advance to a pair of four-team regionals at sites that have yet to be determined. Those are scheduled for the weekend of May 15-17. A similar playoff format is being used in Northern California.

Two teams from the North and two from the South advance to the state finals May 23-25 at the Riverside Sports Complex.

The third annual Across America Tennis Day, sponsored by the U.S. Professional Tennis Assn., will offer free lessons on the courts at Cal State Long Beach on Saturday beginning at 10 a.m. Information: (310) 985-4336.