Time for Serious--and Series--Business : Baseball: Azusa Pacific has had fun in 33-11 season, but Cougars would like nothing better than to earn berth to NAIA World Series.

AZUSA — The Azusa Pacific baseball team earned several rewards this season en route to this week’s National Assn. of Intercollegiate Athletics Area I playoffs.

Coach Tony Barbone bowed to his players’ wishes and agreed to have his head shaved in payment for a winning streak. The team won the right to wear high-top style spikes next season by winning its third consecutive Golden State Athletic Conference. And because they won the school’s second consecutive District III championship last weekend, players were allowed to sport high-tech sunglasses during practice before they departed for the Area I playoffs at Lewiston, Ida.

“We keep holding the proverbial sugar cookie out in front of them and they keep eating it,” Barbone said.

Victory has indeed tasted sweet to the Cougars, who enter the four-team double-elimination tournament hungering for a chance to return to the NAIA World Series for the first time since 1984.

Azusa Pacific has won 24 of 28 games and is 33-11 overall. If the Cougars can get past top-ranked Lewis & Clark State, Hawaii-Pacific and George Fox (Ore.), they will advance to the World Series next week at Des Moines, Iowa.

Barbone, in his seventh season at Azusa Pacific, guides a team that has a .312 batting average and 4.36 earned-run average. The Cougars are capable of producing a big inning, but they rely more on systematic execution.

“We’re kind of like a fly in a car that keeps buzzing around until he finds an exit window to get out,” said Barbone, who was named District III coach of the year for the fourth time.

Before the season, Barbone and his staff anticipated that Azusa Pacific would benefit from an experienced pitching staff that featured five seniors. However, right-hander Tom Faris had arm surgery and sat out the season.

It looked as if the Cougars would have no problems weathering Faris’ loss when they started 7-2. A five-game losing streak brought them back to reality and served as a key part of their season.

“We were reeling,” Barbone said. “At that point one of our goals became not to lose two games in a row the rest of the season.”

Junior left-hander Pablo Poloni ended the skid with a three-hit shutout against Southern California College, starting a nine-game winning streak. The Cougars have not lost consecutive games since.

Poloni, a junior who played at Pasadena High and Pasadena City College, is 4-1 with a 4.22 ERA. On Saturday, he again shutout Southern California College to give Azusa Pacific the district title. Senior left-hander Ralph Montenegro (8-3, 4.01), junior right-hander John Brookman (6-2, 3.52) and senior right-hander Chris Matkin (4-1, 2.65, seven saves) have also been outstanding.

Azusa Pacific is led on offense by junior first baseman Jeff Crockett, who is batting .400 with five home runs and 51 runs batted in. Other offensive standouts include junior third baseman Pedro Carranza (.320, 11 homers and 47 RBIs), and junior outfielders Steve Allyn (.361, six homers, 39 RBIs) and David Richards (.325, five homers 30 RBIs).

The Cougars also have benefited from Barbone’s willingness to use the entire roster. It’s not unusual for 17 or 18 players to find their way into the scorebook each game.

That philosophy has helped bring the Cougars together.

“On all teams, you have subcultures or different groups,” Barbone said. “But we don’t seem to have that many this season. They were all rolling around in the dirt having a good time after we won the district last weekend. That’s the kind of team they are.”

Barbone is confident that his team will perform well when it opens play tonight against five-time defending national champion Lewis & Clark State.

Azusa Pacific has never won an NAIA title. That, in itself, is enough motivation for the Cougars.

“The kids really believe they can win it,” Barbone said. “I told them we weren’t going to prepare any differently. The only thing is, we’ll be traveling in a plane instead of a van.”