He’s the Best on the Beach--in Reticence : Over-the-line: Chuck Cromar of quarterfinalist Ryno Athletic Club has won 10 championships. No brag, just fact.

After they met at a tournament three years ago in Phoenix, Jennifer Cromar spent the first three weeks with her future husband, Chuck, without a clue as to his status in the world of over-the-line.

“I didn’t even know he played the sport when I met him,” Jennifer said. “I thought he was a beer distributor. He looked like a beer distributor.”

Chuck Cromar, 36, is not one to let anyone know of his talents, but somehow they always find out.

It’s tough to hide certain facts when you’ve won 10 world championships in 17 attempts, particularly when no one has come close to matching that total.

“He’s done it all, and he’s done it all so quietly,” said Gary Romano, who along with Cromar and Zane Cramer make up Ryno Athletic Club, the defending champion and top-seeded team in this year’s Old Mission Beach Athletic Club World Championship Over-the-Line Tournament at Fiesta Island.

“I’ve been playing for 20 years, and I can’t say anything about the guys before him, but he’s the best player I’ve ever seen.”

Though Cromar shrugs off such praise, an 11th world championship could be his by this afternoon. Ryno Athletic Club needed only four innings to win three games Saturday--there’s an 11-run rule in the sport--and advance to today’s quarterfinals.

“I’ve been lucky,” said Cromar when pressed to speak of his accomplishments. “The key is I always get the two best players on the beach on my team.”

He was being sincere.

“I honestly believe it’s a team sport, and you need all three guys playing together to win,” Cromar said. “I think my strength has been I’ve been a good third player. The other two guys have always done well in the years we’ve won.”

Cromar won his first world championship in 1975, one year after he graduated from Mission Bay High. It was only his second year in the sport, but he proved that the first title was not a fluke by winning again in 1976, ’77 and ’78. Five more titles followed in the next eight years, and he won again last year after joining forces with Romano, 35, and Cramer, 30.

Cromar will always remember that first title.

“I was fresh out of high school,” he said. “I thought it was the greatest accomplishment in the world, certainly the greatest in my life. I was on top of the world. Then I pick up the paper the next day, and this sports writer says calling this a world championship tournament is a joke. He says that’s like saying there’s a world champion avocado picker out there somewhere.

“That was like a stake to the heart. I was crushed.

“This is a serious athletic competition. I’ve always thought of it that way. And I, for one, take it very seriously.”

Despite his overwhelming record, “He won’t admit he’s even a good player,” Jennifer Cromar said. “I’ve never heard him say that.

“He’s good at everything. He’s a natural. He picked up a golf club one time and clobbered me. I’d played for about six or seven years, and he had played maybe three times in his life.”

So how did Jennifer and Chuck meet?

“He sent Zane over to talk to me,” Jennifer said. “He didn’t think I would talk to him otherwise.”

Over-the-Line Notes

In addition to Ryno Athletic Club, Jose Murphy’s, Brennan’s Cantina, Johnny’s Surf Club, Big Dog Sportswear, Global Sportswear, Club HBO and Team Captain Morgan advanced to today’s quarterfinals. Brennan’s Cantina is trying to become the first team from outside San Diego County to win’s the men’s open division. In the women’s open, Lady Ryno’s, Kensington Type/Team Stubbies, Southwestern Roof/Red Sand and Imagine That advanced to the semifinals. Champions will be determined today in eight divisions. Play begins at 7:30 a.m.