COLLEGE DIVISION / ARA NAJARIAN : Baseball Isn’t So Foreign to Russians Now

Not too long ago, it was almost too popular an event to have a Soviet athletic team come to town to play local teams.

But after the collapse of the Soviet Union, teams from Russia and other former Soviet republics have had difficulty getting enough financing to tour the United States. In particular, baseball teams have had trouble because the sport was approved by the Soviet Union only in the late 1980s, when it became an Olympic event.

So it is surprising that the Nevas Stars of St. Petersburg have made the trip here to practice, scrimmage, work out and stay with Westmont College’s baseball team in Santa Barbara until next week.

It has been three years since they were invited, but given the circumstances, Westmont doesn’t mind.

Westmont Coach John Kirkgard went to the Soviet Union as a representative of the sport in 1988 and 1989. During the second trip, Kirkgard extended the invitation but nothing happened until sponsorship from businesses in St. Petersburg could be secured.

With the trip financed, language and housing were the next obstacles. Housing was easy enough because the Russian players could stay with the Westmont players in the dorms.

And even the language was less a problem than one might suppose.

“It’s amazing how the game of baseball transcends the language barrier,” Kirkgard said. “Many baseball terms don’t exist in Russian, so they learn the names in English. So positions, or things like ground balls are the same words. So we can communicate.

“But mostly it’s demonstration and copying in our clinics.”

Kirkgard is no stranger to international play. He has taken teams to Costa Rica, Ecuador and Honduras and estimates he has coached or played in 30 countries. Next year Westmont plans on traveling to Guatemala.

But the idea of sharing rooms with foreign bodies was a new situation for the players.

“Were they a little nervous? I think so,” Kirkgard said. “It’s only natural because they didn’t know what to expect, but baseball and Christianity tend to break that down. Besides, I think (the Russian players) are a bit overwhelmed by it all. They go into the cafeteria and it’s all you can eat. It’s almost embarrassing--to take them into a super market and see all the products and watch their reaction is something else.”

The Stars are in an eight-team league and they range in age from 20 to 35.

“Facilities are a problem there,” Kirkgard said. “Specifically, there are three baseball fields: two are in Moscow and one in Kiev. They had plans to build one (in St. Petersburg) but when the government changed, it didn’t have any priority.

“So they play on soccer fields with a short porch to left and long way to right.”

Cal Poly Pomona, ranked fifth in the nation, will play host the the NCAA Division II women’s volleyball regional playoffs this weekend.

The regional will consist of only three teams--all California Collegiate Athletic Assn. teams.

Teams on seemingly different paths will play Friday night. UC Riverside, generally considered one of the elite teams in the West, struggled to finish at 15-18 and will play Cal State Los Angeles, a team on the rise that posted a 22-9 record.

Pomona (26-6) will have a bye Friday night, then will play the winner of the Friday game Saturday for the regional title. The winner will advance to the “Elite Eight” tournament to determine the national champion.

One bright spot in Redlands’ 47-26 loss at Wisconsin La Crosse in the first round of the NCAA Division III football playoffs last Saturday was the play of Sean Cheatham, a senior fullback.

Cheatham rushed for 105 yards and scored a touchdown. He finished with a school single-season rushing record for with 1,341 yards. Eric Carlson had the record with 1,260 yards in 1986.

The Bulldogs scored first in the cold weather but never regained the lead after La Crosse scored on the next possession.

Redlands finished the season at 8-2 and had a 6-0 record in the Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference.

Claremont-Mudd had its first 20-victory season after finishing fourth in the Western Water Polo Assn. tournament. Rankings come out today and Claremont-Mudd should finish in the top 20.

“I’m pleased but not satisfied,” Claremont-Mudd Coach Mike Sutton said. “I guess that makes me a coach.”

The Stags (20-11) had their chances in the third-place game with UC Davis but could not convert on any of its eight man-advantage situations. Davis converted six of 11 man-advantage situations.

Still, with the game tied and 23 seconds remaining Claremont-Mudd had the ball to work for a good shot. But UC Davis stole the ball and scored to win the game.

Claremont-Mudd’s Chris Powell was voted first team All-WWPA and teammates Murphy McCann and Rob Cheney received honorable mention. Redlands’ Greg Milton was voted to the second team.

In the final, UC San Diego defeated Air Force, 9-8, in sudden death to advance to the NCAA tournament this weekend at Belmont Plaza in Long Beach.

Redlands (17-12) finished eighth in the tournament.

College Division Notes

In NCAA Division III men’s soccer regionals, Seattle Pacific defeated CCAA champion Cal State Los Angeles, 3-2. . . . Azusa Pacific, the top-ranked men’s basketball team in the National Assn. of Intercollegiate Athletics, District 3, upset Hawaii Pacific in its season opener, 102-99. Hawaii Pacific is ranked No. 9 nationally.

Hamline of St. Paul, Minn., defeated Pomona-Pitzer for the Trinity women’s basketball tournament title Sunday, 74-62.