Chapman Facing Daunting Schedule in Final Division I Season

Last season, its first in NCAA Division I, Chapman’s baseball team reached remarkable heights, beating three eventual NCAA tournament teams and peaking with a ranking of 24th in one national poll.

But midway through the season, the bottom fell out on the Panthers when the university announced that it was eliminating athletic scholarships and moving to Division III for the 1993-94 season.

First, however, Chapman is committed to play a final season as a Division I independent, and first-year Coach Gary Henderson says the Panthers will be competitive.

Henderson, who was Chapman’s pitching coach, was promoted to replace Mike Weathers, who resigned after the season to become an assistant at Cal State Long Beach.

“We’re approaching it as positively as we possibly can,” Henderson said. “We’ve got a lot of talented kids. We don’t have a lot of depth, but we have enough talent to play any of the teams on our schedule and do well.”

The schedule again is daunting. Chapman is playing 45 Division I teams on its 55-game schedule, including 15 against teams ranked among the top 18 in the nation by Baseball America magazine.

Chapman has lost three key players from the team last year--catcher Larry Stahlhoefer, who was drafted by the Pittsburgh Pirates; shortstop Cliff Anderson, who was drafted by the Dodgers, and ace starter Pete Cole, who signed a contract with a professional team in Canada.

“The down side of that is there are no scholarship kids to come in and replace the losses,” Henderson said. “The positive side of that is the kids who are playing are getting a chance and doing well.”

The Panthers have a strong nucleus of position players returning.

Trevor Rush, who batted .290 and played third base last season, has moved to shortstop. Leadoff batter Buster Nietzke, who batted .333, returns in left field. Catcher Chris Briones, who batted .328 with eight home runs and 49 runs batted in last season, is taking over for Stahlhoefer behind the plate. Tom Cook (.277) returns in right.

The pitching has been solid for the most part while the Panthers have won three of their first six games. The team earned-run average is 3.20, and Henderson said Corey Guiliano, Alex Baham, Steve Aviles, Bob Skapik and Bert Horn have been effective.

James Thomas, who is expected to be one of the team’s top starters, has struggled in his first two starts, including Tuesday when he allowed six runs (five earned) and seven hits in a 6-0 loss to Loyola Marymount.

Three newcomers, center fielder Ben Mendoza (Golden West), second baseman Brian Green (Riverside) and first baseman Octavio Medina (Rancho Santiago) have cracked the starting lineup.

“I really think this season will end up being a good one,” Henderson said. “We’re off to a slow start. Well we’re 3-3, I don’t how slow a start it is. We just thought we might do a little better earlier.”

With a double against Loyola Marymount Tuesday, Nietzke extended his hitting steak to 22 games, including 16 last season. Nietzke is batting .318 with two home runs, two doubles and a triple. Briones, who Henderson says is struggling, is leading the team with a .333 average.

The Chapman men’s basketball team closes its home season with games against Cal State Bakersfield Friday and Cal Poly San Luis Obispo Saturday at the Hutton Center.

The Panthers (5-16, 2-7 in the California Collegiate Athletic Assn.) are tied for last with San Luis Obispo (8-13, 2-7) with five games remaining.

Coach Mike Bokosky says he believes the Panthers can win two of their last five games.

“I can’t say which two,” Bokosky said. “The way we’re capable of playing some nights, it could be any time, except probably Bakersfield.”

Bakersfield (21-0, 9-0) is the top-ranked team in NCAA Division II.

Charles Ross, a 6-foot-3 forward for Pacific Christian, continues to dominate his competition. Ross, a sophomore, scored 36 points in a 109-73 victory over Southwestern (Ariz.) Monday and broke the school’s single-season scoring record.

Ross has scored 913 points in 26 games, breaking the record of Mike Vincent, who scored 878 in 42 games in 1990-91.

Along with his 35.1 scoring average, Ross is averaging 16.3 rebounds, 3.8 steals and 3.7 assists for the Royals (19-10, 8-0 in the Western Christian Athletic Conference), who won their sixth consecutive conference championship.

Notes

Christ College Irvine will change its name to Concordia University on July, the college announced this week. . . . Christ College Irvine has hired Steve Deponte to replace Ed Brown as men’s soccer coach. Brown, whose teams were 14-38-4 in three seasons, resigned because he is moving to Norway this summer. Deponte has been a CCI assistant the last two seasons. . . . The Christ College Irvine women’s basketball team, ranked No. 25 in the NAIA, extended its winning streak to 13 games with victories over Fresno Pacific and Point Loma Nazarene. The Eagles’ 61-58 victory over Fresno Saturday was the first in school history at Fresno.. . . Azusa Pacific’s Bob Terry, a former Fullerton College and Brea-Olinda High player, was named the NAIA District 3 and Golden State Athletic Conference player of the week in men’s basketball. Terry averaged 23.5 points and 15 rebounds in two victories for the Cougars, the top-ranked team in the NAIA Division I.