COLLEGE DIVISION NOTEBOOK / MARTIN BECK : Ryan Meredith Sliding to Top at Southern California College

Ryan Meredith didn’t have many baseball options after finishing his final high school season at Trabuco Hills in 1990.

He could go to Saddleback College, where the word was that he would be the 10th man on the pitching staff, or he could go to Southern California College, where he was promised a partial scholarship and a chance to pitch immediately.

Not a tough choice, but Meredith thought his attributes--a hard-throwing right-hander who was Trabuco Hills’ career leader in victories (16) and innings pitched (179 1/3)--would provide more options.

So he went to the only program actively pursuing him, SCC--and struggled for two seasons. He was used sparingly as a freshman and last season won about half his games.

The Vanguards weren’t counting on Meredith to be the staff ace, but SCC Coach Charlie Phillips thought he was performing below his potential.

This season, after the graduation of starter David Black, an NAIA honorable mention All-American, SCC needed more and Meredith has responded.

He is 9-2 with two saves and a 1.62 earned-run average, which is the best in the NAIA District 3.

“I worked hard the last two years,” Meredith said. “I knew I had the opportunity to be the ace this year and it worked as an incentive.”

Meredith, 6 feet 4, 210 pounds, also developed a slider that has baffled hitters.

“I developed it over the last two years,” he said. “It’s my main pitch now and it’s worked really good for me. I rely on it even when I’m behind in the count.”

Meredith is happy to be a Vanguard and Phillips, who said he always believed Meredith could be an outstanding pitcher with work, is definitely happy to have him.

“Without him, we wouldn’t be where we are now, there are no ifs, ands or buts about it,” Phillips said. “He’s made constant improvement over the past two years.”

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Meredith pitched 3 2/3 innings of relief Tuesday and earned a 7-5 victory over Christ College Irvine. He entered the game with the score tied, 5-5, and the bases loaded with one out in the sixth and got the first batter he faced to ground into a double play.

The victory solidified the second-place standing of the Vanguards (23-17, 8-6 in the Golden State Athletic Conference). They are five games behind Azusa Pacific, ranked fourth in the nation, 1 1/2 games ahead of Point Loma Nazarene and Cal Baptist and two games ahead of Westmont.

Two--possibly three--conference teams will advance to the District 3 playoffs.

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Chapman’s softball team, struggling with a 3-11 record in the California Collegiate Athletic Assn., rebounded to win the consolation title of the Cal State Bakersfield tournament last weekend.

The Panthers (18-21) lost their four games in pool play--4-0 to Humboldt State, ranked second in NCAA Division II; 4-3 to Santa Clara, 4-3 to UC Riverside and 8-0 to No. 10 Cal State Bakersfield.

But the Panthers beat Cal State San Bernardino, 5-0, and Cal State Dominguez Hills, 2-1, Sunday to win the consolation bracket.

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Help wanted: Because of its athletic expansion and a recent resignation, Chapman has six jobs to fill in the next two years. Therefore, the university has placed classified advertisements in the NCAA News. Among the vacancies are three full-time spots, including coach for a football team that won’t take the field until 1994.

Dave Currey, Chapman athletic director, said he probably won’t hire a football coach until winter, but it’s not too soon to post the opening.

“This is the time of the year that people are announcing coaching changes, so it is common in order to get a position exposed,” Currey said.

Currey said he has received numerous letters asking about the football position since the university announced plans to resurrect the program--last played at the institution in 1932--a year ago.

Currey is looking to fill all but one of the other jobs more immediately (The part-time golf coach won’t have a team until 1994 either). The other full-time positions are women’s basketball coach, vacated when Lindsay Strothers resigned last month, and a coach for the men’s and women’s cross-country and women’s track and field teams. Part-time coaches are needed for women’s tennis and women’s swimming.

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$teep green fee: The Chapman athletic department and the university’s peace studies program are co-sponsoring a Golfathon May 3 and the price of admission to Monarch Beach Golf Links is . . . $3,000.

The prospective competitor should know that that kind of money will buy a heck of a lot of golf, perhaps as many as 100 holes. The idea is that players will play as many holes as possible in 12 hours, soliciting pledges to raise money.

Money raised will benefit the athletic department and the peace studies endowment.

Notes

The Pacific Christian men’s volleyball team, under first-year Coach Bill Silva, lost to La Sierra in the final of the California Coastal Conference tournament Saturday at Cal State Fullerton. La Sierra, the regular-season conference champion, won, 15-13, 5-15, 15-7, 17-15. The Royals beat Pacific Union in the semifinals Friday after losing the first two games. They played without Scott Van Wig, a senior middle blocker who was the regular-season conference most valuable player but who was sidelined when he cut a tendon in his finger repairing a car. Juniors Pat Riley and Jim Shields were all-tournament selections. . . . The Chapman tennis team finished its dual match season without a victory, losing California Collegiate Athletic Assn. matches to Cal State Los Angeles and UC Riverside, by identical 8-1 margins. The Panthers finished 0-17. David Joerger and Jason Stephens will represent the Panthers at the Ojai Tournament, which starts today. . . . Pacific Christian men’s basketball Coach Lee Erickson is looking for a volunteer assistant, to help with recruiting and other coaching duties. For information, call Erickson at 879-3901. . . . Pacific Christian men’s basketball players Charles Ross and Ruxton Schmientenknop were first- and second-team selections, respectively, on the National Bible College All-American team.