Going from Westlake High to Cal State...

Going from Westlake High to Cal State Long Beach on a baseball scholarship, Tim Falsken figured breaking into the 49er lineup would be a formidable challenge--but certainly not to the extent that it was.

As a freshman, Falsken, a slick-fielding shortstop, threw out his arm. As a redshirt freshman, he broke his leg. The position he was given wasn’t what he expected: a seat on the bench.

“I basically lost two years because of injuries,” Falsken said. “I couldn’t even play in the summer.”

Even now, as a third-year sophomore trying to play his way back to the form he displayed at 18, Falsken has a hard time staying in the lineup.

During a three-game sweep of then No. 2 Cal State Fullerton in late April (which proved to be the turning point of the 49ers’ season), Falsken was either suspended or ejected from all three games. He was sent to the showers early in Game 1 for his part in a bench-clearing brawl, which produced a one-game suspension in Game 2. Returning to the lineup for Game 3, Falsken received an automatic ejection for throwing a body block on the catcher while trying to score.

When Falsken’s body isn’t betraying him, it seems to be vice versa. But the key for Long Beach is Falsken contributing when he’s playing.

His run-scoring triple broke a 3-3 tie in the ninth inning and propelled the 49ers to their 4-3 victory in the finale against the Titans. Forget the fact the home-plate umpire gave him the heave-ho later in the inning for running over catcher Brett Hemphill while trying to score on a ground ball.

Battling back from reconstructive shoulder surgery and a leg fracture that was slow in healing, Falsken has become a cog in a 49er team with no big names but plenty of heart. Long Beach started the season 2-5 and 1-2 in the Big West Conference--and was considered a dark horse against the likes of Fullerton.

But the 49ers (36-17, 17-4 in conference play) won the Big West by taking their final 12 conference games.

“That was unthinkable when we were going bad . . . before we beat Fullerton,” said Falsken, 21, who is batting .277. “Guys just took it upon themselves to play hard everyday. There aren’t many guys that stand out on our team. We have to do the little things to win.”

Falsken has chipped in with 23 runs batted in, three doubles, two triples and a home run.

“I haven’t even looked at the stats,” he said. “Defense has always been the hallmark of my game. My hitting was suspect, even in high school.”

He also has three stolen bases, a sign that his leg is back at full strength, as well as his arm.

“It was a bad break,” said Falsken, who sustained the injury to his right fibula in a collision with a 49er left fielder while chasing a pop fly. “I was out about 2 1/2 months. The doctor didn’t even put a cast on it because he said it was bone that didn’t need to be casted. That was a big dispute.”

Falsken said his throwing arm, which had extensive ligament surgery in 1991, is actually stronger than before, because he has learned to drive off his back leg when he throws. But it still gives him occasional problems.

“Sometimes it pops out (of its socket), but I’ve learned to do things to keep it from popping,” Falsken said.

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Heavy hitters: John Swanson (Rio Mesa), Falsken’s teammate at Cal State Long Beach, carries a .338 batting average with 31 RBIs and 15 stolen bases. . . . Freshmen Shane Slayton (Royal) and Rico Lagattuta (Westlake) are having productive seasons at Nevada. Slayton is batting .293 with six home runs and a .537 slugging percentage. Lagattuta is 2-0 with a 1.13 earned-run average. . . . Rob Neal (Westlake) continues to have a big season for Cal Poly San Luis Obispo with a .345 average, six home runs and 51 RBIs. . . .

Dan Chergey (Westlake), a senior at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, moved to 9-1 this season and posted the 30th victory of his career in a 5-3 win over Cal State Dominguez Hills. Chergey is tied with Bruce Freeberg (1974-77) for the most complete games (25) in school history and his 271 strikeouts are three short of the career record set by Mike Krukow, who went on to pitch in the major leagues, from 1971-73. . . . Ryan McGuire (El Camino Real) is putting up astronomical offensive numbers at UCLA: .375 average, 21 home runs, an NCAA-leading 73 RBIs, 58 runs scored, .798 slugging percentage, 11 stolen bases.

In golf, Jason Gore (Hart) wasted no time making his mark in college. A freshman at Arizona, Gore won a shootout against Arizona State’s Todd Demsey and won the Pacific 10 Conference individual tournament at Sandpiper Golf Course (par 72) in Goleta with a four-under-par 284 on April 27. Gore, who shot a tournament-low 68 in the third round, tied Demsey with a 70, then beat him by parring the second playoff hole on the final round. . . .

In tennis, Cal Poly San Luis Obispo’s Mark Nielsen (Burbank) was the ultimate bridesmaid at the recent Ojai Valley tournament. Nielsen fell in both the singles and doubles final of the independent college division. He lost to Mark Segesta of UC Davis, 6-4, 6-4, in singles, then he and Steve Arnott were defeated by Cal Poly Pomona’s Steve Kobold and Oscar Mancisidor, 7-6, 5-7, 7-5 in doubles. . . . In basketball, senior Tami Adkins (Santa Clara) shared the University of San Francisco’s most valuable player award with backcourt mate Lisa Tschannen. They are being hailed as the best women’s backcourt in the Dons’ history.