Getting Rebounds, Then Scoring : Cal Lutheran: Division III power has fortified its lineup with players who began their college careers at other schools.

Rich Hill’s recruiting credo at Cal Lutheran is similar to the most elementary coaching advice: Keep your eye on the ballplayer.

Hill follows the careers of players who spurn his advances after high school. He watches them bounce around like Ping-Pong balls, knowing that often they will come to regard Cal Lutheran not as a small college in a boring suburb but as a sanctuary.

The Thousand Oaks campus is a place many bouncebacks have come to appreciate.

“They look at our program in a different light, as a place to develop academically, spiritually and athletically,” Hill said. “At Cal Lutheran, they can thrive again.”

Cal Lutheran, an NCAA Division III power, has enjoyed success under Hill, advancing to the national final last season and posting a 43-6 record. The Kingsmen are ranked No. 1 in the country this season with a 29-7 record.

The Cal Lutheran lineup features a bevy of bouncebacks, including seniors Chris Johnson, the Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference’s most valuable player, and right-hander Jeff Berman, the conference’s earned-run average leader.

Johnson, an outfielder from Chatsworth High, left Cal State Northridge after his sophomore season in 1991 and in two seasons for Cal Lutheran has batted .335 and .431 with a two-year total of 76 runs batted in. Berman, a Newbury Park High graduate, injured his pitching shoulder at San Jose State in 1991 after a two-year career at Moorpark College, then came home and rediscovered Cal Lutheran.

“Coach Hill recruited me out of high school and JC, so my dad contacted him and asked if he was still interested,” Berman said.

Who wouldn’t be interested in a pitcher with the potential to post a two-year record of 12-2 with an ERA under 2.00, as Berman has done? More of a gamble for Hill is taking players who have only one year of eligibility remaining.

He bet the house, or at least a houseful, that roommates Gabe Diaz, Carlos Cardenas and Lupe Carrillo would contribute in their first and only Cal Lutheran campaign. This Kingsmen trio excelled at Ventura County high schools and junior colleges but each left a four-year school after his junior year.

That normally is a death knell to a career, but they have taken full advantage of Hill’s hospitality.

Diaz was the starting shortstop on full scholarship at BYU in 1991 after standout careers at Hueneme High and Ventura College. He batted .325 for BYU but left “mostly because of the difference between my cultural background and the culture there,” he said.

Diaz came home to Oxnard and sat out last season, figuring his career might be over. At the urging of Cal Lutheran pitcher Mike Teron, a former Ventura College teammate of Diaz’s and a bounceback himself from Cal State Northridge, Hill called Diaz. The Kingsmen shortstop is batting .357 with six home runs and 28 RBIs.

Cardenas, from Hueneme High and Oxnard College, spent last season platooning at Chico State. He is hitting .330 with seven homers and 31 RBIs.

Carrillo played at Oxnard High and Ventura College before heading for Cal State Fullerton as a walk-on. He played behind Phil Nevin at third base in 1991 but enrolled at Cal Lutheran in the spring of 1992 because he saw more of the same ahead as a senior. Nevin led Fullerton to the NCAA World Series final and was the No. 1 pick in the major league draft.

“I missed out on a chance to play in the College World Series,” Carrillo said. “But I believe we’re going to win a national championship here this year.”

If that goal is realized, bouncebacks Mike Winslow and Joe Gordon most likely will contribute. Winslow, a right-hander, is 17-1 in three years since transferring from Cal State Hayward. Gordon, a Simi Valley High graduate who played at Moorpark College and UCLA, is batting .292 as a pinch-hitter.

“Coach Hill is one of the only coaches I know of at our level who takes advantage of (bouncebacks),” Berman said.

Perhaps that’s because Hill has been there himself. He attended San Diego State on scholarship in 1981-82 but, frustrated by a lack of playing time, transferred to Cal Lutheran where he gained NAIA All-American honors. Cal Lutheran had a profound effect on him.

“It changed my life,” Hill said. “I met my wife here, I grew as a person. I believe a player should do everything he can to stay at an institution and work out his problems. But sometimes a change is like a breath of fresh air. I guess I’m living proof.”