NOTEBOOK / SEAN WATERS : Santa Monica Keeps Baseball, Adds to Women’s Programs

Santa Monica College will field a baseball team in the spring, according to school President Richard Moore. The school also plans to add women’s soccer and softball programs.

“We’re going ahead with baseball,” Moore said.

After Corsair Coach Marty Berson resigned in April, Moore said the baseball program might be discontinued because of fiscal and logistical reasons.

The college does not have an on-campus field and Moore was looking for ways to trim the athletic budget.

“In April, I recommended that we get rid of baseball,” Moore said. “The budget did not look good for the upcoming school year.”

Moore contacted West Los Angeles College about forming a joint baseball program because West L.A. has a field, but no team.

Moore had not heard from West L.A. when the school budget was released in July. The athletic budget was not cut.

Because Santa Monica is an affirmative-action school, Moore said it was important that the college offer an equal number of sports for men and women. Therefore it added women’s soccer and softball.

Santa Monica Athletic Director Avie Bridges has already interviewed several candidates to replace Berson.

Beverly Hills High Coach Bill Erickson, Crossroads High Coach Chuck Ice and Santa Monica assistant Kevin Brockway were the leading candidates. The school, however, can offer only a coaching position because Berson kept his teaching position.

Although Erickson and Ice aspire to coach at the community college level, both would have to keep their teaching positions because of financial considerations. Erickson, who teaches special education at Beverly Hills, had conflicts in his schedule. He is committed to teaching until 2:30 p.m. and Corsair games begin at 3.

“(The job) was never offered per se,” Erickson said. “I couldn’t work things out here (at Beverly Hills). There were too many conflicts with school and classroom hours.”

Ice, who is also Crossroads athletic director, faces a similar predicament.

Brockway, 32, appears to be the leading candidate. He pitched at Venice High, Santa Monica and West L.A. colleges before receiving a scholarship to play at University of Texas-Pan American. The businessman has been a Corsair assistant for three years.

“I think it is important to save the program so these kids would stay in school and further their education,” Brockway said.

A coaching decision will be announced next week when Bridges returns from vacation.

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Add Corsair baseball: Santa Monica has lined up 12 recruits for next season and many of the players are competing on Brockway’s Santa Monica Bucks in the Stan Musial League.

The Bucks played Grand Terrace Expos on Tuesday in the semifinals of the Stan Musial Baseball West Regional tournament at John Galvan Field in Ontario.

The new players are: first baseman Josh Abrams (University); pitcher Armando Brajas (Inglewood); pitcher Carlos Chavez (Venice); outfielder Joel Flores (Montebello); outfielder Jason Jones (Bishop Montgomery); infielder Alfredo Maldonado (Venice); catcher Orville McKinley (Hamilton); pitcher Alex Somkin (Palisades); pitcher Dylan Sugar (Culver City); outfielder Mark Toves (Venice); outfielder Marcello Trejo (Venice) and first baseman Anthony Wasson (Bishop Montgomery).

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Football: After making a successful goal-line stand to end the first half, the South-West used two field goals to beat the North-East, 6-0, Friday in the Chris Mims-Los Angeles Prep Senior Bowl at Veterans Stadium in Long Beach.

With the ball on the one-yard line and eight seconds remaining in the half, 380-pound nose tackle Tyrone Carter of Westchester knocked East running back Rommel Knutt of Fremont for a five-yard loss as time expired.

Dorsey’s Omar Moreno and Beverly Hills’ Michael Brandt-Spitzer kicked field goals in the fourth quarter for the West.