Coppes Hits, So He Plays for Azusa

There is no room on the bench for Paul Coppes, and that’s fine with him.

He saw far too much of it the last two years.

Coppes, a junior catcher and pitcher for Azusa Pacific, is in the midst of a turnaround baseball season. He’s doing so well that he has played in all but three games.

And it is no coincidence that Azusa Pacific is having a turnaround of its own.

The Cougars expected to be a little better than they were last year, but lack of depth on the mound kept them from thinking they would be where they are now--leading the Golden State Athletic Conference by three games with seven games left. Azusa Pacific, 26-7 overall and 15-2 in GSAC games, moved up to No. 17 in the NAIA national rankings on Monday.

Last year, the Cougars had a 27-23 record and advanced to the NAIA playoffs, but baseball standards are higher at Azusa Pacific than at most other schools. Disappointment at not winning 30 games for the first time in eight years was obvious. It was also the first time in five years that Azusa Pacific failed to win the GSAC title.

For Coppes, who had briefly won the starting catching job as a freshman, it was a disappointing year personally too. He was the starting catcher in 27 of the Cougars’ 50 games, but his batting average was .259 in 81 at-bats. He also pitched 19 innings with a 2-1 record, but he had a 5.21 earned-run average.

That added up to his being penciled in as the back-up catcher this season, with a tryout for the third or fourth slot in the pitching rotation a possibility. But that changed quickly.

“He wasn’t expected to start at catcher because the other guy (Mike Boyle) just has better God-given tools,” said Tony Barbone, Azusa Pacific’s coach. “But Paul just came in and did so well in January that he took the job away.

“His pitching has been great, and he has just a great relationship with our pitching coach, Scott Winterburn. I think his catching helps him understand his pitching better too.”

Between pitching and catching, Coppes has seen very little of the bench. He has a 3-2 record in seven starts with a 3.62 ERA. As a catcher, he has thrown out 10 of 18 runners stealing.

But the real reason he is in the lineup is his hitting.

Coppes leads the GSAC with a .438 average in 80 at-bats, and he also has a team-leading 31 runs batted in.

“He’s a go-to guy,” Barbone said. “People expect a good at-bat from him each time he is up. We’ll use him as a designated hitter before or after a start because we can’t afford to keep his bat out of the lineup.

“Coming in, he knew he was poor at the plate. But he has worked with every coach on things like his hands and on shifting weight. He’s a hard worker, extremely coachable, and maybe most importantly, he’s not afraid of failure when trying something that the coaches have taught him.”

This year, there has been nothing to be afraid of.

College Division Notes

La Verne has clinched the Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference baseball title. The Leopards needed to win last Friday’s game against Occidental to clinch a tie for the title. It took a memorable pitching performance from J.D. Romero (6-2), who pitched all 13 innings, striking out 19 in a 2-1 victory. La Verne, 26-7 and 18-0 in SCIAC games, won the title the next morning with an 8-3 victory over Occidental.

Marc Mosman of Cal State Dominguez Hills struck out 17--10 in a row through the third, fourth, fifth and sixth innings--in a 5-0 victory over Concordia of Irvine on March 30.