Fullerton Has Mastered the Start, Now It’s Working on a Finish

Fullerton Coach Nick Fuscardo hopes this baseball season will have a better ending than last year.

Like last season, Fullerton is off to a strong start. The Hornets are 14-2 and hitting .350. Poncho Ruiz, a sophomore shortstop, leads the team at .442 and has driven in 23 runs. Andy Tellez, a sophomore right-fielder, has 25 RBIs.

Strong starts are common at Fullerton. It’s a trait of Fuscardo’s teams. Now the trick is to finish well and erase the memory of last season.

In 1995, the Hornets started 14-1 but stumbled to a 12-12 conference record and missed the playoffs.

The wound is still fresh in the minds of Fuscardo and his 13 returning players. This season, Fullerton appears driven not to repeat the faulty second-half performance of last season.

The first-place Hornets are 4-0 in the Orange Empire Conference and coming off a 6-4 victory Saturday over Rancho Santiago, the defending state champion.

Fullerton trailed, 2-0, and, 3-2, but rallied with four unearned runs in the eighth to move ahead, 6-3.

Afterward, Fuscardo offered some perspective.

“We’re only four games into a 24-game schedule,” he said. “Hopefully our guys don’t think this victory is the end of the world.”

Fullerton plays at Orange Coast at 2 p.m. today. The Pirates also know all about starting well. Orange Coast was 12-0 before conference, but is 1-2 since.

Fullerton hosts Cypress (15-5, 3-1) in the final game of the first round at 2 p.m. Thursday.

The second round starts next Tuesday with teams playing home-and-home series.

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Dangerous when loaded: Fullerton’s Marc Anspach had a two-run, bases-loaded single Saturday to continue his impressive work in such situations.

In five bases-loaded chances this season, Anspach, a sophomore first baseman, has two grand slams, a three-run double and a two-run single. He has driven in 13 of his 19 RBIs in those four at-bats.

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The state eight: The Saddleback men’s basketball team, which reached the state tournament for the first time since 1987, plays West Valley, the top-seeded team from Northern California, in the opening round Thursday. Saddleback enters the 6 p.m. game at San Jose State with a 27-5 record. West Valley is 29-2.

In the other quarterfinal games: Santa Monica (30-3) plays Lassen (32-5) at 2 p.m.; Riverside (32-5) plays Columbia (30-4) at 4 p.m. and Ventura (30-2) plays San Francisco (25-9) at 8 p.m.

The semifinals are at 6:30 and 8:30 p.m. Friday. The title game is at 7:30 p.m. Saturday.

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Another state eight: This is the first appearance in the state tournament since 1982 for the Saddleback women’s team.

The Gauchos (29-0) are one of two undefeated teams in the tournament. Ventura is 32-0 and they could meet in the final.

In Thursday’s first-round games at San Jose College: Chaffey (28-8) plays Sacramento (22-11) at 1 p.m.; Saddleback plays Merced (27-4) at 3 p.m.; Ventura plays Feather River (23-10) at 5 p.m. and Riverside (26-9) plays Solano (29-6) at 7 p.m.

The semifinals are at 2:30 and 4:30 p.m. Friday at San Jose State and the title game is at 5 p.m. Saturday also at San Jose State.

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Resigned: Myron Brown, who has coached the Rancho Santiago women’s basketball team since 1982, has quit.

Brown, who said he wanted to spend more time with his family, will remain on staff as a teacher.

The Dons were 5-21 last season.

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Softball: The field at the Golden West softball tournament this weekend is one of the nation’s best.

The favorite is Central Arizona, the National Junior College Athletic Assn. defending champion and the No. 1 team in the nation.

Also in the 16-team field are Long Beach, the defending state champion, and Palomar, the top-ranked team in the state.

Golden West, Fullerton and Rancho Santiago are also in the tournament. Play starts at 10 a.m. Friday and the title game is at 2 p.m. Sunday.