Ratelle Bullish About 49ers’ Chances

Men’s volleyball Coach Ray Ratelle, banking on a first-round playoff match at home this month, is confident going into the final two weeks of the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation season.

“As long as we win our next four, no one can touch us,” Ratelle said. “That’s what we want. That’s what we’re shooting for.”

The 49ers, ranked seventh nationally, begin their quest this weekend, hosting San Diego State Friday and playing at 12th-ranked Cal State Northridge Saturday.

They finish the regular season hosting Loyola Marymount April 11 and at USC April 15.

Long Beach has swept San Diego State twice this season.

Senior outside hitter Nick Pabarcus, a transfer who played for San Diego State from 1994-96, has been steady for the 49ers.

“They cut him after three years, and he has been a real huge factor for us this season,” Ratelle said. “We’ve had a lot of injuries and never more than one outside hitter all year, and he’s been the one stable thing for us.”

The 49ers are coming off back-to-back losses at sixth-ranked Ball State and at 14th-ranked Indiana-Purdue Fort Wayne. Nevertheless, Ratelle doesn’t seem worried.

“We had to play mostly with reserves,” Ratelle said. “We have some people banged up and we needed to rest them. I think we profited from it, although the results weren’t what we wanted.”

Outside hitter Geoffrey Cryst, playing despite two small broken bones in his foot, played in all five games in the loss to Ball State and rallied the 49ers midway through the match.

Cryst injured the foot in a match with Pacific in late February and missed about a month. Before being injured, Cryst led the team in kills, but he has struggled with his confidence since being injured.

“He has to play with the pain in his foot,” Ratelle said. “Sometimes that just is difficult to do.”

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Several former Orange County players have made major contributions to the 49ers’ baseball team, which has won 12 of its last 14 games.

Prior to Wednesday’s loss at Cal State Northridge, junior Toby Sanchez, a former Mater Dei and Rancho Santiago standout, was leading the team in batting with a .396 average. He was first in walks (20), second in home runs (four), third in runs scored (23) and fourth in hits (38). He has played first base, right field and designated hitter and has started all but one game.

Pitcher Marcus Jones, a graduate of Esperanza High, was named national player of the week by Collegiate Baseball for his 16-strikeout performance March 22 in a 3-1 victory over Cal Poly San Luis Obispo. He followed up with 13 strikeouts in a 4-3 victory over Sacramento State last Saturday.

Sanchez hit 15 home runs in two years at Rancho Santiago, and he was instrumental in the Dons’ 1995 state championship run. He signed with Arizona State in 1995 but never played for the Sun Devils. He returned to Rancho Santiago to take classes in the spring of 1996 and transferred to Long Beach State last fall.

A former All-Southern Section pitcher, Jones was a preseason second-team All-American pick by Collegiate Baseball. He’s in the 49ers’ starting rotation for the third consecutive season.

Long Beach Coach Dave Snow usually saves his optimism for later in the season, but he has had a difficult time hiding his pleasure lately. Snow says the 49ers (20-13) are doing the little things they weren’t able to pull off before.

“I don’t think we respected those things earlier,” Snow said. “We’ve come a long way.”

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Add Snow: The 49er coach recorded his 500th victory March 14 with a 9-5 victory at UC Santa Barbara. A day later, softball Coach Pete Manarino got his 500th victory when the 49ers beat Sacramento State, 2-0.

It marked the third time in their careers the two have reached milestones at nearly the same time.

Their 400th coaching victories came on the same day--April 9, 1994. In 1992, they got their 300th victories in the same week.

49er Notes

Three administrators have been promoted and given additional responsibilities. Bill Husak has been named senior associate athletics director, overseeing fund-raising and ticket sales.

Cindy Masner has been named associate athletics director/senior women’s administrator. Dede Rossi has been named executive director of the 49er Athletic Assn.

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Coming Attractions

Here’s a look at key upcoming events for Long Beach State:

* Baseball begins a three-game series Friday at Pacific.

* Softball hosts doubleheaders at 1 p.m. Friday against New Mexico State and 1 p.m. Saturday against Cal State Northridge.

* Track and field will participate in the Big West Conference Challenge Cup Saturday at Cal State Fullerton, all day.

* Men’s volleyball hosts San Diego State 7:30 p.m. Friday and is at Cal State Northridge at 7 p.m. Saturday.