Postseason Comes Into Focus for County Teams

The regular season is winding down and county teams are gearing up for postseason play. Here’s a rundown of what to expect for Chapman, Concordia and Southern California College in the playoffs.

CHAPMAN BASEBALL

The Panthers (34-2) are ranked No. 3 in the nation in Division III and figure to earn one of four berths in the West Regional, May 19-23. NCAA officials are expected to release regional sites May 9 and Coach Rex Peters said the Panthers have applied to host at Cal State Fullerton. The winner advances to the eight-team Division III finals May 28-June 1 in Salem, Va.

The Panthers open the four-day UC San Diego tournament at 10 a.m. Saturday against Cal Lutheran.

“It will give us that tournament feel just before the regional,” Peters said. “We play four games in four days and it gives us a chance to get some pitchers ready that we will have to use in a regional if we get extended to five games.”

Adam Olow, who hit two home runs in Tuesday’s 12-5 victory over La Verne, has raised his batting average to .463. Infielder Eric Albright is batting .413 and leads the team with 59 runs batted in. After slumping early in the season, leadoff hitter Brandon Maciel (.394) has been “on a tear,” in the last four weeks, Peters said.

CHAPMAN SOFTBALL

Second baseman Amie Barnes knew going into the season that the Panthers (28-6) would be good. But they’re itching to prove it at the Division III West Regional, May 14-16. Chapman, expected to receive a bid, has applied to host the five-team event at Hart Park. The NCAA will announce regional sites May 9.

Barnes, batting .402, said the Panthers, who finish the regular season with a doubleheader Saturday at Cal State Bakersfield, can’t wait to make amends for two recent losses to Claremont that dropped the Panthers from No. 2 to No. 8 in the nation.

“We haven’t had a lot of games in the last month and I don’t know if that will hurt us,” she said. “Maybe it’s good to be away from the field a while. We did awesome, winning so many games in March. We pulled together and showed that we can work together on the field.”

Stephanie Carew (.532) leads the team in hitting with the 12th-highest average in the nation. Pitcher Linsey Buendia has an earned run average of 0.58 and Tiffany Hoskins has an ERA of 1.41.

CONCORDIA BASEBALL

Coach Jackie Schniepp sees Saturday’s doubleheader with Southern California College as being important to “keep our momentum going.” The Eagles (23-22-1, 15-13) have clinched no worse than third place in the Golden State Athletic Conference race, their best finish since 1992.

Regardless of Saturday’s outcome, Concordia will host a one-game playoff Tuesday against either Cal Baptist or Point Loma Nazarene. The winner plays a best-of-three series May 7-8 at Azusa Pacific. The winner of that series advances to play at GSAC regular-season champion Biola in the best-of-three NAIA Far West Regional. The NAIA finals are May 24-28 in West Palm Beach, Fla.

Former Capistrano Valley and Saddleback College pitcher Bobby Sprain said the Eagles have never done well against Azusa Pacific.

“That team has given us a lot of trouble,” Sprain said. “We’ll have to beat them in their own ballpark and we’ve never won a game there before.”

In fact, Sprain has both victories in school history over Azusa Pacific, both at Concordia.

SCC SOFTBALL

The Vanguards (38-10) won their second consecutive GSAC title and are ranked No. 1 in the NAIA Far West Region. They host Cal Baptist at 2 today in a doubleheader and, regardless of the outcome, expect to host the four-team regional tournament May 13-15. The winner of the double-elimination tournament advances to the NAIA finals May 25-28 in West Palm Beach, Fla.

Coach Beth Renkoski believes the Vanguards have a great shot at returning to the NAIA finals for the second consecutive season and third time in the last four years.

“Even if we didn’t win the regional, because of our national ranking, we would most likely go to the nationals [as an at-large team],” she said.

Third-baseman Heather Rogers hit safely in four victories last week, going seven for 13 with a double and three RBIs. Pitcher Gina Liebengood won three games and did not give up an earned run in 14 1/3 innings. Each earned GSAC player of the week honors.

CLOSING POINTS

The tennis teams at Southern California College host the GSAC team tournament May 6-8 at TeWinkle Park in Costa Mesa. The winning team advances to the NAIA finals May 24-28 in West Palm Beach, Fla. Stefan Johansson and Joakim Ulfvebrand are the Vanguards’ top men’s singles players. Nan Ma of China is playing No. 3 singles, and Peter Skrzeczynski and Ulfvebrand are ranked fourth in the nation in doubles with a 16-3 record. . . Concordia’s 3,200-meter relay team, consisting of Jon Fowler, Brandon Grady, Chris Guild and Chris Laman, has qualified for the NAIA championships (school-record time of 7 minutes 45.01 seconds). Tricia Mattson (4:39.60) qualified in the 1,500 and as many as six more runners can qualify with strong performances at the GSAC finals today at Point Loma Nazarene. . . Mike Jones, an SCC assistant men’s basketball coach, is one of the candidates to replace Cameron Dollar, who resigned last week to become an assistant basketball coach at Georgia.