Pickler Has a Real Drive to Succeed

For years Cypress softball Coach Brad Pickler has driven his team all over the state to play in as many nonconference tournaments as possible.

With a talented team and aggressive scheduling, the Chargers have played at least 60 games each of the last seven seasons. Pickler likes to play plenty of games because he says it makes his team tougher come playoff time, when teams often have to play four or five games in two days.

But a new rule this season limits California community college teams to four tournaments--previously there had been no limit--and Pickler has had to change his ways.

Rather than have big gaps between games, Pickler has decided not to schedule any games for the first two weeks of the season, saving some of his allotted four tournament entries for later in the season.

Every other Orange County team already has played at least two games, but Cypress won’t play its first game until Feb. 19.

“That’s OK,” Pickler said. “We make up for it at the end hopefully.”

Pickler is making reference to a long run in the playoffs.

Cypress has gone 177-17 over the last three seasons and won a state title each time. But Pickler isn’t expecting this year’s team to be as dominating as last season’s, which finished 58-7.

Pickler said Koral King, a sophomore shortstop from Esperanza High, is “probably the best hitter in the state.” King hit .400, drove in 54 runs and had 17 doubles, five triples and six home runs last season.

MORE SOFTBALL

Fullerton is hosting a 13-team tournament that started Friday and concludes Sunday at Behringer Park in La Mirada.

After two days of pool play, single-elimination games in two brackets start at 8 a.m. Sunday with Palomar playing Cerritos. Saddleback takes on Chaffey at 10 a.m. and Fullerton plays Moorpark at noon in the same bracket.

Semifinals are at noon and 2 p.m. and the title game is at 6 p.m.

Santa Ana and Riverside opened in the Long Beach tournament Friday. Single-elimination games start today. The semifinals are at 9 and 11 a.m. Sunday and the title game follows at 1 p.m.

NAMES IN THE NEWS

* Cypress sophomore forward Sharee Brown is close to becoming the college’s fourth female basketball player to score 1,000 points. Brown, from Long Beach Millikan High, has 972 points with four conference games left.

Sara Works (1993-1995) is the all-time leader with 1,395 points.

* Bruce Randall, an assistant men’s basketball coach at Cypress College from 1968 to 1994, died Wednesday from complications following a stroke. He was 53.

Plans for a memorial service are pending.

* Orange Coast Athletic Director Jane Hilgendorf has been picked to take part in the “Leadership 2000” program, organized by the National Institute of Leadership Development.

The group strives to improve decision-making skills and increase knowledge about several administrative tasks, including budget and planning.