Community College Coaches Throw a Change at State Baseball Playoffs

It seems as if once everyone finally gets used to the California Community College state baseball playoff system, it’s time for a change.

So, it’s no surprise that the California Community College Baseball Coaches Assn. decided on a new format--one that is a little confusing to coaches and the press alike.

About the only thing that everyone is certain about is that the new system doubles the number of playoff berths from eight to 16. That virtually assures both Harbor and El Camino colleges, currently holding first place in their respective conferences, some kind of post-season action.

Here is how the new system works:

This year, conference winners get a bye through the first two rounds. In the previous system, just eight teams advanced to the double-elimination state tournament. There were no regional playoffs.

This year, assuming El Camino wins the South Coast Conference title, it would be idle from May 7 to May 20, awaiting the outcome of the following steps:

* Harbor finishes its regular season on April 30 and needs to win only one more game to capture the Southern Division title of the Southern California Conference. But because the conference is split into two divisions, Harbor will enter a best-of-three playoff with either Chaffey College or College of the Desert (whichever team wins the conference Northern Division).

* The victor of that series will be crowned the conference champion and would skip the first two rounds of the state playoffs, as would El Camino, if it wins its conference. The SCC playoff loser would most likely be placed in a mini-round to be held May 12-14.

* In all, six second-place teams and two at-large teams, which will be picked by a seeding committee, meet in the mini-round format, a single-elimination tournament. The eight-team mini-round will be split in half, however, and the winners of both halves will advance to one of four Southern California regionals.

* A regional playoff is set for May 20-22. The six Southern California conference champions join the two at-large teams, which won the two halves of the mini-round, in a pair of double-elimination playoffs at either Cerritos or Ventura colleges.

* Which teams go where depends on a seeding order put together by a seeding committee, which will release its pecking order on May 9. Of course, the third round of the playoff format begins two weeks after that, so which team gets assigned to what site for the regionals depends on how well the highest seeded teams do. From this point on, it gets relatively simple.

* The baseball coaches association cut the number of teams advancing to the state tournament to four from the entire state; previously it was eight. While this system allows more teams to get into the state playoffs, fewer will compete in the state tournament.

* The state tournament is scheduled for the Memorial Day weekend, May 27-29. It will include two teams from Northern California (which has a similar playoff system) and the two survivors from Southern California. The state finals take place at UC Irvine and will utilize a double-elimination format.

“I don’t prefer it this way,” said Harbor Coach Jim O’Brien, whose team had great success under the old system. “Personally, I believe it was better the other way.”

O’Brien defended the new system, however: “I think it is pretty self-explanatory.”

You said it, coach.

Sayonara: Loyola Marymount’s planned appearance in a basketball tournament next December in Japan appears to have fallen through because of scheduling problems. The Japanese group invited several U.S. teams--including Loyola and Bradley--to compete in a four-team tournament.

A Loyola official met with the Japanese group last week in Augusta, Ga., but many of their contract demands, relayed to Coach Paul Westhead by telephone, were unacceptable to Loyola, and the Japanese group’s now-or-never deadline didn’t sit well with Westhead.

Among their requests: that the Loyola traveling party include six female cheerleaders.

Loyola’s tentative schedule now includes December dates with Oregon State at home and an appearance just before Christmas in the Chicago Tournament, which will include powerhouses DePaul and Wyoming along with a team to be named later.

A three-game Philadelphia trip is still in the works, and talks are continuing for a December shoot-out with NCAA Tournament finalist Oklahoma. The Sooners want a guaranteed television appearance as part of the deal.

Hot teams: Harbor and El Camino Colleges have two of the hottest community college baseball teams in the state.

Harbor, ranked 12th in the Junior College Athletic Bureau poll this week, is running away with the SoCal title. Second baseman/shortstop Billy Parsons, a .333 hitter, entered the week having stolen 40 bases in 44 tries. In his two-year career, Parsons has 73 stolen bases, a school record. He needs 13 more to set a single season record.

El Camino, ranked eighth, is riding an eight-game winning streak. The Warriors haven’t been blowing out too many teams, but they have hung tight, scratching and clawing for runs.

Toro Sleeper: The signing of 6-foot, 7-inch Chris Dane of Fairfax High School by basketball Coach Dave Yanai of Cal State Dominguez Hills was not really a surprise. Said one area writer very familiar with Yanai’s recruiting pattern: “He’s always got some big kid from the city that no one else wants or knows about that he gets.” Dane was the first forward off the bench for Fairfax in his senior year, and he backed up all-American center Chris Mills.

Dominguez Hills desperately needed a dominant base-line player last year to complement the outside shooting of 6-foot-7 junior Anthony Blackmon. With the addition of Dane, 6-foot-5 forwards Damon Estell of Carson High and Marty Ward of Narbonne High and 6-foot-4 swing man Segaro Bozart, also of Narbonne, Yanai may have solved his problems.

Cal State Dominguez Hills’ latest basketball signee is 6-1 guard Adam Weeks from Washingtonville, N.Y. The shooting guard averaged 16 points and 10 rebounds.

NOTES AND QUOTES: Basketball Coach Paul Landreaux of El Camino reports that he is “pretty ecstatic” about sending seven players on to play at Division I schools. It’s the most the state champion Warriors have sent in a single season. Latest to sign include Stacey Joyce with Northern Arizona and Arlandis Rush with Texas-El Paso. . . . Loyola Marymount basketball player Enoch Simmons hit his first collegiate home run last weekend for the Lions baseball team. Simmons is 3 for 4 this season. . . . Brothers Mike and Joe Testa are making the most of limited playing time for the Loyola baseball team. Mike, a sophomore, is 3 for 5 including a pinch-hit grand slam. Joe, a freshman, is 4 for 12 and hit his first homer last weekend. Together they’re 7 for 17 with 7 RBI. . . . Top hitters for Harbor include outfielder/designated hitter Billy Keep (.446), with five home runs, Danny Parente, a left-handed first baseman/pitcher (.391) and catcher John Berger (.369), who has seven doubles. Pitcher Eddie Lopez brought a 7-1 record into the week with a 2.86 earned run average. He has struck out 85 batters in 88 innings. Last week the pitching staff combined to strike out 43 batters in 28 innings of work. . . . Dan Berthel, an outfielder, is the leading hitter at El Camino with a .405 average. Four others are hitting .300 or better and four more hover just below the mark. Pitcher Jeff Beck has a 2.72 ERA and entered the week with a 9-1 record. . . . A bright spot in an otherwise dismal baseball season for last place Dominguez Hills: Junior infielder Ruben Jauregui leads the California Collegiate Athletic Assn. in hitting. He entered the week with a .398 average.