COLLEGE DIVISION NOTEBOOK / MARTIN BECK : SCC Having Fun, Winning Games

Southern California College’s softball team began 1995 with the highest of expectations.

Last season, the Vanguards were ranked as high as fifth in the NAIA and won their second consecutive Golden State Athletic Conference title.

But early this season, SCC lost 11 of its first 25 games, and Coach Bekki Turner said it was because her players were putting too much pressure on themselves.

So after the Vanguards lost a doubleheader to Faulkner in Montgomery, Ala., last week, Turner called a team meeting. She told her players to relax and good things would happen.

She was correct. After splitting a nonconference doubleheader with Mobile (Ala.), the Vanguards went 7-1 at the West Florida Tournament in Pensacola, losing only to Shawnee State (Ohio), 5-3, in the championship game.

It was encouraging, but Turner isn’t ready to predict another conference championship.

“I think the potential to go further than last year is definitely there,” Turner said. “But I’m really apprehensive about looking ahead right now. We just have to stay in the present.

“When we’re playing together, we are going to be a tough team to beat. And if we are having fun, that’s really what matters more than anything else.”

The Vanguards (22-13, 4-2 in conference) are ranked 10th in the NAIA.

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Standouts: Vanguard pitcher Shannon Saylor went 4-1 in the tournament. Other than in the title game, she only gave up two runs, one earned. She also batted .500 with three doubles and four runs batted in.

Second baseman Jennifer Caruso batted .333 with six RBIs during the trip. Catcher Amy Lewis batted .310 with seven RBIs and left fielder Angela Wolf batted .303 and scored six runs.

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Moving up: Chapman’s softball team, ranked No. 1 in the West Region of the NCAA Division III this week, is on a 21-game winning streak, but the Panthers (23-2) will be challenged at the Cal State Hayward tournament, today through Sunday.

Chapman will play Cal State Bakersfield, the top-ranked Division II team in the nation, in pool play Friday. Bakersfield is the only team to beat the Panthers this season, sweeping a doubleheader at Hart Park, 4-1 and 1-0. But co-Coach Lisle Lloyd is confident.

“I still think we have a shot at beating Bakersfield,” he said.

Lloyd, in his 13th season at Chapman, is 396-273-2 in his career.

Lloyd, 72, has almost completely recovered from a broken neck he suffered when he fell off a ladder last August. The halo neck brace came off in January and Lloyd is coaching third base.

“It hasn’t slowed me down,” Lloyd said. “I worry a little more about getting hit at third base than I did before, but I’m still as agile as ever. I can still get out of the way.”

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Short wait: Southern California College’s baseball staff invited a Cleveland Indian scout to watch center fielder Ryan Seidel play in last Saturday’s doubleheader with Concordia.

Seidel was hitless in three at-bats in the first game, but an SCC coach persuaded the scout to stay for one more at-bat.

Seidel, the Vanguards’ leadoff batter, didn’t disappoint: He hit a home run on the first pitch of the bottom of the first inning.

“That was worth waiting for,” said the scout, folding up his lawn chair.

Seidel, who hit a grand slam earlier in the week and has 10 homers this season, was named the Golden State Athletic Conference player of the week.

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Chapman golfer Joel DelGiorgio was the medalist at the Cal Lutheran Invitational Monday at Wood Ranch Golf Club in Simi Valley.

DelGiorgio, a sophomore from Brea Olinda High, shot 76-73, five strokes ahead of Noah Busch of Long Beach State. Chapman finished fifth in the tournament.

Wood Ranch is one of the tougher courses in the state and there was a strong wind, but Chapman Coach Greg Schammel said DelGiorgio was hot.

“He was on fire, there’s no doubt about that,” Schammel said.

DelGiorgio continued to play well Tuesday in a dual match with Spring Arbor (Mich.). He shot par on the front nine at Tustin Ranch, once holing out from 110 yards in a bunker for an eagle, before finishing four-over 76. Chapman won. 325-328.

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Notes

Chapman’s Danielle Garrison, a freshman from Orange High, lowered her personal best in the 800 meters by more than 20 seconds while winning her heat at the UC San Diego Invitational Saturday. Garrison, who had never broken three minutes in the event, finished in 2 minutes 37.57 seconds. She also finished sixth in her 1,500-meter heat in a personal best 5:21.34. Mary Folino, a junior from Valencia High, also set two personal bests, winning her 100 heat (13.46) and finishing second in the 200 (27.48). Juniors Michal Gatson (97-7 1/2 in the discus) and Natalie Neat (14-11 1/4 in the long jump) also set personal bests.