Losses, Not Victory, Surprise Christ College Baseball Coach

Christ College Irvine isn’t having one of its better baseball seasons. After the Eagles beat Cal State Dominguez Hills, ranked No. 9 in the NCAA Division II Tuesday, even Coach Jackie Schniepp couldn’t blame one of his players for this reaction: What happened?

The Eagles, who entered the game with a 9-17-2 record, had won only three of their last 16 games, but beat the Toros, 7-4, at Dominguez Hills.

Schniepp, in his first year as CCI coach, used the postgame comment to make a point.

“I told them they shouldn’t be surprised at playing so well, we should be surprised by all our losses,” Schniepp said. “We’ve had a number of close losses, but we’ve certainly lost to some teams we’re better than.

“Maybe this will turn us around.”

Last season, under Coach Scott Sarver, the Eagles had their best season in school history, finishing 28-14 and in second place in the Golden State Athletic Conference. But most of the key players, including five All-NAIA District 3 selections, played out their eligibility last season.

After the season, Sarver accepted a coaching position at Point Loma Nazarene, and the college hired Schniepp in late July. Despite the late start at recruiting, Schniepp said he was able to attract some strong players.

“I was actually surprised by the quality of players we got at the end of the summer,” Schniepp said. “And I still feel we have a quality team. We just haven’t come together yet.”

Schniepp, an all-conference and all-district player at Westmont and an assistant at UC Santa Barbara and East Stroudsburg (a Division II school in Pennsylvania), said he blames the slow start on his inexperience as a coach and the fact the team has 15 new players.

Despite their record, the Eagles have had some standout performers so far.

--Mike Crumrine, a second-team all-district selection last season, raised his team-leading batting average to .374 against Dominguez Hills, going three for four. Crumrine, a senior third baseman and relief pitcher, is batting .441 in conference play, second to SCC’s Al Contrera (.474).

--Trevor Earle, a 6-foot-3 right-hander, won his fourth decision without a loss against Dominguez Hills. Earle, a sophomore who didn’t play much last season, has a 3.86 earned-run average and has struck out 34 in 49 innings.

--Ky Phan, a senior center fielder from Irvine High, is leading the district in doubles with 11 and is batting .343 in conference games.

--Jason Smith, shortstop and leadoff hitter, has stolen a district-high 20 bases. Smith, a transfer from Long Beach City, has been caught only six times.

--Paul Chavez, a transfer from South Mountain Community College in Phoenix, had eight doubles and 13 steals.

Christ College, 1-9 and in last place in the GSAC, has lost its last eight conference games and last 10 district games. The Eagles play host to district opponent The Master’s today at 3 p.m.

“One of our goals this year that we made after we lost a few is to beat everybody in the district,” Schniepp said. “We lost to The Master’s the first time around so we really want this one.”

Southern California College and Christ College Irvine finished fifth and sixth at the Golden State Athletic Conference track and field championships Saturday at UC Santa Barbara.

SCC scored 15 points, led by Nikee Pool, who finished second in the 800 meters (2 minutes 20.05 seconds) and Heather Salisbury, who finished third in the 3,000 (11:51.13) and fourth in the 1,500 (5:17.07). Nancy Bird, who finished fourth in the 3,000 (12:04.41) was the Vanguards’ other scorer.

Kara Stephens, a freshman from Orange Lutheran who plays for the CCI women’s basketball team, scored the only two points for the Eagles, who compete as a club. Stephens finished sixth in the shotput and discus with marks of 115 feet 6 inches and 32-2 1/2.

Notes

The Chapman baseball team starts a three-game series at Fresno State, ranked No. 23 in the Collegiate Baseball poll, today. . . . The Southern California College softball team recovered from its 0-8 trip to Hawaii by defeating Pacific Christian, 13-2 and 12-0, last Thursday and moved from No. 17 to No. 16 in the NAIA national poll. . . . Jason Presley, an Azusa Pacific freshman from Orange Lutheran, has been selected to play on a football team that will play all-star teams from Australia in July. Presley, a first-team All-Olympic League linebacker, plays nose guard for Azusa Pacific.