Notes on the Back of a Busted Basketball Bracket

We start with good numbers and bad numbers such as the 6,624 fans that came to Blair for the Fullerton baseball series. That animated audience included scouts and execs from the latest of the LB based pro franchises, the Long Beach Armada. The bad is that in the past the new franchises based they business they think they will do on this unique and passionate local rivalry. Check the crowd count next weekend when 12-12 UC Riverside comes in and you’ll see what I mean. Selling seats is tough.

As to the results, it was the fourth series win for the Dirtbags over a Top 15 team and taking nothing away from the complete game work of Cesar Ramos in game one the oohs, ahhs and high hopes for the future seemed to center on the much anticipated arrival of Jared Hughes in game three. Hughes was a virtual cult hero as a prep but never quite got his game going in college. At Santa Clara he started six times for the Broncos as a freshman with a 4.79 ERA and 0-1 record in 20.2 innings, giving up 21 hits, walking 13 and fanning 12. At LBSU he came in Saturday allowing 13 runs in his last three starts and on the year had walked 14, gave out more doses (9) than the flu clinic at the senior center and generally messed up.

But they there was the knowledge that Hughes was drafted in the 16th round by the Devils Rays in 2003, was 14-9 as a prep, 5-0 in the CIF playoffs, etc. Oh yes, there is no quit in this kid or his talented pitching coach Troy Buckley and out of the blue, well let Jared tell you himself. “I realized that it was the mental things. I didn’t have to strike out everybody; the guys behind me play great.” And for a 6-7 power pitcher very much in the mold of Jered Weaver that is an epiphany that may be the key to the Niner’s post-season hopes. Welcome aboard.

SPRING DUSTING—the Friday night game with CSUF was a mess. The contest took 4 hours 21 minutes, with the two teams combining four errors, 10 hit batters, three wild pitches, seven walks, 22 left on base and a fight in one of the luxury boxes had more hits between a couple of senior citizens than the players on the field. The ten hit batters was the second most in the history of the NCAA, maybe it was that full moon.

Nice and neat however is the scorecard of the winner of the Oregon Duck Invitational, 49er Kay Hoey who is now ranked No. 20 in the nation and along with her team resumes play this weekend at the Fresno State Invitational. Another winning entry is LB tennis who’s lively assistant coach Hally Cohen starred at Purdue so she and the team off this weekend to play at Purdue, Notre Dame and Illinois-Chicago.

On the softer side Meredith Cervenka heads with her team to snowy Utah State this weekend as the all time winningest pitcher in LBSU school history with 67. ”She’s the most competitive kid I know, she’d like to pitch every game” sayeth her skipper Pete Manarino and he should know. Manarino is just seven wins shy of 800 in his career and will get the mark in the next home-stand against CSUN or CSUF.

Last add bases. Only one Big West team has a losing record after a pretty tough slate of non-conference opponents and now everybody can beat up on each other. For the formerly top ranked Titans, losing the series at LB raised and with only three wins in their last seven games, doubts are creeping in. For the Beach, they are relishing the notoriety, and even the complaints. Complaints you say, yeah the fans now want the radio feed piped into the rest rooms so they don’t missing any of the on the field action while they are on, well other things.—DR. DAN

NUMBERS ARE UP AS DIRTBAGS--NUTWOOD NINE BATTLE FOR BRAGGING RIGHTS

If there weren’t 2,318 witnesses I could try and play spin doctor on the Friday night mess at Blair but perhaps it is best to let the numbers talk. The game itself took 4 hours 21 minutes, showcased good teams making a combined four errors, hitting 10 hit batters, throwing three wild pitches, walking seven, leaving 22 on base and a draw in the senior citizen fist-fight in the box seats. Not hardly what you could call the ”best” of anything but you know the sun did come up this morning and today’s rubber game starts out with a clean slate in what could be an offensive outburst.

In their third game of their last weekend the Titans gave up 15 runs but scored 17. Without even a phone call to Dave Serrano over at Irvine, George Horton made this own call and will give the first start of the year to 18 year old Wes Roemer. Their prize pitching recruit out of Glendora, Wes has eight mostly late game appearances but has 17 Ks in his 13.1 innings. LB will stay the course with their still unknown quantity Jared Hughes, the 19 year old transfer from Santa Clara who has 26 K’s in his 29 innings but seems to wobble with runners on base. He got the win over SDSU on February 27 but nothing since. Figure on both coaches bringing in the committee at the first sign of trouble except perhaps for LB’s Brian Anderson who worked 2.1 last night and lost his consecutive inning scoreless streak at 26.1 innings. He too hit batters but the Bags were able to tie it at 4-4 in the bottom of the eighth, off of Titan closer Vinnie Pestano thanks to a wild pitch, but were unable to push across any more. LBSU had a chance to go ahead, but a strikeout by Chris Jones left the bases loaded.

CHANGE THE SUBJECT DUST—The volley gents of Long Beach State won their sixth consecutive match with a 3-0 sweep over No. 4-ranked BYU last night with game scores were 40-38, 30-25, 30-27…the second game of the trip is tonight…it looked to me that Tulo finally realized that he hasn’t hit live pitching for six weeks and is now playing himself back into shape but Coach Weathers said that his hand is okay…fans thought he was tugging on the glove a lot…Tulo reverted to age five getting ready this week hitting the ball off of a tee…Ronnie “really wide stance” Prettyman will get credit for the damage with his two-out single in the ninth that just nicked the glove of second baseman Chuck Sindlinger and let the pinch-runner Bobby Andrews scoot home…kind of like that ball that Arizona flicked into right in the last game of 2004…sorry to bring that up…if you came to town paying good money to see Fullerton’s Killer Ps hit the baseball you could sue…on Friday Prettyman, Pill and Pedroza were 1-10, same on Saturday for a combined 2-20 weekend…that ought to wake ‘em up…equal time offensive insults…Chris Jones joined Chuck Sindlinger as the only D –Bags to hit a home run this year but stat geeks from around the USA are surprised that the Beach team, still mixing around the top 30, has only two round trippers in 2005. Part of it is ball park and part of us it not wanting to spoil our pitchers... need dinner plans for Monday night, then make your reservations for the LB State Men’s Basketball End-of-the-Year Banquet, scheduled at 6:00 pm at The Grande on Willow Street…they will salute seniors, Anthony Coleman, Chris Jenkins, and Cody Pearson…new UCR head basketball coach David Spencer is a great recruiter and a sometime pro agent…to dress the set at his press conference Monday he brought out a couple of former players--Bo Kimble out of LMU and James “100%” Cotton of LBSU…and what does that mean?…on the softer side Meredith Cervenka went into the circle Saturday afternoon as the all time winningest pitcher in LBSU school history with 66…”she’s the most competitive kid I know, she would like to pitch every game if we would let her” sayeth her skipper Pete Manarino…and he should know, GQ himself is just seven wins shy of 800 in his career...Armada summer pro’s ran their tryouts on campus Saturday expecting a couple hundred and planning on taking about 30 Arizona for spring training—DR. DAN

TULO CRASHES THE RAMOS-ROMERO PARTY AS LB ‘BAGS THE ELEPHANTS

Sssh, don’t tell those wizards in the top 25 college baseball polls but the gap between Number One and Number Nothing just got a little closer. It happened this way. A fist-pumping, play-making Cesar Ramos allowed only two hits, had a stretch in the middle of the contest when retired 11 Titan hitters in a row and, more important, another steak when he mowed down the final eight Titans. The last out came when freshman Brandon Godfrey stabbed a scorcher down the first base chalk and zipped it to a racing Ramos for the nail in the Elephant’s fifth coffin 3-2. That upped the Niner un-ranked mark to 17-9 heading into another great mound match up tonight when unbeatens Ryan Schreppel (4-0, 1.80) and Marco Estrada (5-0, 1.94) collide.

The chilled but stirred Thursday night crowd of 1,744 (once ump Mel Gatson finally arrived) was perhaps most amazed that a Titan offense that was averaging over 13 hits and nine runs per game could not support impressive work by Lucy and Desi’s pride, Little Rickey Romero, who has given up just four runs in his last 15.2 innings but has two losses for his efforts. The stands were full of scouts to see the USA team mates Ramos and Romero, but got a bonus when first round MLB prospect Troy Tulowitzki begged his way off the DL list and gave the talent hunters somebody else to write home about. For the pro writers, these great notes: Curtis Zupke of the Register, “Chris Jones then fought Romero to a 3-2 count and brought home Sindlinger on a line drive up the middle for the go-ahead run" He (Romero) started to fatigue, and that pumped me up and got me going," Ramos said. From Eric Stephens of the Times, “"Great pitching is usually in this series," Long Beach Coach Mike Weathers said.”I know a lot of pro scouts were here tonight. They go all over the country and they said they were here tonight because they didn't think there were any better in the country." The X factor however was Tulo who turned the game on in the third when he pulled the ball down the right field line to drive home speedy Sean Boatright who successfully bunted his way on. In the seventh Romero gave up a leadoff walk to Godfrey then hit Chuck and both lads scored after back-to-back RBI singles courtesy of Evan Longoria and Chris Jones. With Ramos now sky high, the Titans swung early and often and headed back behind the Orange curtain to return tonight.

WEAVING DUST—this from Steve Bisheff of the Register, “It seems clear that 24 hours before the draft, the Angels had no intention of picking Weaver. Stoneman and Eddie Bane reportedly had settled on Phil Hughes who eventually was selected by the Yankees late in the first round…Stoneman was so sure Weaver wasn't on his team's radar, he hadn't even traveled to see him pitch”…now my source in the stands adds that a critical date has passed, that date being just before a tax law changed affecting how much of a bonus a player can keep…so with cheapos Arizona and KC having the first picks next year one wonders if the Halo’s have fudged up a nice kid…in the coaching derby could almost-LB coach and UNC, ND coach Matt Doherty actually become a 49er…well if UNC Charlotte’s Bobby Lutz, replaces Buzz Peterson, who was fired by Tennessee this month and Matt would go to UNCC…and lead the east coast Niners…last hoop chat… The BWC loses 2 schools next season and gains only non-tourney eligible UC Davis so everybody gets a pass to almost-Disneyland…condolences to our pal Houston Bob who is in Texas today for the funeral of his mother…a national expert in the oil transfer business, I quit bugging Bob about the cost of a gallon of gas when I figured out that when my secretary uses Whiteout a 7 oz jug is $1.39 or $25.42 per gallon and the Nyquil I have been guzzling sells a 6 oz bottle for $8.35—or $178.13 per gallon…around the BWC today Davis at Riverside; Oral Roberts at UCSB; and Pacific at Stanford… closing note…could Jeremy Reed who has the inside track to be the Mariners' center fielder join his old roomie Bobby Crosby as an AL Rookie of the Year?...he had a 66/58 walk/strikeout ratio in Triple-A and Seattle last season and looks great in camp so far—DR. DAN

THE RODNEY DANGERFIELD DIRTBAGS ARE LOOKING TO ROCK THE TITANS AND THE POLLS

Diplomacy is the art of saying "nice doggy" until you find a large enough rock.

Welcome to another edition of Fullerton Weekend Diamond Dust. Some years we have been acerbic and or sarcastic to the point that even the LBSU gatekeepers fretted about first amendment foibles. Oddly the Titans themselves, from the jovial George Horton to protective Patty Sexton, enjoy the action on the black lines as well as the action inside the white lines. That gets us to today’s edition and practicing diplomacy--at least until we find that big rock. The Titans,16-4, (and as the Big West website notes in their every-day-since-Omaha-front-page-wallpaper) did the dog pile in Nebraska last summer and are having a great year. The Beach boys (16-9) haven’t had it so easy but have won three series against top 15 teams themselves, most recently a shocking invasion of Wichita State. These games are the so- called “friendly” series--translated, good for the cash box, nice for the polls but meaningless in the Big West standings. There you go, an almost friendly first graph (the real dirt is in the underground edition.)

IRONIC DUST—Now let me get this straight, Overpaid and ethically suspect Congressmen are investigating overpaid and supplementally suspect major league baseball players. At least our guy Jason Giambi gave honest answers and while he made a mistake using the juice he’s a role model for telling the truth. I hope he has a great year…polling time…LBSU achieved its highest ranking on February 18 when it was ranked No. 12 by Sports Weekly but now has trouble cracking the top 30 despite three series wins (same as CSUF) over top 15 teams…but it ain’t easy i.e. last weekend...of the 32 teams ranked in 2 or more polls, 21 lost at least one game, and 14 suffered 2 or more losses…the Bags have been involved in 10, one-run ballgames this season and are 7-3 in the nail biters... LBSU’s pitching staff offers a stingy 2.31 ERA, has allowed three or fewer runs 15 times this season…the re-habed left shoulder of Danny Mocny, and his other body parts, should be available this weekend…if you believe the CSUF web board the orange and blue are a lock for a repeat Omaha what with their .355 team average and P-force sluggers like Prettyman (.442, 4 HR, 17 RBI, 6 SB), Pedroza (.361, 7 HR, 20 RBI, .736 SLG%), and Pill (.360, 5 HR, 24 RBI)…off topic…don’t expect a battle between women’s hoop coach Mary Hegarty and her tireless Fastbreak Booster prez Art Johnson but Art thinks the team just finished a great season and the FBB’s are throwing their annual way-to-go party April 13th at the Reef. Mary, you will recall, was quoted as not being satisfied what with losses to UCSB and no NIT invite. One suspects that those topics and the bright future of the team will be served warm along with great chow. Call Art with your reservation at 562-597-6198 rain or shine...speaking of rain, isn’t it ironic that the Beach’s superb field and ground crew got all 3 of the Cal series in (which LB lost) while CSUF was stuck in the top of the eighth inning with USC holding a 7-2 lead before Tuffy threw in the squeegee for the whole weekend...

Where Are Theys-Trachsel, Ramsey and Shumard...Steve Trachsel, early of the Niners and late of the Mets, is now under the knife for a herniated disk and will miss most of the MLB season…Travis Ramsey (Grandson of Pat West) in the Sweet Sixteen…in hockey…he’s a freshmen enforcer for the University of Maine playing Minnesota up there this weekend…last WAT, Bill Shumard, on the bus to Stanford with the track team this weekend…I love Rob's webcasting but when you get a chance it is fun to check out the other team’s broadcasters and Wichita’s KNSS Radio last weekend had a couple of gems, a commercial they play just before introducing the umpires, a spot for the local eye doctors and WSU skipper Gene Stephenson dance around the first two losses, including a slam at Marco Estrada. “Really just an average pitcher.” Humm, 5-0, 1.94 ERA, guess that’s the kind of average pitching average you like. Now the hitting is average. LBSU had 23 hits over the weekend, but 21 were singles. Let the games begin.—DR. DAN

THOSE DIRTBAG DAVIDS’ ARE LOOKING TO ROCK THE TITANS

Diplomacy is the art of saying "nice doggy" until you find a large enough rock.

Welcome to another edition of Fullerton Weekend Diamond Dust. Some years we have been acerbic and or sarcastic to the point that even the LBSU gatekeepers fretted about first amendment foibles. Oddly the Titans themselves, from the jovial George Horton to protective Patty Sexton, enjoy the action on the black lines as well as the action inside the white lines.

That gets us to today’s edition and practicing diplomacy--at least until we find that big rock. The Titans (16-4), as the Big West website notes in their every-day-since-Omaha-front-page-wallpaper, did the dog pile in Nebraska last summer are having a great year. The Beach boys (16-9) haven’t had it so easy but have won three series against top 15 teams, most recently a shocking invasion of Wichita State. These games are the so- called friendly series, translated, good for the cash box but do not count in the Big West standings.

IRONIC DUST—Now let me get this straight, Overpaid and ethically suspect Congressmen are investigating overpaid and supplementally suspect major league baseball players. At least our guy Jason Giambi gave honest answers and while he made a mistake using the juice he’s a role model for telling the truth. I hope he has a great year.
In the stands this weekend are a bunch of Taylor Ramsey’s relatives. Who’s he? Grandson of Pat West and a local athlete in the Sweet Sixteen. In Hockey. Tay is a freshmen enforcer for the University of Maine who plays Minnesota up there this weekend.
Don’t expect a battle between women’s hoop coach Mary Hegarty and her tireless Fastbreak Booster prez Art Johnson but Art thinks the team just finished a great season and the FBB’s are throwing their annual way to go party April 13th at the Reef. Mary, you will recall, was quoted as not being satisfied what with losses to UCSB and no NIT invite. One suspects that those topics and the bright future of the team will be served warm along with great chow. Call Art with your reservation at 562-597-6198.

More looking ahead, last year’s women’s volleyball student assistant Liz Hudson is moving on to a paying gig with an Orange County JUCO but here replacement is a famous name, Brittany Hochevar. Britt has had a ton of international experience and is a rising star on the Beach tour and will juggle her playing date-book with Beach practices and I can’t think of anybody else that can instill toughness in a team like BH.

Volley note-Niner Coach Alan Knipe, off of a win in his own tourney, doesn’t brag but he says that his team is getting better because they are blocking better. “Blocking is something that comes after you have played a while and guys begin to figure out where they are supposed to go. It’s all about thinking and reacting.” Translated, the defense is now up with the offense and might just make a little post-season run up to the Final Four at UCLA.

Where are theys-Steve Trachsel, early of the Niners and late of the Mets, is now under the knife for a herniated disk and will miss most of the MLB season.

FINAL DUSTING--When you get a chance it is fun to check out the other team’s broadcasters and KNSS Radio last weekend has a couple of gems. First one was commercial they play just before introducing the umpires, a spot for the local eye doctors. The other gem was listening to WSU skipper Gene Stephenson dance around the first two losses, including a slam at Marco Estrada. “Really just an average pitcher.” Humm, 5-0, 1.94 ERA, guess that’s the kind of average pitching average you like. Now the hitting is average. LBSU had 23 hits over the weekend, but 21 were singles. Let the games begin.—DR. DAN

UNKNOWN SOLDIERS JUST GIT ‘R DONE WHILE NINERS AWAIT TULO AND D-MOC

Zach Barger looks like a kid you would find in Kansas, wide-eyed, freckled and with simple wishes. Now he is going from Long Beach to Kansas, not just Kansas but Wichita State, the perennial baseball Beast of the Midwest who play in a modest little yard called Eck Stadium. Modest if your yard cost $7.8 million. So what does this freshman Dirtbag think about this weekend’s visit to the Taj Mahal of soy beans? “Heck our guys say just give us a field and we’ll play.”

For their fourth bottom of the ninth victory of the season the Dirtbags got three hits from guys you never heard of. Tom Wolf singled to center. Barger with his third hit of the afternoon put runners on the corners and Cole Jacobsen followed with a sinking line drive to left and when the Houston outfield gambled and missed on a diving catch. Game over. The Beach skipper Mike Weathers may have a few more grey hairs but he was impressed. “I told our guys that we have been in every game with a chance to win.”

Those chances of course our enhanced by great pitching especially closers Brian Anderson and Neil Jamison. When a wag in the stands asked what their ERA was, the locals have the perfect comeback, they don’t have one. Anderson has a consecutive inning scoreless streak of 23 and along with Jamison more of less seal the game if you the Beach can get to the seventh with a chance. So far so good.

DANCING DUST—Twin sluggers Troy Tulowitzki and Danny Mocny will stay home to mend injuries but by April first both should be in the heart of the order but Weathers’ remains cautious about his inconsistent offense. “When they do come back it’s only two guys, we still need seven others producing.” The Niner record is now 14-8 with another 3-1 week and their fifth series win of the young season.

In honor of my uncle Lance Ito I did count to ten before assembling these hoop opinions. Men’s department. LBSU had more talent on the court than UCSB since the three most talented Gauchos (Cook, Brown, and Goettsche) were in street clothes along with their freshman flash. (Devine). UCSB tricked the Beach by jumping out of their zone for a hustling man-to-man. The ladies meanwhile will second guess this summer especially after their offer to host a WNIT game was an unanswered prayer.

Last add hoop irony dept. The Beach recruited Wayne Morgan from Syracuse to take the homeboys to the NCAA tourney. They sent him packing with a winning record (91-84) for not doing that. This weekend Wayne takes his Iowa State team to the NCAA tourney in the Syracuse Regional. He has to win a couple to get to the Carrier Dome but don’t count him out.

The Utah State upset of Pacific makes the Big West cash box a winner and will mean tens of thousands of dollars per year to every conference member, and one win stretches that pay day out for a long time. The last time the Conference had two teams in the post season party was 1993 when another team that would leave the conference, New Mexico State, was joined by, tad da, by Long Beach State. The Beach ran to a lead on Illinois in that tourney then Seth slowed it down and LB lost 75-72 in Salt Lake City,

We close with the not so sporting Arizona State Sun Devils who the Beach beat twice earlier this year. ASU led Central Illinois 15-7 entering the ninth inning but the Sun Devils were not angelic and added 15 more runs to win 30-7.—DR. DAN.

HUGHES AND THE NINER’S RABBITS-FOOT OFFENSE TRY TO SHINE LB’S POST-SEASON RESUME

In most of the land they call this selection Sunday but the Dirtbags go to work today with the last Sunday in May in mind because if you win enough series during a college season the NCAA baseball selectors will let you play on and maybe even at home.

The Beach boys, who were in-offensive in a 2-1 loss to Houston Friday night, have a chance to win their fifth series of the young season today thanks to a re-discovered picket fence offense and more hide-the-ball pitching in a 5-1 caging of the Cougars. The Beach scored single runs in each of the first three innings and never looked back after UH jumped out in their first at-bat with a single run on Brad Lincoln's RBI-single but Marco Estrada and friends combined to hold UH to only two hits over the final eight scoreless innings. Estrada improved to 4-0 giving up a mere one run off four hits with eight strikeouts in six innings. The offense collected 11 hits led by Evan Longoria, 3-for-5 with a run and RBI, Brandon Godfrey 3-for-5 with an RBI and Sean Boatright, 2-for-4 with a run and RBI. Today Jared Hughes, 1-1, 2.61 ERA goes against Coog soph Brad Lincoln. Hughes had also better hope that the Niner luck, MIA for a week or so, sticks around. The Beach tied the game in the bottom of the first when Boatright's looping RBI-single into center field scored Chuck Sindlinger, who reached after a dropped third strike. After Marco left the Niner pitching continued to impress when Steve Hammond pitched two shutout innings out of the pen before Neil Jamison nailed the win with a perfect ninth. For your stat freaks a win this afternoon could help get the attention of the pollsters who right now have the Beach at No. 26 but would be able to grow their record to 14-8 with another 3-1 week. That’s the IF. Houston dropped to 7-10 but has played a much tougher schedule.

SUNDAY MY DUST WILL COME--With Houston still scratching away LBSU bought some late game insurance when they added two runs in the sixth inning on back-to-back singles from Sindlinger and Godfrey…and Coach Weathers noticed…”we got some of those key hits today and had some good at bats…Marco wasn’t his best today but he really competed”…and how about today’s lineup, “I told them after the game for all the positions players to get some rest because you never know what nine will be out there”…Cole Jacobson made some strong throws from third, Tom Wolf got a hit at DH and Zach Barger played a solid LF but Ked twice…a lump in the offense was 11 left on base, that’s a bit higher than the 9.15 they average and that is too darn high…the team defense is too darn low at .966 but the ERA is 2.21 so you run what you brung…my eagle eyed reader Jerry H remembered that quote from yesterday (when you tell them that Ramos only game up a couple of hits what somebody is going to say is, ‘yeah, but did the Dirtbags win?”) as a quip by Don Drysdale, when he was informed about Sandy Koufax's one-hitter…Police blotter…Bottle tosser ejected on a not-close call at third Friday night was from the Houston section but was not wearing any UCI garb…local joke from hoops…more fighting and feuding down at the BWC tourney during the USU –Fullerton game…a fight broke out between two fans with 7:25 remaining near Utah State's student section…in both cases security came to the scene and led the offending fans out of the area…at least all the coaches stayed, unlike the past couple of weekends when three got tossed at Blair…now if you are like me and Jimmy Mac, Darlene, Don and other beautiful people not available for the road to Wichita (and you are still in town) the 49er volleyballers will host the Active Ankle Tournament in the Walter next weekend playing Rutgers on Friday Night and IPFW on Saturday Night at 7:30 pm…on the softball side the Beach lost to Florida 5-0 then enjoyed a 4-0 nightcap win over LMU and wind up their party about the time you are reading this…and we called the Utah State upset of Pacific but the Big West cash box will benefit with two teams in the post party for the first time since 1993 when another team that would leave the conference, New Mexico State, was joined by, tad da, Long Beach State…the Beach ran to a lead on Illinois in that tourney then Seth slowed it down and lost 75-72 in Salt Lake…last add scoring at home… Fullerton 9, Tulane 8; Texas Tech 14, UC Irvine 10; LMU 4, UC Santa Barbara, 2; Portland 9, Pacific 7, and USC 6, Wichita State 4 …shock on—DR. DAN

HUGHES AND THE NINER’S RABBITS-FOOT OFFENSE TRY TO SHINE LB’S POST-SEASON RESUME

In most of the land they call this selection Sunday but the Dirtbags go to work today with the last Sunday in May in mind because if you win enough series during a college season the NCAA baseball selectors will let you play on and maybe even at home.

The Beach boys, who were in-offensive in a 2-1 loss to Houston Friday night, have a chance to win their fifth series of the young season today thanks to a re-discovered picket fence offense and more hide-the-ball pitching in a 5-1 caging of the Cougars. The Beach scored single runs in each of the first three innings and never looked back after UH jumped out in their first at-bat with a single run on Brad Lincoln's RBI-single but Marco Estrada and friends combined to hold UH to only two hits over the final eight scoreless innings. Estrada improved to 4-0 giving up a mere one run off four hits with eight strikeouts in six innings. The offense collected 11 hits led by Evan Longoria, 3-for-5 with a run and RBI, Brandon Godfrey 3-for-5 with an RBI and Sean Boatright, 2-for-4 with a run and RBI. Today Jared Hughes, 1-1, 2.61 ERA goes against Coog soph Brad Lincoln. Hughes had also better hope that the Niner luck, MIA for a week or so, sticks around. The Beach tied the game in the bottom of the first when Boatright's looping RBI-single into center field scored Chuck Sindlinger, who reached after a dropped third strike. After Marco left the Niner pitching continued to impress when Steve Hammond pitched two shutout innings out of the pen before Neil Jamison nailed the win with a perfect ninth. For your stat freaks a win this afternoon could help get the attention of the pollsters who right now have the Beach at No. 26 but would be able to grow their record to 14-8 with another 3-1 week. That’s the IF. Houston dropped to 7-10 but has played a much tougher schedule.

SUNDAY MY DUST WILL COME--With Houston still scratching away LBSU bought some late game insurance when they added two runs in the sixth inning on back-to-back singles from Sindlinger and Godfrey…and Coach Weathers noticed…”we got some of those key hits today and had some good at bats…Marco wasn’t his best today but he really competed”…and how about today’s lineup, “I told them after the game for all the positions players to get some rest because you never know what nine will be out there”…Cole Jacobson made some strong throws from third, Tom Wolf got a hit at DH and Zach Barger played a solid LF but Ked twice…a lump in the offense was 11 left on base, that’s a bit higher than the 9.15 they average and that is too darn high…the team defense is too darn low at .966 but the ERA is 2.21 so you run what you brung…my eagle eyed reader Jerry H remembered that quote from yesterday (when you tell them that Ramos only game up a couple of hits what somebody is going to say is, ‘yeah, but did the Dirtbags win?”) as a quip by Don Drysdale, when he was informed about Sandy Koufax's one-hitter…Police blotter…Bottle tosser ejected on a not-close call at third Friday night was from the Houston section but was not wearing any UCI garb…local joke from hoops…more fighting and feuding down at the BWC tourney during the USU –Fullerton game…a fight broke out between two fans with 7:25 remaining near Utah State's student section…in both cases security came to the scene and led the offending fans out of the area…at least all the coaches stayed, unlike the past couple of weekends when three got tossed at Blair…now if you are like me and Jimmy Mac, Darlene, Don and other beautiful people not available for the road to Wichita (and you are still in town) the 49er volleyballers will host the Active Ankle Tournament in the Walter next weekend playing Rutgers on Friday Night and IPFW on Saturday Night at 7:30 pm…on the softball side the Beach lost to Florida 5-0 then enjoyed a 4-0 nightcap win over LMU and wind up their party about the time you are reading this…and we called the Utah State upset of Pacific but the Big West cash box will benefit with two teams in the post party for the first time since 1993 when another team that would leave the conference, New Mexico State, was joined by, tad da, Long Beach State…the Beach ran to a lead on Illinois in that tourney then Seth slowed it down and lost 75-72 in Salt Lake…last add scoring at home… Fullerton 9, Tulane 8; Texas Tech 14, UC Irvine 10; LMU 4, UC Santa Barbara, 2; Portland 9, Pacific 7, and USC 6, Wichita State 4 …shock on—DR. DAN

PLEASE RESET YOUR BASEBALL CLOCKS AS THE DIRTBAG OFFENSE HAS BEEN DELAYED

If you don’t mind we will pick up this afternoon’s game as of 9:18 pm. Friday because that’s what Coach Mike Weather’s would like to do. You see it took that long before the Dirtbags “came alive and we’d like that ninth inning to carry over to Saturday.” It was in the that inning that Houston starter Matt Farrington (3-0) finally blinked giving up a leadoff single to Chuck Singlinger, Farrington exits and reliever Justin Vaclavik enters and he gives up a hit to Brandon Godfrey. The Coogs then stiffened and only a fielder's choice would cut the Houston lead to 2-1. Tom Wolf grounded out to end the baseball contest but auditions for a permanent spot in the starting lineup are still open. “I thought that Chuck and Brandon (three of the five LB hits) helped us but nobody else seems to want to claim a job out there” Weathers sighed. “We were slow making some decisions and got ourselves out of position and against a guy who can keep you off balance offensively that won’t work.”

So what about the return around first of April of sluggers Troy Tulowitzki and Danny Mocny? Weathers’ wasn’t biting, “When they do come back it’s only two guys, we still need seven others producing.” Ironically one veteran press boxer almost called the result in the first inning, “when you tell them that Ramos only game up a couple of hits what somebody is going to say is, ‘yeah, but did the Dirtbags win?’ Ouch, but the pitching truth is true. Niner ace Cesar Ramos allowed just two runs and six hits over 7.2 innings and four of them were infield bleeders. After he left Brian Anderson ran his scoreless innings streak to 20.2 consecutive over two years and is closing in on his career-best 23.0 scoreless innings mark set in 2002 and 2003. The rest of the mound plan has Marco Estrada (3-0, 2.16) trying to maintain perfection this afternoon against Kevin Roberts (1-0, 3.32), while tomorrow Jared Hughes (1-1, 2.61) will oppose Houston’s Brad Lincoln (1-2, 6.55).

BIG DANCE DUST--In honor of my uncle Lance Ito I did count to ten before assembling these hoop opinions. Men’s department. LBSU had more talent on the court than UCSB since the three most talented Gauchos (Cook, Brown, and Goettsche) were in street clothes along with their freshman flash. (Devine)…Coach Williams tricked the Beach brass by jumping out of their zone for a hustling man-to-man…ladies ready to wear will not include NCAA jewelry but there is a strong chance that a Beach bid to host a WNIT game next week in the Pyramid will be granted late Sunday night…hopefully taking better care of the basketball will also be in their future…more hoop handicapping I am worried about the nation’s longest winning streak, that 22 game run by Pacific, because of their case of nervous in the tourney turnovers. The Tigers hit 73.1 percent (19-of-26) of their free throws, and enjoyed a 38-24 advantage on the boards, but committed a season-high 23 turnovers in beating CSUN…Utah State is very unforgiving when you get careless…And our angry but faithful USC reader Jeff Clement objected to being on our not-hot list Friday night and went 2-for-3 with two home runs and four RBI as the Trojans defeated the No. 23/21 Texas Tech Red Raiders, 6-1…so no more snide comments on the following Big West brothers…Fullerton 15, Tulane 1; Oregon State 4, Northridge 1; UC Irvine 9, Wichita State 4; Riverside 5, Sacramento State 2; Santa Barbara 14. LMU 7; and Portland 10, Pacific 9…on Niner scoreboard 49er tennis team won four singles matches, including three which went three sets, en route to a 4-3 win over Loyola Marymount, in men’s v-ball Long Beach rallied from an 0-2 deficit to defeat UC San Diego, 3-2, and the No. 25-ranked Long Beach State softball team defeated Indiana, 5-0 in the first day of the LBSU Invitational…that ought to make you feel better, now back to your baseball game already in progress.--DR DAN

LEFT-HANDED COMPLIMENTS ARE NOW A DIRTBAG TRADITION AS COOGS CHALLENGE CESAR

Before there was a slick out-of-nowhere left-handed pitcher named Donnie Hume there was an out-of-Pico last-minute signee lefty named Cesar Ramos. Cesar was then called Baby Abe because he was mentored by Boston’s left handed future, Abe Alvarez, who of course was lured to Blair by the original LB lefty Gabe Gonzalez. Call him godfather Gabe.

We are reminded of this lineage after Hume debuted Tuesday with four shutout innings, giving up just two hits and striking out three on 60 pitches and was awarded the win. The Blade of course recruited himself from across the street Wilson High, just a foul ball away from the bull pen. He talked Dave Snow into giving him a look and now look at what’s happening. Any how back to the present. After taming Bears from Baylor last weekend it is now Cougars from UH who arrive with a record of 6-9 after taking two of three from LMU at home last weekend then added a mid week shutout over Sam Houston. As a team Houston is batting .273, fields at a .958 clip and sports a 4.50 team ERA. Best of the bats is Jake Stewart with his .339 average.

Lefty Matt Farrington gets the start tonight and brings a 3.10 ERA and 2-0 record. The big excitement for the Coogs was to get out of town since for the first time all season they leave the city limits. Besides 11 home games, the Cougars have played three games at the Houston Astros' Minute Maid Park and one at cross-town rival Rice's Reckling Park. The Niner have those cross town rivals too but on Tuesday Evan Longoria equaled Loyola Marymount's hit total for the night with five as the Bags plated six unanswered runs and held on for a 6-4 win. The hitting got the headlines because everybody seems to take the closing from granted. Neil Jamison picked up his sixth save with a scoreless ninth as the 49er bullpen following a double play ball in the sixth inning retired the final 11 Lions.

FILLER DUST--This will be the first time that Farrington has faced Long Beach State from the mound but he did appear in all three games at Cougar Field in 2004 as an outfielder…a pair of walks and errorless in the outfield in nine total chances….other Coog swingers are Brad Lincoln, who is scheduled to start the series finale on Sunday, but also hits well, .333…shortstop Dustin Kingsbury is tops with 10 RBIs and has a team-high seven-game hitting streak... this weekend's series also marks the 7th consecutive season that the Cougars play in recruit-rich California… Long Beach State leads the all time 3-1…they first played February 1990 at the Olive Garden Classic in Kissimmee, Fla and last year LBSU won the first two games of that series (6-1 and 4-1) before UH rebounded with a 4-2 win in the series finale…other hot dudes are Chuck Sindlinger who finished 4-for-4 with a pair of RBIs on Tuesday and catcher Chris Jones who leads LBSU with a .391 batting average…Brandon Godfrey is tops with 14 RBIs….Senor Ramos has a 3-2 record with 33 strikeouts and a 1.89 ERA in 38.0 innings and that leads the team in all three pitching Triple Crown categories…on the not-hot list is USC’s Jeff Clement who is just batting .265 with a mere two bombs…his hitting coach Dave Lawn feels Clement is getting “a tad anxious at being pitched around”…sounds familiar…Baseball America loves our pen men and says, “Setup man Brian Anderson has yet to allow a run in 12 appearances this season, while closer Neil Jamison is 2-0 with five saves in nine scoreless appearances…BWC bragging…Michael Paulk set a school record with a hit in 26 consecutive games helping Cal State Northridge defeat visiting UCLA Tuesday…Northwestern State, brought in as a Tuesday snack for the Baylor, ate the Bears 5-4 Tuesday…and like the caped crooner Elvis Joe we also bring back by popular demand the Hurricane update…Miami beat Pittsburgh 3-0 in a game that Pitt protested since they had to go outside…today around the loop it is Fullerton at Tulane; Wichita State vs. Irvine at USC, Riverside at Sac State; LMU at Santa Barbara, and Pacific at Portland….last add…as you know I ain’t certain what will happen to Diamond Dust next year but I am holding auditions for my replacement…my niece Lauren presented her sample items…”An invisible man marries an invisible woman. The kids were nothing to look at either”…and “two cannibals are eating a clown. One says to the other: "Does this taste funny to you?"--DR. DAN

LION’S CRUZ ON IN FOR A HUME-COMING OUT PARTY WITH RATINGS-RANKLED DIRTBAGS

If it takes even more than a three-win week to impress the fickle college baseball beauty contest judges than maybe this week’s guest list offers another opportunity. Last week the Dirtbags won a road series from Baylor after a midweek win over Pepperdine. Across the Lone Star tonight’s rich cousins from Westchester watched Houston tally 15 hits to win the deciding game of their three-game in Texas series 8-3. All that left LMU at 4-8, Houston 5-9 and LBSU at 11-7.

Looking back, the Baylor Bear baseball web site they explained the losses in their first two games with this headline, “Dirtbags answer each Baylor rally to clinch series.” That made me think about comebacks and why they are the most exciting element in the organized fun and games that we call sports. Comebacks mean that the faithful, who prayed and sprayed and replayed every twist and turn in the game, are rewarded at the end and allowed to feel that all those exhortations and supplications, delivered the victory. Often it was more of a mistake by the opponent, a coaching brain cramp, or a fortunate fluke by the home team, but the root of fanatic is fan and you know how fans are.

The best of the comebacks recently had to be the mad dash by Kevin Houston to run the court with 2.5 seconds left and run UCSB out of town before a rowdy homecoming night crowd of almost 3,000 in the ‘Mid. With LB trailing by a point I can’t figure out why the Gaucho brain trust didn’t deny Houston the ball but the name-tagged, balloon bashing alums loved the result. Does it mean that the recent darkness for Reynolds and company has lifted; well I’m not sure I would go that far but it almost certainly means a stay in execution for the head man but some assistant shuffling may still occur. But we digress from diamond mining. Thus far the Weather men have won six of the last seven including series over Arizona State, Saint Mary’s, San Diego State and Baylor. While Cody Evans and friends may likely appear sometime tonight, the LB start goes to freshman lefthander Donnie Hume (0-0, 6.75) against, check this, another first time starter and fellow lefty Daniel Macias who has identical stats, (0-0, 6.75).

CHOPPED DUST--And what about last Tuesday’s foe Pepperdine, they remembered the bat bag and gave South Carolina their first loss of the season with 13 hits, including four doubles, one triple and three home runs in a 7-5 win. Also up this weekend is the Beach Softball classic at Mayfair featuring Florida, Indiana, SDSU, LMU and the home girls, still missing slugger Oli Keohohou while the Beach brass sort out paperwork. Hopefully she will see the field this weekend. Why do we still fuss about that, well the missing academic work ain’t in France it is at Moorpark College and the BYU transfer finished second in the nation in home runs in 2003 with 20, led the MWC in batting average, runs, home runs, slugging percentage, walks and on-base percentage and was popular--the BYU Most Valuable Player. End of sermon…the final crowd counts are in for hoops and get this, the almost out it Niner men’s team ended up with the best Big West attendance from Santa Barbara to the F word…the Walter Pyramid average home count was 1412, followed by UCSB 1354, CSUN 1229, CSUF 1128 and leaderless UCR a mere 672…could AD Stan Morrison still have the itch and come back to coach instead of selling tickets…bring the kiddos on Sunday…thanks to Long Beach Transit kids receive admission for $1, run the bases after the game and get a FREE baseball…and this where are they…knowing full well that he is slated to pitch in the minor leagues this season, Red Sox prospect Abe Alvarez enjoyed his sneak preview of what it's like to be part of a Red Sox-Yankees game…in yesterday’s exhibition between the ancient rivals he gave up four hits and two runs in his two innings…"it was kind of like going back to my Major League start, stadium is full, big crowd, a whole lot of excitement going inside of me"...me too--DR. DAN

NO KIDDING YOU CAN CALL THEM THE COME-BACK KIDS

Last weekend on the Baylor Bear baseball web site they explained the losses in their first two games with this headline, “Dirtbags answer each Baylor rally to clinch series.” That made me think about comebacks and why they are the most exciting element in the organized fun and games that we call sports.

Comebacks mean that the faithful, who prayed and sprayed and replayed every twist and turn in the game, are rewarded at the end and allowed to feel that all those exhortations and supplications, delivered the victory. Often it was more of a mistake by the opponent, a coaching brain cramp, or a fortunate fluke by the home team, but the root of fanatic is fan and you know how fans are.

The best of the comebacks recently had to be the mad dash by Kevin Houston to run the court with 2.5 seconds left and run UCSB out of town before a rowdy homecoming night crowd of almost 3,000 in the ‘Mid. With LB trailing by a point I can’t figure out why the Gaucho brain trust didn’t deny Houston the ball but the name-tagged, balloon bashing alums loved the result. Doesn’t it mean that the recent darkness for Reynolds and company has lifted; well I’m not sure I would go that far but it almost certainly means a stay in execution for the head man but some assistant shuffling may still occur.

Oddly the LB entry that has a two game losing streak, women’s basketball losing at Cal Poly and UCSB, has the potential to create the biggest Beach post-season excitement. They earned a bye to the Big West semi’s and win that game LB would get a rematch with UCSB in the final with a NCAA dance ticket on the line. How tough is it to beat a team three times in a single season, well we’ll find out on a neutral court down in Anaheim.

PER DIEM DUST—If you see the boss please suggest a little extra in the envelope this month, just to cover the cost of gas running back and forth from the Mid to Orange County to Blair and back again. Houston is in town for the Bags this weekend and hoops keep playing until they stick a fork in ‘em.

For Beach baseball it may still be non-conference time but the opponents are look all-world. Houston plays a tough schedule and has a strong RPI, # 15 Wichita State up there is formidable and then #4 Fullerton comes to Blair Field in a non-conference series (do they call those friendlies?) This far the Weather men have won series over Arizona State, Saint Mary’s, San Diego State and Baylor but lost series to USC, and CAL.

More homecoming. Coach Alan Knipe has a lot of memories of volleyball matches in the sweat box known as the Gold Mine and with the CIF renting the Pyramid last weekend he went there once more and although it took five to beat Cal Baptist. The team returns to MPSF play Friday Night at UC San Diego. The more local connection is the Beach Softball classic at Mayfair featuring Florida, Indiana, SDSU, LMU and the home girls, still missing slugger Oli Keohohou while the Beach brass sort out paperwork. Hopefully she will see the field this weekend.

Why do we still fuss about that? Two reasons, the missing academic work ain’t in France, it is at Moorpark College, and the BYU transfer finished second in the nation in home runs in 2003 with 20, led the MWC in batting average, runs, home runs, slugging percentage, walks and on-base percentage and was popular--the BYU Most Valuable Player. End of sermon.—DR. DAN

IF IT’S TUESDAY IT MUST BE BASEBALL AND BUTANE AT BEAUTIFUL BLAIR

Ready or not here we go. Baseball is in fact a children’s game, also played by adults, so that after-school chant seems appropriate as the Dirtbags, above .500 at 8-6 and moving in the right direction after sweeping San Diego State, takes on the U with a View, Pepperdine (6-6).

The first of the pitching contestants will be Beach righty Cody Evans (0-2, 2.25) and a ton of JC experience against a really good but really green talent in Wave freshman Doug Konoske (0-0, 0.00), who will be making his collegiate debut. As far as the rest of the participants if you go by Sunday’s box score you just don’t know. Weathers and company used 18 different faces, some of which will not make the traveling squad for this weekend’s big test at No. 14-ranked Baylor. That match up, at least pitching-wise, should be a dandy starting with Friday night when Cesar Ramos (2-2, 2.32) will oppose Trey Taylor (2-1, 1.42). On Saturday Marco Estrada (2-0, 1.59) faces Baylor lefthander Cory VanAllen (2-1, 3.63) and the get-away day will see Jared Hughes (1-0, 0.56) against Mark McCormick (0-1, 6.75. The Pepps are 6-6 and played Tulane tough but lost two out of three. Coach Steve Rodriguez’s team have won series over Houston and Cal Poly and inexplicably, dropped a series to UC Santa Barbara None of the Wave numbers are eye-popping, they hit just .283 as the team has a 5.42 ERA.. The best of the boppers is Steve Kleen, .388 average and 15 RBIs, while catcher Chad Tracy, yes Jim’s kid, is batting .365 with 13 runs and 12 RBIs.

AND NOW THE REST OF THE DUST—It took a while but transfer catcher Chris Jones has earned a spot as the starting catcher this season…by hitting a lusty and team-best .407 over the first 10 games with five runs and four RBIs. Jones, a backup last year after transferring from Fresno City College, has made seven starts at catcher….elsewhere around the Big West today and tonight are Cal Poly at UC Santa Barbara; Fullerton at San Diego State; UNLV at UC Irvine; Riverside at USC, and peeking ahead Baylor has traveled to UT-San Antonio…keeping you on your sneaker toes, the two new basketball wunderkinds, Aaron Nixon and Dominique Ricks got all-Conference JUCO honors…Nixon was chosen 1st Team all-Foothill Conference and Rick's was selected Co-MVP of the very competitive Orange Empire League…so there could be light in the 2006 tunnel...I was going to try and sort out those changes in the Bag lineup when web whiz Jeff of Dirtbag baseball blog did it for us, so here he goes…”Coach Weathers really shook up the lineup yesterday. Freshman Zach Barger saw his first action as a Dirtbag, starting in left field and going 1 for 3. He looks to be a good line drive hitter, making good contact in his at bats. Evan Longoria moved over to 3rd, and freshman Donnie Ecker started at shortstop for the first time...and hit leadoff. Senior Cole Jacobsen started at 2nd. The moves seemed to have the desired effect, as the Dirtbags tallied 11 hits and 6 runs (5 earned). Most importantly, the first 4 batters, Donnie Ecker, Chris Jones, Brandon Godfrey, and Sean Boatright (who DH'ed for the second day in a row after returning from his hamstring injury) came through in a big way. Donnie went 1 for 2 (a double), had a sac hit, and scored a run. He was also hit by a pitch, and stole a base. Chris went 3 for 5 (including a double), with 2 RBI and scored a run. Chris also stole a base. Brandon Godfrey also doubled, while going 2 for 4, driving in 2, and scoring 2. All Sean did was go 3 for 5 (also including a double...my kind of broken record) with an RBI. We haven't seen this kind of production from the top of the order since the ASU series” … see I told you he was a good read…now my complaint dept….Baylor junior right-hander Abe Woody has been named to the initial watch list for the 2005 National Stopper of the Year Award, there are 30, but our guys Anderson and Jamison aren’t on the list… news from our Boston sources, for the first spring dance between the world champs and the Yankees on Monday the BoSox will start Abe Alvarez who is still staring at the World Series ring he earned for his trip to the bigs last season…get on down to Fort Myers and catch it with me—DR. DAN