COMMUNITY COLLEGE BASEBALL : Another Tough Season Set to Start Today

The community college baseball season, which starts today, figures to be much like recent ones.

Rancho Santiago is the favorite in the Orange Empire Conference, considered the best conference in California and perhaps the nation. Orange Empire Conference teams have won three of the last four State titles. Cypress won last season and in 1991. Rancho Santiago won in 1993.

“Playing in this conference is like getting up each morning smashing your toe into a door,” Fullerton Coach Nick Fuscardo said.

Teams will face one major change this season, however. A new format for tournaments has been adopted to lower travel and overnight expenses.

Teams will play two games a day against scheduled opponents, with only one night’s stay allowed. Opponents will no longer be determined if a team wins or loses in most cases.

For example: Cypress opens today in the College of the Desert tournament against Victor Valley at Angel Stadium in Palm Springs at 12:30 p.m. The Chargers play Riverside at College of the Desert at 4:30 p.m. Cypress plays College of the Desert and Grossmont Saturday in the same tournament.

Coaches are worried about their pitchers, because the recent rains have prevented many from getting enough work. Catchers also will be taxed.

“It stinks,” Cypress Coach Scott Pickler said. “This is the worst thing we’ve ever done.”

The change is a result of a statewide move in 1993 to cut costs by reducing the number of games. Coaches proposed this format as an alternative to losing two games. The statewide proposal to eliminate two games was dropped and no other sports made such significant changes.

“We were victims of being nice guys,” Rancho Santiago Coach Don Sneddon said. “On the plus side, the parents will get to see their kids play more.”

Notes

The season starts Saturday for the county’s other five teams: In 10 a.m. games in the Fullerton/Cerritos tournament: Chaffey is at Rancho Santiago, Los Angeles Pierce is at Fullerton and Southwestern visits Orange Coast. At 2 p.m.: College of the Canyons is at Fullerton, Chaffey travels to Orange Coast and Southwestern is at Rancho Santiago.

In the Palo Mesa tournament: Glendale (Ariz.) is at Saddleback at 9:30 a.m. and Canada is at Saddleback at 2 p.m. In the South Bay tournament: Golden West plays Los Angeles Mission at Carson High at 10 a.m. The Rustlers are at Los Angeles Harbor at 2 p.m. Conference play starts Feb. 25.