CMC75 Moments: 1988 Baseball Rolls to SCIAC Title, Earns NCAA Bid

As part of the buildup to the 75th Anniversary celebration for Claremont McKenna College (visit CMC's 75th Anniversary Countdown Page to learn more), we are reliving many of the great moments from CMS athletic department history over the 75-day countdown from April 17 to July 1. If you were a part of this great moment and would like to add to the memories, or if you would like to submit your memories of your own favorite CMS Athletics moments, fill out the form on our main 75th Anniversary page.

Great Moments from 75 Years of Athletics
1988 Baseball Goes 16-2 in SCIAC to Earn Top-10 Ranking, NCAA Bid

The 1988 CMS baseball team had been seven years removed from its last trip to the NCAA Tournament, but put forth one of the most dominant seasons in program history to earn its way back onto the postseason stage under first-year Head Coach Randy Town.

The Stags opened up 6-0 in SCIAC play with a three-game sweep of Redlands, including an 8-7 win in the middle game, and a three-game sweep of Caltech, and then rattled off 10 straight SCIAC wins after their first defeat (to Whittier), including a three-game whitewash of Pomona-Pitzer (23-2, 6-1, 22-2). Out of conference, the Stags added an impressive doubleheader sweep of perennial power Wisconsin-Whitewater (17-9, 13-8).

CMS ended the regular season with a 28-9 overall record, a 16-2 record in conference, and a No. 10 national ranking, earning a trip to the NCAA Division III Regionals at CSU Stanislaus. Paul Urrutia won the team's MVP honor, Scott Stallings was the Most Valuable Pitcher, Kraig Johnson took the Golden Glove honor and Daren Hengesbach was the Most Improved Player. Making the All-SCIAC First Team were Stallings, Urrutia, Johnson, Karl Gneiting, Chris Dabrow, Rick Jones and Neil Nichols, while Hengesbach was on the second team. 

Karl Gneiting:

I think to understand '88 (from my perspective) you have to understand the previous two seasons. The recruiting class of '86 included Scott, Kraig, Rick, Dennis and myself. All of us immediately contributed significant roles (Scott and I as starting pitchers, Dennis out of the bullpen, Kraig started at second base and Rick in the outfield, DH and pinch hitter) as freshman and we ended up co-champs of SCIAC for the first time in over a decade. However, we ended up not getting a bid to the NCAAs and that left a bitter taste. We came back with high expectations the next year and through a number of issues and challenges had a very, very disappointing year. So, to say there was a chip on our shoulder entering the '88 season would be an understatement. 

Set up to the '88 season. Fresh off a terrible campaign in '87 when we were projected to win SCIAC, and with our head coach bolting for greener pastures, the team definitely set on the edge of a precipice. But, I believe there were a number of things that pushed us to be the great team we were that year. 1) Great veteran leadership from the juniors and seniors who were committed to getting back to championship baseball, 2) A nice influx of freshman talent (Pete and Neil particularly come to mind) and one year of experience for the sophomores (Paul and David) who were hungry to win, 3) Very inspirational return of Kraig (he had a horrific leg injury near the end of his freshman year that by all rights should have ended his career) that I think exemplified, and solidified our team culture - dedication, hard work, and a passion to play for each other, 4) leadership from Chris behind the plate and again his inspiration dealing with diabetes and everything he had to deal with so he could play - how could you not want to play as hard as you can when you got these two guys putting everything they have into it? 

This group had the "it" factor you so often hear about in sports - full of clichés and hard to describe, the group really had each others' backs and had a great time together on and off the field. The team was loose and free, but never did you question the effort, determination and grit (and if ever we got too serious or tense, we had Dennis there to keep us loose and free - which lead to a team chemistry and culture that refused to lose). Truly a band of brothers and if one part of the game was off on a given day (pitching, defense or offense), the other parts would pick them up. Synergistic baseball at its finest, you just knew the other guys had your back.

A few fun memories of that group included the "Cone" (important team bonding and belief system to help hitters when the count is 2-2 with two outs - hold your hat out, open side up and shake it); playing one on one, full-court basketball tournaments in Ducey (to 100 points) with coach Rick Carver and some of the guys and never starting before 10-11 PM (served as a major conditioning routine); Rick charging the mound in a game when he got hit by a 70 MPH curveball (not really how you do it, but we were all in behind him anyway, LOL); the "juice", and of course, kicking the living tail out of Pomona, at their field, was awesome, even us pitchers got to play positions and hit in those games (I hit one off the wall in left field, missed a college home run by about two feet... grr); and one more personal one, I came two outs shy of throwing a no-hitter against Whittier that year, 1 out, bottom of the ninth, oh so close.

Rick Jones:

There were a lot of factors that made 1988 such a solid season for our team. I feel the major factor in play for that year was that we did have a new Head Coach in Randy Town. He had the exact demeanor and personality that the juniors and seniors on the team needed. We all were fortunate enough to get back to "playing" baseball. Coach Town had his structure and rules but he was a players coach.  We got to be ourselves and enjoy the game again. It was very freeing and created a relaxed atmosphere that allowed each player to do their thing.

Once everyone was able to relax and play their game the early success became contagious, snowballed and fed the team as a unit. We had a lot of different personalities on that team that were able to come together and bond as a group given the new atmosphere created by Coach Town, which led to a successful and incredibly fun season.

1988 Baseball Roster
Head Coach: Randy Town
Assistant Coaches: Jack Helber, Rick Carver
Corey Ahart (So., OF, CMC)
Dennis Bricker (Jr., RHP, CMC)
John Cahill (Fr., LHP, CMC)
Richard Chino (So., RHP, CMC)
Chris Cubbage (Fr., 1B, CMC)
Chris Dabrow (Sr., C, CMC)
Lou Diaz (Fr., 3B, CMC) 
Eric Funasaki (So., RHP, HMC)
Karl Gneiting (Jr., RHP, CMC)
Daren Hengesbach (Sr., OF, CMC)
Mark Hoyt (Sr., OF, CMC)
Tom Isaak (Fr., 3B/C, CMC)
Kraig Johnson (Jr., 2B, CMC)
Rick Jones (Jr., OF, CMC)
Jeff Meyer (So., OF, CMC)
Neil Nichols (Fr., DH/OF, CMC)
Dave Pierson (So., 1B, CMC)
Andy Sallee (Fr., 1B, CMC)
Scott Stallings (Jr., RHP, CMC)
Paul Urrutia (So., SS, CMC)
Pete Young (Fr., RHP, CMC)