Soaring with the Eagles

Tony Altobelli

Concordia University’s baseball season came to a screeching halt,

losing early in the playoffs, but not before two local players were named

to the All-Golden State Athletic Conference Team.

Charles Chatman (Costa Mesa High) put up phenomenal numbers for the

Eagles, batting .374 and held a strong case for GSAC Player of the Year,

which went to his teammate, Derek Patterson.

Chatman led the conference with 15 home runs, 22 stolen bases, six

triples, was second with 71 hits, third in runs scored with 58 and fourth

in RBIs with 52.

Only a junior look to see Chatman put up even bigger numbers next season

for Concordia.

Chatman’s teammate, senior pitcher Matt Brosamle (Costa Mesa High) was

another All-GSAC selection.

Broesamle went 7-5 with a 5.52 ERA, helping the Eagles post the best team

ERA (5.10) in the conference.

Brosamle was fourth in the conference with 64 strikeouts and he posted

three complete games.

Perhaps due to the effective National Anthem singing of Katie Achterberg,

the NCAA decided to keep the Regional Playoffs as fair as possible and

kept Princeton University and former Corona del Mar standout Ryan

Achterberg away from this area for the playoffs.

Instead of heading to Fullerton, as originally predicted, the Tigers will

travel to Houston for the South Regional.

The Tigers (24-18) will take on the host Cougars (44-15) Friday in the

first round of the regionals.

Joining Achterberg in this four-team regional is Rice University’s John

Lukin (Orange Coast College). Lukin will try to lead his Owls club back

to the College World Series for the second year in a row.

Just missing a trip to the regionals with Long Beach State was former

Pirates standout Ryan Clark.

The 49ers were beaten by Cal State Fullerton, leaving the Beach on the

outside looking in.

Latest tidbits and stats from the three former local players, Marty

Cordova, Brent Mayne and Rich Amaral currently playing at the Major

League level.

Cordova (Orange Coast College) is currently hitting .273 with two home

runs and 11 RBIs in his first year with the Toronto Blue Jays.

Cordova averaged 16 home runs and 75 RBIs per season in his previous five

years with the Minnesota Twins.

Mayne (Costa Mesa High, Orange Coast College) is finding the thin air of

Colorado to his liking.

Platooning at catcher with Scott Servais, Mayne is hitting .312 with a

home run and 14 RBIs for the Rockies.

Amaral, who is a reserve outfielder for the Baltimore Orioles is hitting

.196 with three RBIs.

Amaral is a .276 lifetime hitter with 489 hits and 175 RBIs in 10 Major

League seasons.