Playing professional softball has been a dream for 32-year-old assistant coach Ran-di Berg ever since she was young, playing in Little League.

Berg and her twin sister Laura started playing softball together at the age of 5 and they both rose to the ranks of profes-sional competition at a rapid pace.

“Laura and I were both fortunate to have eight women on our high school team who also played travel ball, which helped us get ready for any upcoming compe-tition,” Berg said

At the age of 12, Berg got a chance to play for the Amateur Softball Association where she fl ourished, capturing numer-ous All-American honors.

During Berg’s collegiate career with the Fresno State University Bulldogs, she re-ceived many acco-lades, including being named to the sec-ond team All-West Region and All-WAC Conference as a junior and winning the coveted Golden Glove Award

With a career batting average of .278, a total of 212 hits, 36 doubles, eight triples, and 82 RBIs, Berg ranked among the top softball players to ever wear a Bulldog jer-sey.

Berg has been a world-class athlete since becoming a USA National Team member in 1994, helping to earn three gold medals for its softball team.

“It’s always nice to get recognition for something you’ve done but the real award for me is seeing women I’ve coached get their recognition and awards,” Berg said. “I fi nd that to be more rewarding to me than any plaque or trophy that just col-lects dust.”

Four players whom Berg has coached on a 12-and-under team in Fresno have gone on to play at FSU.

After three Olympic Festivals and ASA All-American honors, Berg hung up her amateur cleats and began a long career as

a professional in the sport of soft-ball.

Berg took a huge leap and began playing for the Women’s Professional Soft-ball League.

In 1999, she was named the WPSL Defensive Player of the Year and in 2000, she won the WPSL crown as a mem-ber of the Florida Wahoos.

After playing with the WPSL, Berg took a new

turn in her career when she was drafted to where she plays now, at the National Professional Fastpitch X-treme Tour.

“These days, as softball and baseball are being taken out of the Olympics, it’s great for young girls to see us play and know that there is a place for them,” Berg said.

Aside from coaching the Warriors along side Suzie Calderon for the past three years, Berg also has an under 16 team that she coaches for the Amateur Softball As-sociation of America (ASA).

“One can learn so much from being a

coach,” Berg said. “I can tell the women what they’re doing wrong until I’m blue in the face, but unless they can fi nally feel it for themselves they will never know.”

Berg feels that one must be a coach be-fore they can truly understand the ins and outs of softball.

“If you can sit down and actually watch a baseball or softball game and not social-ize with your friends, you can learn so much by just watching,” Berg said.

After all she has accomplished, Berg is ready to take a new path in her soft-ball career.

“This is my last year coaching at EC,” Berg said

“I’m going to keep coaching the un-der 16 ASA team but I’m moving back up to Fresno with my sister and I want to open up camps, clinics and lessons for young girls; it’s my turn to give back to the sport,” she said.

Following a state championship season, one would typically expect a team to have a target on its back with other teams gunning to knock them off the top of the mountain.

For the football team, it isn’t just Mission Conference foes on the chase; scouts from some of the top college football programs in the country congregated at Warrior football practice Tuesday to lock in on some of the top players in the state.

“This is a good football program,” Earl Lane, defen-sive line coach at Louisiana State University, said. “We go recruit wherever the talent is and there is talent here.”

Attending Tuesday’s practice were scouts from Okla-homa State, LSU, USC and Ohio State. Three of the schools (LSU, USC and Ohio State) have won Division I national championships in the last fi ve seasons.

“Coach (John) Featherstone told us they’re here to see all of us,” linebacker Tolu Moala said. “It makes us work

harder to show our ability.”The Warriors did just that, going through their normal

stretching and position drills on the North Athletic Field before heading to Murdoch Stadium to continue the practice, where the team participated in 7-on-7 drills.

It isn’t the fi rst time scouts have come to see the foot-ball team perform and it certainly won’t be the last.

“In 1989 we had our biggest recruiting season ever,” coach John Featherstone said. “We had 25 to 30 players move on to Division I or II programs.”

“This year, we’re looking to equal or surpass that number,” Featherstone said.

Like last season, when quarterback Lyle Moavao transferred to Oregon State before the season began, some players on the team are being looked at by Divi-sion I football programs and may not be with the team next season.

Cornerback Joseph Perkins is one of the players who may be leaving. Perkins said he is currently deciding be-tween Arizona and LSU.

“I leave Friday for Arizona on an offi cial recruiting visit,” Perkins said. “But it will probably be LSU over-all.”

Scouts in attendance said they were impressed by the display put on by the defending champions.

“They’ve got everything here. You can’t help but look at both offense and defense,” Gunter Brewer, wide re-ceivers coach and passing game coordinator for Okla-homa State said.

While the team is happy with its state championship, the players said they are shooting for bigger goals this season.

“We will take the state championship,” Moala said. “We were satisfi ed with that last season, but the national championship is what we’re aiming for this season.”

The players noticed that eyes from all over the coun-try are on them, but say that it isn’t going to affect their on fi eld performance.

“We know the scouts are here but nobody is nervous,” wide receiver Verran Tucker said. “We’re going to go about our business.”

“We know we’re a good team; we’ve got a lot of great players,” defensive lineman John Finau said. “We know what is expected of us.”

Scouts in attendance said that the team should get used to the spotlight, because it isn’t going away any-time soon.

“There are a lot of Division I players here,” Brewer said. “I would not be surprised to see a lot of coaches come through here this spring.”

Sports May 3, 2007 El Camino College Union

Robert Doss, Matt Lopez, sports editors: eccunionsports@yahoo.com8

In the words of the late great James Brown, “This is a man’s world, but it wouldn’t be nothing with-out a wom-an’s touch.”

Sports and athletics have always been dominated by men and their i n s a t i a b l e need to be competitive.

However, with the passing of Title IX 35 years ago, women have progressed slowly in terms of athletic support and fi nancing.

Several WNBA teams had to fold because fans just were not coming to see them play.

Because people are not watch-ing them does not mean that women are capable of achieving great feats in sports.

Just last weekend, our own women’s swim team shattered a school record that has stood for almost three decades.

When the record was fi rst ob-tained in 1981, Cheryl Miller had yet to lead the USA women’s bas-ketball team to its fi rst gold med-al in the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles.

Annika Sorenstam, also known as the female Tiger Woods, did not know that golf existed.

These are the women who paved the way for Lisa Leslie, center for the Los Angeles Sparks of the WNBA and Michelle Wie, the next great golf phenom.

Besides being great play-ers, women have become great coaches and owners. Pat Summit recently coached the Tennessee Volunteers to their sixth NCAA championship during her tenure.

Randi Berg may potentially be the next infl uential woman in sports history. She has already had a tremendous amount of suc-cess in her life as a softball player and coach.

Maybe she will start a natio-wide chain of clinics that will further open the doors for young girls and women.

People didn’t notice women in sports before because it was taboo, but female athletess have always existed. Wilma Rudolph was able to overcome childhood polio to win three gold medals in the 1960 Summer Olympics in Rome.

For all anyone knows, the next great infl uential woman in sports history can be attending or coach-ing here at EC.

POINTExtra

Women are as capable asmen in sports

RobertDoss

Scouts arrive to watch Warriors

Matt LopezCo-Sports Editor

Professional dreams become reality for EC softball coach

Berenice Salazar/UnionRandi Berg, assistant coach of the softball team, who is leaving after this year to pursue other interests.

James GobeeStaff Writer

Tempers fl are as baseball team falls to Seahawks

Dennis Alvillar/Union

Third baseman Dane Braunecker fi elds a ground ball in Tuesday’s 8-7 loss to Los Angeles Harbor. The loss drops the Warriors to second place, with two games left this season with Pasadena City.

“

”

It’s always nice to get rec-ognition for something you’ve done, but the real award for me is seeing the women I’ve coached get their recognition and awards.

— Randi BergSoftball assistant coach

Scouts from Division I college football programs hit Murdoch Stadium to see state champion football team practice.

With two outs and a runner on second base in the bottom of the ninth inning, right fi elder Ross Babineaux stepped to the plate against conference rival L.A. Harbor Seahawks, with the baseball team down by a run and fi rst place on the line.

On a 1-2 count, Babineaux chased a fast-ball for strike three, giving the Seahawks an 8-7 victory in a game that had a playoff atmosphere. The Warriors 29-13 (16-6) fell to second place in the South Coast Confer-ence.

“Final four intensity. That was awe-some,” Seahawks coach Marco Alvillar said.

Coach Nate Fernley agreed, saying the raucous atmosphere added to the game.

“They like to talk. From the fi rst pitch they were just on you,” Fernley said.

Now, the Warriors must beat Pasadena twice today and tomorrow and hope that the Seahawks lose one of two to East L.A. in order to win the conference.

EC would fi nish with the same record as the Seahawks in that situation, but the

Warriors hold the tiebreaker having won two out of three against Harbor.

Garrett Ozar suffered his fi rst loss of the season (11-1) after going 6 1/3 innings, giving up fi ve earned runs on four hits, striking out three, hitting two batters and walking four.

“I was a lot more nervous than I usually am coming into a game. It was a big game. I was going for 12-0, but more importantly fi rst place was on the line,” Ozar said.

Relief pitcher Eric Morales came in to try and stop the bleeding. He got the fi rst hitter he faced to pop out, but could not get out of the inning.

“Morales just could not put anybody away,” Fernley said.

Tempers fl ared in the seventh inning when designated hitter Richard Arcienega apparently slid in to third base with his cleats up.

“The guy who slid feet up at third came in at (home) plate then throws an elbow at me when I am just standing there,” Duarte said. “That is bush league. Then he got all big on me and I lost it.”

That is when the game took on a whole new spin.

“I do not like that team; they have no class and they play dirty,” Estrada said.

In the bottom of the seventh, Duarte came up to lead off and retaliated.

“I was cleaning the box with my feet and when I came back I swiped it a little hard; it was dirty,” Duarte said. “I was pissed and I let my emotions get the best of me.”

Fernley immediately removed Duarte from the game.

“Derrek did something he should not have, so at that point we had to take him out,” Fernley said.

That emotion seemed to have sparked the team as it went on to trim a fi ve-run defi cit to one.

But it fell short and hard feelings fol-lowed after the Seahawks celebrated as if they won the World Series.

“They are just a bunch of classless jerks,” Duarte said. “Harbor in baseball is just what you do not want to be like.”

Many on the team are salivating over a possible rematch in the postseason against the Seahawks.

“I hope we face them again in the play-offs,” Ozar said.

Rolando RodriguezStaff Writer