Coyotes ready to whistle against Dixie

Victoria Sun

Thursday, March 14, 2002 | 10:30 a.m.

The Community College of Southern Nevada baseball team will get a good indicator of how it measures up when it hosts No. 2-ranked Dixie Junior College for doubleheaders Friday and Saturday afternoon.

The Coyotes are 20-4 overall and tied with Dixie in the Scenic West Athletic Conference at 7-1.

"They've generally been the best team in the conference for the last four years," CCSN coach Tim Chambers said. "I think they've gone to the (Junior) College World Series the last two years.

"I don't think I'd be too disappointed if we split or went 3-1. If we sweep them, it would be fantastic."

Friday's games will be at 4 p.m. and 7 p.m. while Saturday's games start at 1 p.m. and 4 p.m.

Left-handed pitcher Jake Vose will start Friday's first game for CCSN followed by right-hander Derek Rodriguez Friday night. Righty Josh Kerschen will start Saturday's early game followed by Ryan Myers.

Offensively, CCSN is led by shortstop Zeke Parraz, who is hitting .485 with nine doubles, 24 RBIs and 20 runs scored in 23 games.

Andy D'Angelo (.406, 18 RBIs and 29 runs) sets the table as the Coyotes' leadoff hitter. He'll be followed by outfielder Landon Minear (.329, 20 RBIs and 20 runs) then Parraz in the batting order.

As a team, CCSN is hitting .306 with an earned-run average of 3.06.

Chambers said CCSN may not be as experienced as last year's team, but this year's squad is deeper.

Because the conference has switched from aluminum to wood bats, teams must rely more on fundamentals and solid defense to win games.

"Offensively, we're probably as good as we were last year," Chambers said. But it's a big difference having to use wood bats. We've got to be able to bunt more and move runners over. Speed is also a big factor. I think we've stolen 95 bases in 24 games so speed will be a factor this weekend."

The fact that CCSN and Dixie are big rivals will fuel the intensity of the series.

So will the knowledge that whoever wins the conference gets to host the conference tournament at the end of the regular season.

"This is a very important series," Chambers said. "They've typically recruited a bunch of kids from Las Vegas.

"It's important for us to show that we can play with them and it's a big advantage to win the league. Whatever team shows up with the most emotion and plays the best defense will come out ahead."