Las Vegas Sun

March 28, 2024

Desert to championship

GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. -- Just because the Community College of Southern Nevada won its first Junior College World Series on Saturday night, the Coyotes' athletic director will not boost the baseball coach's salary.

"No, I won't give myself a raise," said Tim Chambers, the holder of both titles. "We're going to try to save money and find a way to develop this (athletic) program and make this thing special, not just the baseball program."

When Chambers first looked at a few barren acres behind CCSN in Henderson four years ago, he envisioned a well-appointed baseball stadium and predicted powerhouse status within three to five years.

The Coyotes' solid performance at the World Series showed that Chambers, who spent eight years at Bishop Gorman High before landing at CCSN, can accomplish major goals and meet his own lofty expectations.

"From the desert to a national championship in four years is incredible," said Ken White, who assisted Chambers at Gorman for six years before taking over that program when Chambers left to start the Coyotes.

"He has to be the hottest coach in America right now. This has put him on the map, that's for sure."

Chambers, 38, certainly has been well known in and around Las Vegas. He had heard plenty about himself over the past 10 years. Many of those claims, that Chambers-led squads were certifiable playoff flops, were within his earshot.

He said it got to the point where he started believing it, because he had been listening to that chatter for so long. He wondered what he was doing wrong, why his teams weren't excelling at the most important time of the season.

"Then I backed off myself," Chambers said. "It's tough. You have to catch ball the reaks. You have to have the right team chemistry. You have to have the right bunch of guys. Then, everybody who makes it to the postseason loses their last game, except for one team."

Saturday night at Suplizio Field, that one team was CCSN.

The fourth-year program's epic week started with a loss to Seminole (Fla.) College, then the Coyotes (55-10) won five in a row -- three by mercy rule -- to win the championship.

CCSN clinched it with a 4-1 victory against San Jacinto-North (52-13), of Houston, Texas, the second time in three days that the Coyotes had defeated the country's top-ranked team.

Chambers even heard some tough talk from John Hoover, his coach at Pleasant Grove (Utah) High and the only mentor/father figure Chambers has ever known. When CCSN was 30-1 in a recent season, Chambers rang Hoover to boast of his record.

"And I said, 'That don't mean (squat),' " Hoover said. "There was so much emphasis on winning early that he lost the vision. The big thing is at the end, and I think he figured that out. The last couple of years, that's one thing he's taken from me.

"Regional championships, and all that other stuff, don't matter. As long as you get a chance to play for all the marbles. With the right consistency, you'll have that chance."

Chambers first met Hoover before his freshman year of high school, when his mother, Rena, moved him and his older brother away from undesirable Southern California influences in Ontario, Calif.

Under Hoover's guidance, Chambers developed a strong work ethic and turned himself into an above-average outfielder with enough talent to receive an athletic scholarship.

Chambers left Dixie State College for Utah Valley for personal reasons, then returned to Utah, at Southern Utah University, after a stint at Georgia College proved unsavory.

At Southern Utah, he met his future wife, Kim, a Las Vegas native. The Guinness folks, or a Hollywood film crew, should have observed their smooch late Saturday night at Suplizio.

Chambers moved to Las Vegas after marrying Kim in 1990 and, certain that his playing skills had taken him as far as they could, took an assistant's post, via acquaintances, at Gorman. Within two years, he was the Gaels' head coach.

Gorman did not win a state title during his eight seasons, finishing second once and third another year. CCSN is 196-46 (.810) under Chambers.

"It's a personal thing," he said. "There has always been people who said, 'His teams always choke when it comes to the playoffs.' I think that's been unfair. We had some good teams ... is that a reflection of me, or just athletics?

"Sometimes, you just don't get it done."

He took over at CCSN after the college had initially hired well-known Rodger Fairless, who quickly resigned for health reasons, and the Coyotes played as an independent team for two seasons.

Lied Field came first, which boasts of a plush mixture of Bermuda and bluegrass, then Chambers built a park just beyond the fence that runs along the left-field foul line.

After the 2001 season, when CCSN joined the Scenic West Athletic Conference, he oversaw the construction of the baseball offices and clubhouse. That's when the boulder-like stands were built, too. Last summer, a press box was installed.

The Coyotes, 17 of whom hail from the Las Vegas area, upended longtime incumbent Dixie State, of St. George, Utah, to dominate the SWAC title this season.

(Returning from Colorado on Sunday, around noon, Chambers directed the team bus to stop in St. George, where he bought ice cream for everyone. They only jokingly pondered showing off their new hardware on the Dixie campus.)

Catcher C.J. Ebarb (Jasper, Texas), outfielder Calvin Beamon (Aurora, Colo.) and three former Pleasant Grove players said the impressive CCSN facilities influenced them to commit to Chambers.

Local business leaders believed in Chambers, whose budget is padded by the three dozen commercial banners, at roughly $5,000 apiece, that adorn the Lied outfield fence.

"I'm not afraid to ask," Chambers said. "When you're out there asking people to commit to something that you think is special, you have to make them believe it's special, too. It is special, and we can do special things if we can keep them here to play."

Chambers is especially grateful for contributions from Christina Hixson, trustee of the Lied Foundation, and Marc Morse, who played for Chambers at Gorman and inherited millions of dollars upon his graduation.

Until Sunday afternoon -- when Chambers publicly revealed Morse's identity and his generosity, about $800,000, at a welcome-home celebration at Lied Field -- Morse was an anonymous donor.

"Without them, we wouldn't be here," Chambers said. "Without those two, we'd be gone. That would be a shame, because everyone has known about the baseball talent in Las Vegas for a long time."

Chambers will require much more help to turn his bigger dream into reality. Because of financial deficiencies, he was forced to cut both the men's and women's basketball programs, and women's soccer, in the spring.

Chambers dealt with all of that negativity -- "and heartache," he said -- during his season.

"We moved too fast," he said. "I really wanted to see this athletic department bloom, and I believe it will. I believe we'll bring it back and we'll have a full-fledged athletic program here in the future. That's one of my goals."

He achieved another one Saturday, extinguishing that myth that had been dogging him for nearly 10 years.

"I feel like I know how to win," he said. "They know when we're serious, and when we want to have fun. They separate the two. And managing people is a huge key. If you can manage people and keep everyone in your corner, you'll have success."

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