One-year wonder

Thursday, June 2, 2005 | 9:16 a.m.

J.C. Sibley, UNLV senior center fielder

Friday

Game 1 -- No. 1 Coastal Carolina (48-14) vs. No. 4 UNLV (34-27), 2 p.m.

Game 2 -- No. 2 Arizona State (34-22) vs. No. 3 East Carolina (35-24), 7 p.m.

Saturday

Game 3 -- Game 1 loser vs. Game 2 loser, 2 p.m.

Game 4 -- Game 1 winner vs. Game 2 winner, 7 p.m.

Sunday

Game 5 -- Game 3 winner vs. Game 4 loser, 11 a.m.

Game 6 -- Game 4 winner vs. Game 5 winner, 3 p.m.

Monday *

Game 5 -- Game 6 winner vs. Game 5 loser, 6 p.m.

* -- A game Monday would be necessary only if Game 4 winner defeats Game 5 winner Sunday night.

UNLV center fielder J.C. Sibley went to Kansas University two falls ago consumed with showing his new teammates, and the entire Big 12 Conference, how he helped the Community College of Southern Nevada win a national championship.

A bitter winter and ensuing philosophical differences with Jayhawks coach Ritch Price helped convince Sibley that Lawrence, Kan., was not the place for him.

"I put a lot of pressure on myself at Kansas," he said. "I was the leadoff hitter from the junior college national championship team, so I felt like I was supposed to do so much.

"I put so much pressure on myself to be so good and to be this big-time player. When I struggled a little bit, I got down on myself more and more. When I came here, the first thing I said to myself was, 'Know what? I'm just going to play to have fun.' "

Sibley found what he was looking for in his own back yard.

He leads the Rebels with a .383 batting average, and UNLV coach Buddy Gouldsmith points to Sibley's experience and hustle as key components that have guided the team to the NCAA tournament.

Fourth-seeded UNLV (34-27) plays top-seeded Coastal Carolina (48-14) on Friday in the double-elimination Tempe, Ariz., regional. Arizona State (34-22) and East Carolina (35-24) meet in the other game at Packard Stadium.

"He really rose to the occasion and sparked our team," Gouldsmith said. "He makes things happen and people feed off of him."

With only one season to give his hometown Division I program a boost, Sibley disappointed nobody -- especially himself -- after struggling at Kansas.

"I want to win," he said. "But, most important, I wanted to have fun here with some of my buddies from a long time ago. I just wanted to have fun and enjoy the season with them. That's been the biggest thing.

"And I didn't take it so hard each time I struggled. I think I grew up a little more. I just relaxed. I didn't think as much."

Sibley, 23, taxes his brain enough away from the diamond. He is a year away from earning a degree in kinesiology, with a psychology minor, and plans to build a career in physical therapy, sports training or the chiropractic field.

The lectures in that physiology course at Kansas last year were challenging, because of their 8 a.m. start. The laboratory work, though, fascinated Sibley.

Once, he dissected female rats, removing their ovaries to test how their estrogen levels reacted.

"That was awesome," Sibley said. "I enjoy that kind of stuff."

He marvels over the human anatomy, how muscles and ligaments and tendons intertwine, and work together, to form a complex and efficient machine.

And he has been his own guinea pig, since Sibley has been constantly plagued by injuries since he started playing at Bishop Gorman High for coach Tim Chambers, who started CCSN's program six years ago.

"As many injuries as he's had, he's had the opportunity to sit in a lot of physical therapy offices," said Ken White, Sibley's stepfather. "He got an education on it before he went to school."

Don't be surprised, Sibley said, if Gouldsmith removes him in a late inning Friday against Coastal Carolina, because his latest injury has aggravated him the most.

Against Brigham Young three weeks ago in Provo, Utah, Sibley sprained his right shoulder. After practice at Wilson Stadium on Tuesday, he said the shoulder bothered him but it was improving every day.

In a tight game against Coastal, if Gouldsmith needs an arm in center that he can depend on ...

"That's part of the game," Sibley said. "That's good baseball right there."

After sustaining the injury, he immediately sought relief and insight from UNLV assistant athletic trainer Bernie Chavies, who showed Sibley a large model skeleton to point out the hot spot in his shoulder.

"I had to understand the injury and know what to stay away from," Sibley said. "I'm very curious when it comes to that stuff, knowing all about it and what we can do to make it better, to strengthen it."

Which always has been his goal in baseball.

With some convincing by White, Sibley picked CCSN over Lewis-Clark State College, an NAIA program in Lewiston, Idaho, out of Bishop Gorman.

"Playing for Tim Chambers was something J.C. couldn't pass up," White said. "Having a coach who knows you and your style was a huge advantage."

Sibley, a middle infielder, bristled when Chambers first moved him to the outfield to improve his versatility and enhance his chances of getting a D-I scholarship.

Chambers said every team needs someone like Sibley, one of four current Rebels who played on the Coyotes' title team two years ago, because he does everything well.