LOOKING IN ON: CCSN BASEBALL

Monday, Jan. 15, 2007 | 7:19 a.m.

Eight players battle for spots in team's pitching rotation

Tim Chambers is confident that the snafu that sidetracked his Community College of Southern Nevada baseball team last season won't happen again.

Apparently, the National Junior College Athletic Association feels the same way about a midseason random audit that caused the Coyotes to forfeit 27 victories.

The problem: Pitcher Craig Heyer and outfielder Cameron Johnson were enrolled in eight-week classes that hadn't begun by the time CCSN started playing its schedule. In a blink, the Coyotes went from 27-10 to 0-37.

The Coyotes finished 13-45 after losing their first two games of the regional playoffs.

CCSN started practice Wednesday on its Henderson campus, and its season begins Jan. 26 with games against two Arizona teams - Yavapai and Cochise - in the first Coyote Border Battle.

Chambers said he received several apologies from NJCAA officials in Colorado Springs, Colo.

"They said, 'What happened to you never should have happened,' " Chambers said. "We didn't think we were doing anything wrong, and I still believe that. Other schools in our conference were doing the same thing.

"Nobody was aware that class had to start before the first game � since then, (the NJCAA) has been working on changing the rule."

The NJCAA amended its policy over the summer, approving the eligibility of players who take eight-week classes - which begin after a team's season starts - if the governing body is notified, by letter, beforehand.

Welcome back

Bryce Massanari, a versatile infielder from Centennial High, broke a foot twice last season in what should have been his sophomore year at CCSN.

He received a medical redshirt and transferred to the University of Georgia. However, he felt he would be limited to a part-time designated hitter role with the Bulldogs. Last week, he rang Chambers, the first step in Massanari's return to CCSN.

He'll split time between first and third base, even catch a little.

"He wants to go pro and felt his best chance was to come back and swing a wood bat," Chambers said. "He wants people to know he's ready to go."

On a mission

Middle infielder Chase Leavitt helped Dixie State win an NJCAA World Series championship in 2004, a year after CCSN won the title, then was sent to Milwaukee on a two-year Mormon mission. The former Arkansas signee then landed at CCSN.

"He knows what it takes, from a leadership standpoint," Chambers said. "He's older, and he's won one (a national title)."

Chambers said he relishes having a few returning missionaries, for their maturity and experience, on his roster. Outfielder Tyson Melhoff (Germany) and pitcher Andy Jangard (Jamaica) have also served missions.

Dogfight on mound

Jangard, Jon Berger, Colby Shreve, Chad Robinson, Ryan Iodence, Tyler Lavigne, Brenton Van and Drew Leary will get chances to earn one of four starting spots during the Coyotes' first 16 games, according to Chambers.

"They'll all pitch in those first 16," Chambers said. "And in (Scenic West Athletic Conference) play, they'll get what they've earned."

CCSN starts SWAC action Feb. 23, when a much-improved Western Nevada Community College visits Morse Field.