From being informed of the program's imminent suspension because of budget cuts to starting the season 3-9, the Moorpark College baseball team faced atypical obstacles this spring.

Yet the Raiders persevered to clinch a share of the Western State Conference title in the program's final scheduled game April 28.

Moorpark coach Mario Porto was rewarded for that run by being named Southern California Coach the Year by the California Community College Baseball Coaches Association.

"I've known Mario forever and quitting isn't part of his makeup," said Ventura coach Don Adams. "They had the (budget decision). That puts you behind the eight ball. Then came the bad start and it's getting worse, but he somehow kept them together and guided them to that championship."

Porto ended his tenure as Moorpark coach the same way he started it in 1990, with a WSC North title.

"Mario has always said it's about the kids," said Adams. "The kids did a great job, but they had to have a leader to guide them. He kept the team together. That was his part."

Porto, who is spending the summer coaching the Bethesda (Md.) Big Train of the Cal Ripkin Collegiate Baseball League, said the honor was special because of who bestowed it.

"When your peers give you something like that, it means something," said Porto. "I feel good because they did that. As I told them, I just did what anybody else would have done. Regardless of the situation, you coach baseball."

Moorpark won 10 of 12 games from March 23 to April 17 to chase down first-place Cuesta and earned a share of the title with a come-from-behind 6-5 home win over Hancock April 28.

"Coach Porto is tough as nails," said sophomore Matt Toczynski. "He convinced us that we had a season to play and we came together... All we could do was battle and we started putting things together.

"This was probably one of the best teams I've ever played on, just because of that feeling."

Moorpark freshman Nick Rogowski joined Porto on the honor roll. The Virginia native, who led the Raiders in both hitting (.336) and pitching (3-5 with a WSC-best 1.65 ERA), was named to the CCCBCA All-American team.

Moorpark College freshman Nick Rogowski was voted Player of the Year in the Western State Conference's North Division.

The freshman from Woodbridge, Va. led the WSC with a 1.65 ERA in 11 starts and also led the Raiders by hitting .336 with 11 doubles and 20 runs scored.

After guiding the Raiders to a share of the WSC North title, Moorpark coach Mario Porto was voted Coach of the Year for the second time.

The All-WSC North first team also included sophomore outfielder Taylor Kahanowitch and sophomore pitcher Michael Coates of Moorpark; sophomore first baseman Dewey Gratton and freshman second baseman Jared Patterson of Ventura; and sophomore
outfielder Wesley Wright.

The second team included freshman catcher Alex Bishop, sophomore designated hitter Matt Toczynski and sophomore pitcher Kevin Brown of Moorpark; freshman outfielder Tim Ginther, sophomore shortstop Scott Zeman and pitcher Dustin Babola of Ventura; and freshman pitcher Casey Rodriguez and sophomore pitcher Sheldon Ekstrand of Oxnard.

Honorable mentions included freshman first baseman Brady Conlan, freshman infielder Jeff Bezjian, freshman pitcher Zach Mercer of Moorpark; freshman catcher Matt Burke of Ventura, freshman pitcher Joey Contreras, freshman pitcher Jacob Murray of Ventura; and freshman first baseman Jose Hernandez, sophomore shortstop Kevin Minjares, sophomore pitcher David Barroso of Oxnard.

WSC North Gold Glove winners included Bishop, Conlan and Coates of Moorpark; Minjares and Wright of Oxnard; and Ginther of Ventura.

Michael Coates' entire sophomore season played out over nine innings Tuesday afternoon.

Down early, toughing it out through the middle innings and ultimately prevailing for his teammates, the Cal State Northridge-bound pitcher from Thousand Oaks High put the Moorpark College baseball team into first place with two games to play with a 5-3 complete game victory at Ventura College.

"He bulldogged it," Moorpark coach Mario Porto said. "He just got better as the game went on. That's the type of guy you want out there right now."

Coates (4-5) shut out the Pirates for the final five innings to pick up his fourth straight win after starting the season 0-5.

"This is amazing," said Coates. "We have everything against us. It's just exciting to be in the race."

The win, combined with Cuesta's 9-8 loss at Santa Barbara City in 10 innings, put No. 20-ranked Moorpark (17-17, 11-7) even with No. 5 Cuesta (22-12, 11-7) in the Western State Conference's North Division with two games to play.

Third-place Santa Barbara (17-17, 10-8) is just one game behind, which will make the final two days of the regular season even more enthralling, considering only the top two teams will earn automatic postseason berths and the tiebreakers will be a mess since all three teams split their four-game season series against each other.

Moorpark has won 10 of its last 14 games to put itself in this position.

"It's surreal," said sophomore outfielder Taylor Khanowitch. "We've been the underdogs all season. We don't just have something to prove to the other teams, we have something to prove to ourselves."

Moorpark hosts fourth-place Hancock today at 2:30 p.m. in the program's final scheduled home game. School administrators have decided to shutter the program after the season due to budget cuts.

Former coaches Gil Mendoza and Jerry White are scheduled to throw out the first pitch. The school has invited all former Moorpark College baseball players to attend.

The Moorpark College baseball team is strong-arming itself back into contention in the Western State Conference race.

After sweeping defending champion Oxnard this week, 7-3 and 3-1, Moorpark (8-9) has won three of four games in WSC North play and sits in second place ahead of a two-game series with first-place Cuesta Thursday and Saturday.

"We're doing a lot of things right," said Moorpark coach Mario Porto. "You prepare every year to do the right things and we're doing some right things. It's good to see."

The Raiders have already won more games in WSC North place this year than it did a year ago, when it was 2-18.

"The kids learned from last year and the new guys have bought into what we're doing," said Porto. "For a few games, it's meshed and things look good."

The obvious strength is in the pitching rotation. The trio of Landon Hunt, Tyler Karp and Michael Coates have given the Raiders a chance to win every time out.

"I feel comfortable with all our starters," said Porto. "Our pitching is our No. 1 asset right now."

During its recent upswing, which includes five wins in eight games, Moorpark has put together a 1.86 staff ERA.

Hunt, a Moorpark High product and Long Beach State signee, is 2-1 with a 1.74 ERA as a sophomore, striking out 15 in 20 2/3 innings.

The Raiders also received a recent boost at the back end of the staff, where Danny Hawes and Kevin Brown have recovered from injury to give them a setup man and a closer.

"Both those guys will be big assets for us," said Porto.

Brown made his first appearance of the season Thursday, striking out the last two batters with the tying runs on base to earn the save at Oxnard.

The Moorpark College baseball team snapped its eight-game losing streak with an 8-3 win over visiting Cuesta March 25.

The Raiders (6-13-1, 1-7) finally showed some fight two days after being pummeled 16-1 in San Luis Obispo.

"That's exactly what a couple of the players said," said Moorpark coach Mario Porto. "The frustrating thing is that's how we should have been playing all along."

Freshman pitcher Landon Hunt pitched a complete game and freshman outfielder Robert Toczynski cleared the loaded bases with a three-RBI double to give Moorpark a 5-1 lead through four innings.

"Landon Hunt pitched very well," said Porto. "He's a bulldog kid and he loves to be out there.

"When your offense and defense sees a guy like that doing what he's doing, they take it up a notch."

After Cuesta pulled within 5-3, Moorpark tacked on three runs in the eighth to allow Hunt to finish it out easily.

"Those were things we hadn't been doing, coming up with those big hits," said Porto

The Moorpark College baseball team snapped its eight-game losing streak with an 8-3 win over visiting Cuesta March 25.

The Raiders (6-13-1, 1-7) finally showed some fight two days after being pummeled 16-1 in San Luis Obispo.

"That's exactly what a couple of the players said," said Moorpark coach Mario Porto. "The frustrating thing is that's how we should have been playing all along."

Freshman pitcher Landon Hunt pitched a complete game and freshman outfielder Robert Toczynski cleared the loaded bases with a three-RBI double to give Moorpark a 5-1 lead through four innings.

"Landon Hunt pitched very well," said Porto. "He's a bulldog kid and he loves to be out there.

"When your offense and defense sees a guy like that doing what he's doing, they take it up a notch."

After Cuesta pulled within 5-3, Moorpark tacked on three runs in the eighth to allow Hunt to finish it out easily.

"Those were things we hadn't been doing, coming up with those big hits," said Porto

Last week's baseball results underscore the strength and depth of the WSC North this season.

The two bottom teams, who had combined to win just one of their first 13 WSC North teams, beat the division leader (Oxnard) and powerhouse (Cuesta) that has won 12 of the past 14 division titles.

"That tells you how good our conference is," said Moorpark coach Mario Porto. "It really does."

The RPI figures show that the WSC North is on the Orange Empire's heels as SoCal's top conference. And Ventura and Oxnard still have games remaining against OEC leader Santa Ana.

The Moorpark College baseball team is 5-6-1, but that start would look a lot better without three blowups by the pitching staff, in which the Raiders allowed 55 runs.

"We've lost some bad games," said Moorpark coach Mario Porto. "We've given up some runs... But we're right where I thought we'd be at this time."

Besides the three outliers, the young Raiders have played some good ball, featuring a lineup including six freshmen. The starting staff is anchored by sophomores Matt Montgomery, who is 2-0 with a 1.64 ERA, and Jimmy Auger.

Moorpark opens this weekend in the Bakersfield tournament, leading off at 4:30 p.m. today against Irvine Valley and face Sequoias Saturday afternoon and Long Beach City Sunday morning.

The Raiders return their entire starting infield of first baseman Daniel Payne, second baseman Harrison Kain, shortstop Jonathan Villareal and third baseman Daniel Nimoy.

"The question mark is our pitching because we don't have any returning starting pitching," said coach Mario Porto.

The bullpen, however, will be packed by heralded Royal High product Cliff Quick, who will also play some infield.

Moorpark's early season schedule is brutal.

"I like throwing guys in the fire," said Porto.