Master’s Short 2 Starters for NAIA Playoffs

The Master’s College baseball team will sport a revamped infield when it takes on Christ College of Irvine today at 11 a.m. in the first game of the NAIA District 3 baseball playoffs at Azusa Pacific.

If Master’s wins, it will play at 12:30 p.m. Friday. Otherwise, it will play an elimination-round game at 9 a.m. Friday. Azusa Pacific and Cal Baptist are the other teams in the double-elimination tournament.

Shortstop E. J. Pape will miss the game because of a broken pinkie on his left hand and first baseman Chad Hankinson is sidelined because of a severely bruised knee.

Pape, who hit .299 with 19 runs batted in, will be replaced by senior Craig Johnson, the second baseman. Sophomore Brent Sostrum will take Johnson’s place at second.

Third baseman Andy Martin will fill in for Hankinson, a .260 hitter, and designated-hitter Russ Henzie, the third-best hitter in the district with a .414 average, will take Martin’s place at third.

Martin, a sophomore from Escondido, earned all-district first-team honors for the second year in a row after equaling the school record with 11 home runs. He also had a school-record .769 slugging percentage.

Catcher Dan O’Sullivan, The Master’s other first-team all-district player, batted .333 with 22 runs batted in, and center fielder Sheldon Sparks, who received all-district honorable mention, batted .272 and had 21 RBIs and a team-leading nine steals. The Mustangs’ team batting average is .304.

Freshman Chris Beck will be the starting pitcher for Master’s today. Beck, an honorable mention all-district selection, is 8-3 with a 3.33 earned-run average.