Broncos in final battle for tournament win

By Joe Doss-Antoun

As the athletic season comes to a close, one item looms on the calendars of many Bronco athletes and supporters alike: the Commissioner's Cup.

As of April 28, the Broncos are deadlocked with Loyola Marymount for first place in the Commissioner's Cup standings. The only sport yet to complete its regular season, baseball, will essentially decide which school ends up on top this year.

The Commissioner's Cup is a year-long tournament which rewards the West Coast Conference school with the most cumulative success among its sports teams. The tournament recognizes six men's sports, as well as six women's sports. For the sixth sport's slot, the women must chose between golf and rowing, depending upon which is more successful.

Each team is rewarded eight points for a first place conference finish, seven points for a second place finish and so on, all the way down to one point for an eighth place finish.

Since the inception of the tournament in the 2001-02 season, Santa Clara has finished in the top two each year, with their first cup victory coming last year. Although the men's teams have performed better as a whole this year, the women traditionally pull most of the weight.

The women's soccer team, which rose as high as fifth in the national rankings this past season, has always provided a significant contribution to the Bronco effort. Tina Estrada, a junior forward and second leading scorer on the team, feeds off the competitive atmosphere that is provided by the WCC and the Commissioner's Cup.

"It is really exciting once conference play gets going because, after the games start, we really get into the competition, and that's what we love," said Estrada.

Sophomore, A.J. Kerin of the men's tennis team realizes that it takes an effort from all sports if the Broncos want to win the Commissioner's Cup.

"We feel like we did our job in beating Loyola Marymount. We just gotta get help from our other teams, especially baseball, because it's coming down to them and LMU," said Kerin.

Currently, the Broncos stand one game behind Loyola Marymount in baseball and will probably need to finish ahead of them in the standings to claim a second consecutive cup.

However, San Francisco, which is currently ranked second in the baseball standings and third in the cup standings, also has an outside shot at bringing home the hardware.

With the Commissioner's Cup and baseball season heading towards the finish line hand in hand, baseball players try not to let the added pressure of winning the Commissioner's Cup affect the way they play.

"If we just take care of one game at a time and keep winning, that will take care of itself," said Eric Newton, senior infielder and home run leader.

The baseball team will play in San Diego this weekend when they visit the Toreros. They finish up the season playing host for their final three games as Portland comes to town on May 12. These games will decide the winner of the Commissioner's Cup. With three schools in the race, it will be one of the closest finishes in recent history.

Contact Joe Doss-Antoun at (408) 551-1918 or jdossantoun@scu.edu.