System, Stability Key Owls’ Success : Colleges: Skip Claprood has built Citrus College into a baseball power. He says this year’s team may be his best.

It began, quite memorably, in 1973.

The Citrus College baseball team was 2-4 and preparing to play Pasadena City College. Skip Claprood, Citrus’ fiery 24-year-old coach, had instructed his players to perform independent of complicated signals.

Most coaches relay visual or verbal signals from the dugout or third base coach’s box. But Claprood, in his first season, had no use for complicated signs. He reasoned that once he taught players the fundamentals of the game, they would know when to bunt, steal or hit behind a baserunner.

“That game marked the appearance and philosophy of our program,” Claprood said. “That is when this program began to emerge.”

Claprood’s team went on to win the Mission Conference championship in 1973. Since then, the Owls have won eight conference titles in Claprood’s 20 years as coach.

Citrus won its second consecutive Foothill Conference championship this season. The Owls (30-8) begin play in the Southern California Regional playoffs Friday with a best-of-three series against Cuesta.

“This is what I would really call a team,” said Claprood, who earned his 500th victory a few weeks ago. “We don’t have any big numbers that stand out. We’re an outstanding defensive ballclub and we have super pitching.”

Those characteristics have been hallmarks of Claprood’s Citrus teams. The key to the Owls’ continuing success is twofold.

First, there is a coaching staff that is among the most stable in Southern California. Matt Kolodge has tutored Citrus pitchers for 14 years. Mark Rigney has been part of the staff for eight seasons and Rocky Reynolds has coached for six.

“Those guys are the unsung heroes of the program,” said Claprood, who played for John Scolinos at Cal Poly Pomona and succeeded Galen Bowman as coach at Citrus. “And remember, there have been only two head coaches at this school in 37 years. That’s a fairly stable program.”

Citrus, with an enrollment of 9,000 students, has attracted talented players and remained competitive despite being flanked by Pasadena, Mt. San Antonio and Rio Hondo colleges.

“We are in a good spot,” Claprood said. “It’s a perfect area because we’re extremely close to all those districts.”

Claprood’s teams typically start slowly as they learn the Owls’ offensive system, which takes its cues from game situations and individuals who are at the plate or on base. Players rely on themselves to recognize and execute the appropriate play.

“It’s extremely difficult to scout this system,” Claprood said. “Once it locks itself in, it’s self-perpetuating. It snowballs and keeps moving. The automatic system in 1973 is not the same as it is in 1992 because the personnel is different.”

Citrus returned 10 players from last year’s championship team and three starters who played in 1990. That kind of experience enabled the Owls to sweep to their fifth 30-win season with a team that hit only five home runs.

As usual, pitching was the key. Despite the loss of Joe Long, who signed with the New York Yankees, and Kevin Kloek and Armando Delsi, who are starters for Cal State Northridge and UC Santa Barbara, respectively, the Owls compiled an earned-run average of 2.83.

Sophomore right-hander Marco Contreras is 8-3 with a 3.06 ERA. Sophomore right-hander Clayton Bierne is 8-2 with a 3.12 ERA and freshman left-hander Curt Gossett is 5-2 with a 3.82 ERA.

Sophomore infielder Dan O’Leary has been the offensive catalyst, batting .398. Sophomore outfielder Bob Skapik is batting .339 and sophomore outfielder Bob Richter is batting .330. Freshman third baseman Mike Claprood, Skip’s son, is batting .302.

Citrus’ best finish in the state tournament was in 1975 when the Owls were runner-up to Cerritos. Claprood thinks this year’s team has the potential to advance if it continues to execute.

“We’re not going to go in and slug it out with anybody,” he said. “If we can avoid getting behind early, we should be competitive.”

As Claprood looks back on his career, he thinks about all of the players, including nine that went on to play in the major leagues. Despite speculation that he will leave Citrus, Claprood says he is not going anywhere.

There is still much work to be done.

“Because of the system we use, I think every athlete that comes through here leaves with a better knowledge of the game,” Claprood said. “But the thing I’m most proud of is (the percentage) of my sophomores who have left on scholarships to continue their education.

“That is more important than the championships because some of those people didn’t want to go on when they started here.”