“It’s really not as difficult a decision as you’d think,” Rauh says. “Organizations like the Royals, Yankees and Diamondbacks have all talked about paying for my school and housing when I come back. Plus, this is the year I have some leverage. If I wait until my senior year, they’ll give me two grand and buy me a plane ticket and that’s pretty much it.” It sounds like the business major has even tossed a complete-game three-hitter already figured out the economics of against Pomona-Pitzer College in his third baseball — and the art of the negotiation. start. But he didn’t become a regular in Plus, he’s spent time talking to former the Chapman rotation until two-thirds Panther players such as Kurt Yacko ’11, of the way through his freshman year. who left Chapman after his junior year Now he’s projected as a pro pitching only to return and earn his degree on the prospect. And the first words Coach Colorado Rockies’ dime. Tereschuk uses to describe Rauh are However, Rauh has some unfinished “fierce competitor.” business on his mind before his Chapman For his first start of 2012, against days are done. Last May, he led the Panthers Whittier College, more than a dozen to the NCAA Division scouts showed up III Championships but at Hart Park. As a For the latest news on was forced to exit the junior, Rauh is draft Chapman sports teams, visit series opener with an eligible for the first www.chapmanathletics.com. elbow injury that time since high shelved him for the rest school and will of the tournament. Without him, Chapman likely be one of the first Division III reached the national championship game players selected in Major League but had to settle for second place after Baseball’s First Year Player Draft in June. falling to Marietta College (Ohio). “It’s hard not to think about it because That loss is a particularly heavy every time I throw a pitch 12 (radar) guns burden for Rauh. go up behind home plate,” says Rauh. “I “I was upset that I couldn’t be out think about (being drafted) a lot because there and be a leader,” he says. “It’s hard it’s always what I’ve wanted to do.” thinking that last game might have gone He’s a business student, and a good differently if I had been out there.” one. Last year, he was named to the Especially now that his career-long Capital One Academic All-District VIII victory streak is over, there’s one win baseball team with a 3.57 grade-point that matters most to Rauh. average. So how difficult would it be for “I just want to get back (to the him to leave school early to pursue his championships) and win that last game.” dream of playing pro baseball?
rn Brian Rauh ’13 never set out to ea 24 straight victories, but he does have championship dreams and big-le ague aspirations.
I
500-WIN CLUB IN D A D S IN O J LLOYD tory d her 500th career vic
Lloyd earne m’s ty softball coach Janet er coach in the progra hen Chapman Universi tched by only one oth ma e ton les of mi a ing ed nk ch thi was recently, she rea s no wonder that she her, Lisle Lloyd. So it’ history — her late fat carry on the achievement. ing and I’m the one to him in the run-up to the one that got it go s wa he re, he 't isn “Even though he per. d The Panther newspa University, 12–3, at the tradition,” she tol thers topped La Sierra Pan the en wh , 19 b. Fe to 1998. e cam 0 Win No. 50 534 games from 1983 father, Chapman won r he r de d. Un sai k. she Par ” al er, El Camino Re doing it togeth d I think about it as us an , ir wins together, ch the coa of 6 at 15 gre a ing s “He wa r seasons, achiev fou for m de tan in ch coa 2002. Actually, the two did Lloyd passed away in ickly nal title victory. Lisle tio na 95 ention, though she qu 19 att the of ter ing includ Janet was the cen nt, me mo e ton les mi r On the night of he she said. to her players. do it for themselves,” shifted the focus back , but I wanted them to me for it do to ing “They were try going.” now we can just keep “I’m glad it’s done, so
W
Photo by Adam Ottke ‘13
“
honestly don’t know how that happened,” a modest Rauh said of his unbeaten streak. “I owe a lot to my team and my catchers. It’s nice to have those guys behind you that you trust in. They’ve always picked me up.” It was an incredible streak while it lasted, prompting unrealistic expectations every time he took the mound. Yet, Rauh has maintained a simple approach. “I just really want to win that next game.” Expectations were not always so high for Rauh, who was largely unheralded out of high school. It was his older brother, Jeff, who drew attention from pro scouts and earned a scholarship to pitch for the University of San Diego. “We recruited the heck out of Jeff,” says Chapman coach Tom Tereschuk. A year later, the Panthers landed his younger brother and got more than they anticipated, aided by a growth spurt that saw Brian go from 5-foot-7 and 150 pounds as a high school junior to 6 –1, 185 when he enrolled at Chapman in fall 2009. Still, as the Lake Forest, Calif. native embarked on his first season at Chapman, he was not high on the Panthers’ depth chart. “Coach T. called me soft,” Rauh recalls. “That made me mentally tough. The word ‘rattled’ is not in my vocabulary anymore.” Sure, he won his first two starts and
Panthers softball coach Janet Lloyd holds the game ball after her 500th career victory Feb. 19.