Moranda finds national success in collegiate baseball

This week we venture down to the southwest part of the country, where Western Carolina University plays baseball.

The Catamounts (8-2) became the first baseball team in school history to start 5-0, and the man behind it all is right here from our northwest suburbs of Chicago.

Former Palatine High School shortstop Bobby Moranda is in his third season directing the Division I program, and the Catamounts are coming off a 35-22 season.

Not bad for a guy who was cut from his Palatine Legion team more than 25 years ago and never really thought about coaching the sport.

"I just wanted to play in the big leagues," said Moranda, who years later would become the manager of the Palatine Legion team. "And I wanted to play D-I baseball and get to Omaha (for the College World Series). But it took almost 40 years."

Moranda got to Omaha for the World Series as an assistant coach Georgia Tech in 2002.

In his six seasons at Georgia Tech, Moranda also helped guide the Yellow Jackets to four top-10 finishes, four super regional appearances, three ACC titles and a pair of appearances in the NCAA College World Series in Omaha.

After he was cut by the Palatine Legion team, Moranda went and played in a semi-pro league in Highland Park which he said was a big help to his game.

He had a brief stint playing at Arizona Western but a leg injury forced him to stop playing and he returned to the area.

He was an all-region performer at Harper Community College and part of back-to-back championship teams.

Shortly after, he accepted a scholarship to Eastern Kentucky and Hall of Fame coach Jim Ward, whom he credits as being an outstanding mentor for his career.

Moranda batted .307 with 20 home runs and 86 RBI in two seasons at Eastern Kentucky, helping the Colonels win two consecutive Ohio Valley Conference championships and a top-30 national ranking.

The Colonels were two games away from advancing to Omaha for the College World Series in 1985.

After gaining his undergraduate degree in broadcast management, Moranda stayed at Eastern Kentucky as an assistant coach for three years while working toward his master's degree in recreation administration.

The team made another NCAA Regional appearance during his tenure.

During that time, Moranda also coached the Palatine American Legion team that featured future Major League all-star catcher Todd Hundley.

"I've known Todd since he was 14 years old," Moranda said. "He used to take batting practice in our backyard."

Before taking over at Western Carolina and his days at Georgia Tech, Moranda was an assistant at Wake Forest (1996-2001), Virginia (1990-95) and Eastern Kentucky (1987-89).

Overall, Moranda has been a part of 10 conference championships and 12 NCAA Tournament appearances as either a player or a coach.

"Bobby Moranda is one of the most dynamic coaches in college baseball. He has been an important part of successful programs at such schools as Virginia, Wake Forest and Georgia Tech," said Western Athletics Director Chip Smith.

In his first two seasons at Western Carolina, Moranda has guided the Catamounts to a 64-50 overall record.

That record includes signature victories over fourth-ranked Georgia Tech in the Yellow Jackets first-ever trip to Cullowhee as well as over 24th-ranked Southern California (USC) on the program's first-ever trip to California.

A combined 19 players that Moranda either recruited or coached have gone on to careers in the Major Leagues.

While it has been a long road to becoming a D-I head coach, Moranda always had faith.

"My sister (Linda, now a school teacher in Wisconsin) and I are the first ones in our family to ever go to college," Moranda said. "That was our goal. We were just from a blue collar family. My parents are still in the same house we grew up in."

"I never doubted I could do this (coaching a D-I baseball team). I just had to keep believing. It's been a fun journey. I just never stopped believing."

And now he hopes his Catamounts keep believing after an impressive start.

"We're a good team trying to get better," he said. "Time will tell. We're very young and still not 100 percent. We're striving for a championship in the Southern Conference."

Women's basketballIllinois Wesleyan earned its third straight trip to the NCAA Division III tournament with an 82-72 victory over Elmhurst in the championship game of the College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin Tournament.Ranked third nationally, the Titans improved to 26-1."It's awesome," said IWU junior Nikki Preston (Wheeling). "Before the game we talked about our junior class and how we haven't lost a conference championship. We wanted to keep that going today."Two 3-pointers by Preston helped the Titans take their first lead at 27-24 over the Blue Jays (18-9). "The second half they made a little run and we said 'We're not going to lose this,' " Preston said. "Our effort just makes it so hard to lose."Preston topped the Titans with 19 points and 4 steals. "Nikki played a complete game, one of her best," said Wesleyan coach Mia Smith.bull; Emory senior Whitney Martin (Barrington) was recognized for her outstanding 2009-10 season, earning All-University Athletic Association basketball honors. The 6-foot Martin started all 25 games this year and was the program's lone representative on the all-league squad, capturing a second-team berth.Martin topped the team and ranked eighth in the conference in scoring with a 11.8 points-per-game average. Martin also set the standard on the team and ranked eighth in the league in steals (1.7) while her 1.0 per-game average in blocked shots tied for seventh place.Career-wise, Martin played in 96 games, 56 as a starter, and finished 17th on the school's all-time scoring list with 646 points. Her four-year total of 497 rebounds placed her 12th on Emory's all-time chart and she ranked second in blocked shots with 87.Men's basketballLewis University sophomore guard Chris McClellan (Wheeling) has been named to the All-Great Lakes Valley Conference third team."Chris has worked extremely hard and is well deserving of this honor," said Lewis coach Scott Trost. "He's had a fantastic sophomore season and will certainly play a vital part of our future success."McClellan leads the Flyers with 14.1 points-per-game and is shooting a team-best 45.2 percent (61-for-135) from 3-point range.The Buffalo Grove native is currently the best free throw shooter in Lewis history, knocking down 89.4 percent (110-for-123) of his charity shots. This marks the fourth-straight year that Trost has coached an All-GLVC honoree, as McClellan joins Brandon Dagans (2007, '08, '09), Stephan Bolt (2008) and Jason Genova (2008, '09).Women's swimmingHope College sophomore Sarah Sohn (Prospect) placed first in three individual events at the Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association Championships. Sohn swam season bests in the 500 free (5:07.20), 400 IM (4:38.58) and 1650 free (17:33.09). She also swam a leg of both the first-place 800 free relay (7:47.40) and second-place 400 free relay (3:32.96). All five events achieved Division lll NCAA consideration times.Sohn was also named to the MIAA all-conference women's swimming and diving team for a second year.A week following the MIAA championship, Sohn achieved a personal best time of 17:23.01 in the 1650 free at the Kenyon College Invitational.bull; Carthage College's 400 freestyle relay team, which included junior Sammy Jo Mahler (Maine West), quafilied for the NCAA Division III championships.Soccer tryoutsThe Illinois Magic spring AAU tryouts will be held Feb. 28, March 10 and 14th at Regional Sports Center 1310 Ridgefield Rd in Crystal Lake, IL. Tryouts are for seventh through 11th grade boys and girls.For more information go to www.magicbball.org and to register click on Illinois Magic.Basketball campKessel's Heat Basketball Training and Shooting Instruction camp is being held at the Libertyville Sports Complex. Sessions also take place at the Lake Barrington Field House.The camps, which include boys and girls from fourth grade to high school, are directed by 2005 Illinois Coaches Hall of Fame member Dennis Kessel and his son, Kyle (Mundelein), a 2008 Illinois Players Hall of Fame member.For more information, see www.kesselstraining.com.Men's track and fieldArthur Baptist (Prospect), a junior at the University of Chicago, placed sixth in the 3000-meter run at the 2010 UAA Indoor Track and Field Championship Meet at Brandeis University.He had a personal best time of 8.45 minutes. U of C placed second overall in the Division 111 meet.bull; North Central College captured its tenth consecutive indoor College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin championship at its own Al B. Carius Track. The Cardinals won 10 of 17 events on their way to victory. Sophomore John Wood (Fremd) placed third in the pole vault, clearing a height of 16'13/4".Junior Michael Spain (Schaumburg) finished third in the 5,000-meter run with a time of 14:56.46. Senior Sean Carlson (Buffalo Grove) finished fourth in the 5,000-meter run, clocking in at 15:00.48.Women's track and fieldFor the first time in school history, the St. Ambrose Fighting Bee women have an indoor All-American.Sophomore Mandy Streu (Rolling Meadows) of St. Ambrose made it into finals in the shot put, qualifying 7th out of 8, but made up for that, jumping into the sixth and final All-American spot with her fifth throw, tossing the shot 45-feet 8-inches."It was a great way for us to end the meet," St. Ambrose coach Dan Tomlin said. "Mandy has been performing like an All-American all year, and she finally got the nationals monkey off her back. "This is a big step for her and for our program. The women have someone they can look at and see that's an All-American."bull; The University of Chicago captured its second University Athletic Association title in three years at the 2010 UAA Championship at Brandeis University.Junior Dipti Karmarkar (Barrington) took top honors in the triple jump (11.49 m).bull; Please e-mail items to jleusch@dailyherald.com.