East Ventura News

Thirty years after their time at Mt. Clef Hall, three friends recall the name of a once obscure Texas Rangers third baseman: Doug Strange. In 1993, Russell White, Erik Scherer, and Brian McCoy were students at Cal Lutheran University who spent their free time playing Statis Pro Baseball, a board game simulating real baseball using dice and cards.

White and Scherer approached the game with intensity, while McCoy selected players for unusual reasons, like their names. "Every time I would roll the dice I would yell, ‘Strange for another home run!’ and it would just drive them crazy,” McCoy recalled.

The trio recently reminisced about those days during a Zoom call. Now coaching colleagues at their alma mater, they share a journey from high school teammates to college roommates and eventually to coaches.

The three met at Desert High School on Edwards Air Force Base as sons of servicemembers. “We weren’t exactly a powerhouse,” Scherer said of their varsity basketball team.

White was recruited by then-Kingsmen coach Mike Dunlap in 1990 and was followed by McCoy and Scherer a year later. The group lived together for two years while pursuing different sports: White in basketball, McCoy in golf, and Scherer in baseball. Despite their different paths, they remained close friends.

McCoy described his friends as “hyper-intelligent” with an ability to recall obscure statistics. He attributed this quality to their success in coaching. “I think for both of them, their brains ― and their competitive nature ― is what drove them to coaching,” he said.

Scherer became an assistant under Kingsmen legend Marty Slimak in 2000 before taking over as head baseball coach after Slimak retired 23 years later. White spent two decades coaching high school basketball before becoming head coach for Cal Lutheran’s program in 2019.

“Russell and I used to talk all the time about him getting the job," Scherer said. "To his credit... once he got it, he definitely ran with it.”

In his first season as head coach in spring 2023, Scherer led the Kingsmen to a SCIAC tournament championship. Meanwhile, White guided the Kingsmen basketball team to consecutive NCAA DIII tournament appearances.

McCoy pursued business but joined Cal Lutheran's golf staff in 2017 under Jeff Lindgren after serving on the alumni board.

Despite busy schedules, the three maintain contact through group chats and fantasy football leagues. They support each other’s teams whenever possible. White commented on his frequent presence at baseball games: “You just get it done and show your support.”

Scherer attributed their strong connection to Cal Lutheran partly to their military upbringing without a traditional hometown: “Cal Lutheran... that’s become my hometown.”

“They’re the type of friends you cherish the most because you don’t have to talk to them for six months," McCoy noted about their enduring friendship.

“The support is enduring,” White added. “If I text them... I know I’m going to get a text back.”