Palomar softball
coach Eldridge records 800th
victory
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Mark
Eldridge recorded his 800th
victory as Palomar College’s softball coach
when the Comets defeated San Diego City College,
13-0, at home on March 31.
The Comets
then went on to win their third State
Championship by defeating Long Beach City
College, 1-0, on May 14 in Fresno..
Eldridge
has coached the Comets to 19 Mission Conference
and Pacific Coast Conference championships since
being named head coach in 1978, including the
last 15 PCC titles in a row.
The Comets
have won 12 straight Southern California Regional
titles and previously captured State
Championships in 1989 and 1993. Eldridge also has
coached Palomar to five runner-up finishes in the
State Tournament.
Eldridge
has been named State Coach of the Year five times
and National Community College Co-Coach of the
Year twice.
Eldridge’s
2000 team finished the season 48-7-1, winning 16
of its last 17 games en route to the State title.
He’s
sent 60 players onto the four-year college level
on scholarships since 1989 alone, including nine
from the 2000 team.
Eldridge
has coached 22 Community College All-Americans
since 1987, including two-time selection Kim
Ward in 1992 and 1993. Ward went on to make the
NCAA Division I All-America team twice in a
brilliant career at Oklahoma State, and pitched
for the U.S. National Team.
Eldridge
also was a head coach on the Amateur Softball
Association open level, where he coached future
members of the 1996 U.S. Olympic Team. For the
past two seasons, he’s been a consultant to
Spain’s National Team.
He also
was a longtime assistant in the Palomar football
program, was defensive coordinator for the
Comets’ 1991 National Championship team and
spent one season as the Comets’ head coach,
in 1996.
Eldridge
quarterbacked San Marcos High School to the 1966
CIF-San Diego Section Division IA championship
and was a two-year starter at Palomar, where he
also starred in baseball and track & field.
He
received a football scholarship to Washington
State out of Palomar and started at safety for
the Cougars, eventually transfering to Long Beach
State where he was a 225-foot javelin thrower.
He
received his Bachelor’s degree from Long
Beach State and his Master’s from United
States International University.
Eldridge
has two grown children. Son Ryan was a football
player and baseball player at Orange Glen High
School. Daughter Rebecca was a softball pitcher
at San Pasqual High School and for her dad at
Palomar. She compiled a 0.00 earned run average
in the Pacific Coast Conference in 1999, when she
was PCC Player of the Year and was a first-team
All-State selection. She now pitches for NCAA
Division II power Abilene Christian.
Eldridge
lives in Pauma Valley with his wife Carla, who is
the varsity softball coach at San Pasqual High
School, and their son Ricky.
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