May 20, 2015 came and went unnoticed and without fanfare. But for the members of the
1995 Chapman University women’s softball team
it was a celebrated anniversary. That date marked 20 years since the Panthers won the NCAA Division III national championship – in dominating fashion – in their first year as a non-scholarship athletic program.

bobert1


Eunice Bobert ’82


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The players and coaches from that championship squad will soon return to campus as honorees at Chapman’s 36th annual Hall of Fame inductions, along with men’s soccer alumnus and former head coach
Eunice Bobert ’82
, and MVP of the Panthers’ 2003 national championship baseball team
Alex Taylor ’03
. The inductions and banquet will take place in the Sandhu Conference Center (
campus map
) on Oct. 24 beginning at 4 p.m., followed by a halftime ceremony at the
Chapman football
home game versus
Cal Lutheran University
later that night.

“With the thousands of athletes that have competed for the Panthers, to be among the select few inducted into the Hall of Fame is beyond belief,” says Bobert, who was a two-time All-CCAA selection and team MVP from 1978-81. “To play a game I loved and get an education at the same time and then to be hired to coach the game that I loved…wow.”

Bobert’s footprint on Chapman has far outlasted the decade-plus time he spent on the field with the Panthers as a team captain, assistant coach and then six years as head coach. Besides guiding Chapman to multiple NCAA playoff appearances and earning West Region Coach of the Year honors in 1985, Bobert coached fellow Chapman Hall of Famers
Gregg Murphy ’86
and
Doug Neely ’88
, and the Panthers’ all-time winningest head coach
Eddie Carrillo ’90
. “For the better part of 30 years the
Chapman Soccer
program has been under the guidance of either myself or one of my players,” says Bobert. “First under Gregg and currently under Eddie, I am proud to have left an impression on Chapman Soccer.”

baseball


Alex Taylor ’03



As far as leaving an impression, the same can be said for fellow inductee Alex Taylor, whose gritty, whatever-it-takes leadership became a rallying point for the
Panther baseball
team in 2003 when it won the program’s first national championship since
Chapman’s 1968 team
. Taylor, a senior starting second baseman and team captain, earned the Division III Championships Most Outstanding Player award by hitting .500 (13-for-26) when the games mattered most.

“The 2003 team was so resilient and complete,” reflects Taylor, “We had to battle back through the loser’s bracket in both the region tournament and the World Series. We were a team made up of ballplayers that were all willing to do whatever it took to win each game.”

It was the beginning of an unbelievable stretch of success during which the Chapman baseball team won seven West Region titles in nine years under head coach
Tom Tereschuk
. A three-time All-Region player, Taylor could play any position on the field (he never pitched) and finished his career as the school’s all-time Division III leader in hits (254) and stolen bases (53). He earned Chapman’s Don Perkins Leadership Award before playing three years of professional baseball. ”This is a Chapman honor, but I look at it as recognition for my whole baseball life from Little League, to high school, college, and even pro ball,” says Taylor. “It is also very special to me because I have remained connected to the baseball program in the years after I graduated.  I have a great appreciation for this University.”

And then there was the historic run in 1995 by the Chapman softball team, which defied the expectations of everyone except one man – legendary head coach
Lisle Lloyd
, who famously had “National Champions” printed on the Panthers’ team picture three months before actually winning it. That season, Chapman marched to the beat of a 43-5 record (including a perfect 6-0 mark in the playoffs) and in the process had four players earn All-America honors and set a handful of Division III records.

“This was a once in a lifetime team,” says Janet Lloyd, who was the team’s co-head coach with her dad, and has become Chapman’s all-time winningest coach. “When we came back (from a tournament in Florida) with some pretty impressive wins against nationally-ranked teams, we all started to believe. We just got better and better with each game and the players really loved playing together. They were a
team
, not a bunch of individuals.”

lloyd-1995


1995 Chapman University Women’s Softball Team



The Panthers defeated former Division III power and five-time national champion Trenton State (now College of New Jersey) 4-2 in the finals in Storm Lake, Iowa. They did so with a spunk and charisma that characterized the entire team and season, as noted by author and former Chapman Sports Information Director Jim Moore in his book,
Tales from the Small Time
:

“As the two teams got ready to head to the field for the national championship game, the contrast could not have been more glaringly apparent. The Trenton State players, a no-nonsense bunch under Dr. (June) Walker’s leadership, huddled around their vans, talking in hushed voices, eyeing the Panther players – who were playing parking lot Nerf football (“Go to the tan Buick and cut left, on three”) or using their beds as trampolines while Jimmy Buffett blared from a boom box on the balcony.”

In keeping with a softball and championship theme, UCLA legend and former softball coach
Sue Enquist
will be delivering the keynote address prior to the Hall of Fame dinner. Coach Enquist is both a UCLA and National Fastpitch Coaches Association Hall of Famer, having won 11 national titles with the Bruins. She is known more recently as a dynamic and motivational speaker and will be one of many highlights throughout the night.

The Hall of Fame event is always a special evening of celebrating Chapman’s rich athletic heritage. Many past inductees will be on hand to welcome in their newest members and will be present during the on-field halftime ceremony. More event and ticket information can be found at
www.chapmanathletics.com/hof
.