We’ve heard a lot of complaints from coaches about how much of a burden the new compacted schedule will be next spring, but a couple of Southern California teams have come up with an innovative way to get to 56 games. San Diego and Long Beach State will play a three-game “Fall World Series” from Oct. 26-28 that will count toward the teams’ 56-game limit, but will not be reflected on the teams’ spring records. One reason the idea made sense was because both teams will play 2008 games in Hawaii, which do not count toward their 56-game limits, so they had extra games to give.

“That’s going to be an awesome opportunity, man,” USD coach Rich Hill said. “It’s like going back to the ’70s, playing fall baseball, putting them in a bunch of different situations. We want full media exposure, fans–make it exactly like a super-regional to expose our kids to that type of environment in the fall.”

Oh, and in case you were wondering, Hill said he has not been contacted by Cal State Fullerton about its coaching vacancy. You can expect Hill to be at San Diego for a long time to come.