BEN FORD IS NO HULK, BUT HE CARRIES A BIG STICK WHEN HE STEPS UP TO THE PLATE

At 5-11, 170, he’s not exactly the Paul Bunyan-type who usually plays first base at USC. And the starting position isn’t exactly waiting for him.

But the lack of a scholarship--or fanfare--is not stopping Ben Ford. He and his 34-ounce Easton bat are heading for downtown Los Angeles and hope to camp out for the next four years at Dedeaux Field.

When told of Ford’s decision this week to attend USC, assistant baseball coach Don Buford said: “We are definitely very delighted to have Ben coming to play for us.”

Buford is not rushing off, however, to order national championship rings.

Despite his success in high school, Ford will have to prove himself. And with his statistics, he should welcome the challenge.

For three years at Highland Hall High in Northridge, Ford terrorized pitchers. He hit .320 as a sophomore and .833 as a junior--a mark nearly double of the school record of .421. And it made the past year seem as an off-season. He hit .667.

But Ford’s marks have not only raised a few eyebrows, they’ve also raised doubts about the competition he has faced.

Highland Hall plays in the Siberia of high school sports, the Southern Section’s Small Schools Division. If three players from the same league go on to play college ball in the same year, it’s considered a bumper crop.

The rap that he played against weak competition isn’t his only problem. He’s also trying to step out from the shadow of being the son of actor Harrison Ford.

It is Ford’s intent to show he has the spotlight at the plate, his dad has it in the Temple of Doom. And his performance is turning the heads toward Ben Ford, not The Son of Indiana Jones.

“Some of my friends still don’t know who my dad is,” said Ford, who lives in Van Nuys with his mother and stepfather. “But enough of them still do. It doesn’t bother me as much now because I feel I’m making a name for myself through baseball.

“The only time it really gets to me is when it surfaces on the field. . . . One time when I was playing in an American Legion game against Notre Dame (High), I came to the plate and they started singing the theme to ‘Raiders (of the Lost Ark).’ ”

Harrison Ford, who sees Ben and his brother, Willard, regularly, hopes what he does in front of the camera does not affect what Ben does in front of a pitcher.

“I certainly hope Benjamin doesn’t see me the same way that strangers do,” Harrison Ford said. “He shouldn’t mythologize what I do for a living. . . . Only time and circumstance will prove whether Benjamin is sufficiently talented to make it in baseball. It won’t make a bit of difference who I am.”

So far, Ben Ford is performing capably on his own--and Notre Dame players aren’t the only ones singing anymore. Almost every coach who has been associated with Ford will sing his praises until nightfall.

Mark Saraceno, Ford’s Van Nuys American Legion coach for three years, is one of his biggest fans.

“Ben is not a fluke,” he said. “I definitely think he could have hit over .400 at a 4-A school,” Saraceno said. “He is a student of Ted Williams and Charlie Lau and reads their books all the time. Then he applies it to himself. . . . I think Ben has a good chance to make it at USC. He’s still going to have to improve, but he will.”

Two former Van Nuys American Legion players, Rick Weible and Albert Villasenor, have gone on to play at USC. This summer, Ford is hitting .450, with two home runs and eight runs batted in.

“I think Ben is in the same situation that they were,” Saraceno said, referring to Weible and Villasenor. “I don’t think he’ll get eaten up over there. It’s hard to say right now, but USC is coming off one of its worst seasons. Who knows? Maybe they need some new guys over there.”

Simi Valley High Coach Mike Scyphers coached Ford in the Bernie Milligan All-Star game this week and liked what he saw.

“His average might have been a bit inflated, playing at the level he did, but I think he would have made a very good player at the 4-A level. You certainly couldn’t ask for a kid with a better attitude or more desire.”

It’s a hot Wednesday afternoon. Five days after graduating from Highland Hall, Ford, wearing his high school uniform for the last time, stretches in the Cal State Northridge outfield with a couple of All-Star teammates.

With the game more than an hour away, he jogs toward the dugout and says hello to his stepfather and a few friends standing behind the bat rack. He shakes their hands by touching their fingers through the chain-link fence.

One friend asks, “Aren’t you nervous? Don’t you have butterflies?”

A half-smile slips across Ford’s face. “Not really. I just want to get this thing going,” he answers. “I’m having a great time, though. I’m just looking around, taking it all in.”

That’s Ford’s style. He doesn’t say a whole lot. He watches. He studies everything and everybody. He’s always trying to figure out how to win.

Just before the game, the players prepare for the introductions. Ford is introduced as the player entering the contest with the highest average, .667. Oohs and aahs echo from the bleachers as Ford trots out and takes his place on the foul line.

One fan leans toward another and says, “Yeah, that’s Harrison Ford’s son. He’s OK, but he played against a bunch of pansies.” The other fan concurs.

Ford enters the game in the fourth inning at first base and makes a nice leaping catch of a poor throw, then makes a slick tag. The play draws a round of applause from the crowd. Even from the two skeptics.

Ford’s first plate appearance results in a walk and a stolen base. In his next at-bat, he strikes out on a 3-2 curveball.

“That really hurt. He was telling me all week how he was going to strike me out, and he did,” Ford said about Notre Dame pitcher Eric Persson. “I know I’m going to hear about it.”

After the contest, Ford, the only Small Schools player in the game, said he was disappointed that he came away hitless, but he didn’t feel overmatched or embarrassed.

“It’s kind of funny,” he said. “People are always saying I’ve got something to prove. But the guys in the game know me and what I can do. Maybe I did have something to prove to the people in the stands who hadn’t seen me play before. But I still feel good about myself. I was the first player in Highland Hall’s history to make it to this game. If anything, I feel proud.”

Ford has a chance to become the first player in school history to play a major sport at a university. Highland Hall Coach Humberto Ramirez thinks he will.

“I have no doubt in my mind that Ben will do real well at USC,” Ramirez said. “He’s a very determined young man. Whatever he puts his mind to, he does.”

After his record-setting junior season, Ford said he was hurt that he wasn’t named to the All-Southern Section team.

“I really feel I was overlooked last year. What else can you say when you hit .800 and don’t make All-CIF?”

He spent the summer playing American Legion for Saraceno, where he hit .540 and was named to the league’s all-star team.

Entering the ’85 high school season, Ford set his sights on the playoffs and the All-Southern Section team.

Highland Hall, which does not participate in a league, started fast with an 8-1 record, and Ramirez was told by the Southern Section that one more win would guarantee the school’s first playoff berth since 1981. The Hawks lost their final three games and did not qualify.

By this time Ford had caught the attention of a CIF panel, and he became the first Highland Hall baseball player named to the All-Southern Section team.

Ford has returned to the American Legion circuit to once again prove that he belongs with the big boys. His .450 average is a big reason why Van Nuys is 7-2 and in second place in the District 20 East Division.

He hopes to carry the momentum through to September, when he will attempt to prove to USC baseball Coach Rod Dedeaux that he belongs with the even-bigger boys.

The Trojans will have two returning first basemen waiting for Ford’s challenge.

Junior Scott Sommers (6-0, 185) started most of the Trojans’ games last year at first and batted .268 with 17 runs batted in. Dedeaux expects him to supply some punch.

Pops Mitchell (5-9, 220) backed up Sommers and appeared in 41 games. He is coming off a freshman season in which he batted .276 with four home runs and 14 RBIs.

Said Buford: “Right now, I would have to say that Scott Sommers is our starting first baseman, but it’s definitely not out of the question to say that you’ll be seeing Ben out there on the field playing for us. We’ll have to test his ability more in the fall. He would have to be very, very impressive, though.”

Ford made a name for himself at Highland Hall. Now he sets his sights on Heritage Hall.