BRIEFLY

Blackburn to Be Football Coach at Montclair Prep

Pat Blackburn, former defensive coordinator at Alemany High, has been hired as football coach at Montclair Prep.

Blackburn, 30, helped guide Alemany to an 8-3 record and a second-place finish in the Del Rey League last fall. The Indians allowed an average of only eight points a game.

Blackburn replaces John Hazelton, who left Montclair Prep to accept a volunteer coaching position at USC.

Before working at Alemany, Blackburn was linebackers coach at Utah State for three seasons.

Stillwell Expected to Make Reds’ Roster

With the trade of reserve infielder Wayne Krenchicki to Montreal on Monday, it appears that former Thousand Oaks High shortstop Kurt Stillwell will make the Cincinnati Reds’ 24-man roster when the season opens April 7.

Stillwell has slumped since injuring his wrist in a B game last week and has only three hits in his last 22 at-bats. He has played in 20 games and is hitting .272 with a home run and four runs batted in.

He said Tuesday that he has not been notified of his status but hopes that the injury will not affect his chances of making the team.

“I’ve had a decent spring and I’ve shown them that I can play up here,” Stillwell said.

The Reds are expected to carry either six or seven infielders on their roster. Stillwell figures to be a reserve infielder, backing up both shortstop Dave Concepcion and second baseman Ron Oester.

Calabasas Coach Blames Injury on Cleats

Calabasas baseball Coach Gary Gray has always prefered metal cleats to plastic cleats, but now he says he has a legitimate reason.

Scott Oswell, a senior pitcher for Calabasas, slipped on an asphalt ramp and broke his leg while retrieving foul balls at practice Monday. He will miss the rest of the season, Gray said.

Gray said the injury might have been avoided if Oswell had been wearing metal cleats. High school players have been required to wear plastic cleats since 1984.

“I don’t like the plastic cleats,” Gray said. “There’s a good possibility that it wouldn’t have happened if he had been wearing steel cleats because they don’t slide as much.”

Oswell was the team’s only left-handed pitcher and was supposed to make his second start Tuesday. He did not have a record in limited action.

“I don’t think the injury will have a major impact on the team, but he was making some very good progress for us,” Gray said.

CSUN Women Ranked No. 1 on West Coast

The Cal State Northridge women’s tennis team, ranked No. 4 in a national preseason poll, is the No. 1 team on the West Coast, according to the Intercollegiate Tennis Coaches Assn. Division II poll.

The Lady Matadors, 17-1 and 5-0 in the California Collegiate Athletic Assn., have not lost to a Division II opponent. Their only loss was to Iowa and they have beaten eight Division I teams. No national poll has been released since the preseason, but CSUN Coach Tony Davila expects the Lady Matadors to move up.

“It’s been pretty much a team effort so far,” Davila said. “If someone falls down in one place, someone else picks us up. There have been times when I’ve thought we’ve been down and out of matches, but somehow we’ve come back and pulled the matches out.”

CSUN has been led by sophomore Susan Campbell, who is 18-0 as the No. 3 singles player. She plays No. 1 doubles with Missy Conn and they are also 18-0.

The Division II national championships will be played at CSUN May 5-10.