NOTABLE

Jack McDowell, a former Notre Dame High player and Southern Section player of the year, is taking his first summer off from baseball in 2 1/2 years.

McDowell, who will be a junior at Stanford in September, is attending summer school at Valley College, and lifting weights to improve his upper-body strength. He may be trying to improve his fastball, which has been clocked at 90 m.p.h. and has attracted scouts from every major league team. McDowell was drafted out of Notre Dame by the Boston Red Sox.

McDowell, a 6-4 right-hander, has played amateur ball in Alaska and on the U.S. National team and at Stanford since he graduated from Notre Dame in May, 1984.

This spring at Stanford, McDowell compiled a 11-4 record, had 129 strikeouts in 136 innings and posted a 2.51 earned-run average. He was named to the All-Pacific 10 first team and was selected as a second-team All-American.

John Barrett, coach of Notre Dame High’s baseball team for the last two seasons, said this week that he will remain at the Sherman Oaks campus as its baseball coach despite rumors he was leaving.

Notre Dame Athletic Director Kevin Rooney said that Barrett has resigned as a teacher at Notre Dame but will continue to coach the Knights. Under Barrett last season, Notre Dame was 2-10 in the Del Rey League and 7-13 overall.

Canoga Park’s Jim Vreeke, the 1985 American Federation of Motorcycles Superbike champion, rode his Yamaha to a second-place finish Sunday in the Formula USA road race at Willow Springs Raceway.

Vreeke placed first in Sunday’s Superbike race, also at Willow Springs.

Reseda’s Rick Miller finished among the top 20 racers in Sunday’s Speedway Bike final at Coventry, England. Miller, with five points, finished nine points behind winner Sam Ermolenko of Cypress.

Golfer Ron Commans of Westlake finished in a tie for 11th at the $245,000 Monte Carlo Open at Mont Agel, France, which was won Saturday by Seve Ballesteros of Spain.

Commans, who led by two strokes after 54 holes, slumped to a 5-over par 74 in the final round. He dropped six strokes to par over the final 11 holes. Commans won $4,200, the biggest payday of his career.

“I had some unique experiences out there,” Commans said.

Those experiences included returning to the tee at the 14th hole when his drive landed in a hedge, leaving him nowhere to drop the ball. He also lost a ball at the 17th hole.

Commans, who carried his own bag around the course to save money, said he would continue caddying for himself.

After coaching for 10 years at Calabasas High, baseball coach Gary Gray has transferred within the Las Virgenes School District, to become a teacher and coach at Agoura High. He is a candidate for assistant coaching positions with the Agoura football and baseball programs.

In boxing at the Irvine Marriott on Monday, Lee Sentinella of Huntington Beach won a six-round decision over Zack Boldan of North Hollywood. On the same card, Doug Medley of Ontario knocked out Encino’s Dave Kilgore in the first round.

Brian Weintraub of Sherman Oaks finished third in the 25-29 age group Saturday at the Castaic Lake Triathlon. He completed the course--a one-kilometer swim, 40-kilometer bicycle ride and 10-kilometer run--in two hours, four minutes and eight seconds.

The Los Angeles Colts lost their first match of the American Polo League season Saturday night, dropping an 11-8 decision to an All-Star team before a sellout crowd of 4,500 at the Equidome in Burbank.

Joe Henderson had six goals for the Colts, who dropped their final spring game after 11 victories. The all-star team included Ronnie Tonng, captain of the Hawaii team; Podger El Effendi, captain of the Washington team, and Brad Scherer, captain of the Miami team.

Peter Cunningham of Van Nuys, the world lightweight full-contact karate champion, recently captured his second world championship--the World Super Lightweight title--with a 12-round, unanimous decision in Reno over Pat Romero of Albuquerque, N.M.