AROUND THE LEAGUES : Del Rey Baseball Race Has Had Its Share of Tying Circumstances

An odd item will appear on the agenda when Del Rey League athletic directors meet later this month: How should ties in baseball games be considered? Three Del Rey games have been called because of darkness with the score tied, leaving four of seven teams with one tie and Loyola with two.

“I can’t remember such an amount of ties,” said Marty Dusserre, St. John Bosco athletic director and the league’s baseball secretary. “I have a feeling we will do it like they do in soccer. Two points for a win and one for a tie. That seems fair.”

But don’t expect it to be unanimous. Crespi Coach Scott Muckey’s idea of fairness calls for each tie to be counted as half a win and half a loss, which computes to different winning percentages from Dusserre’s method. Another alternative is to disregard the ties altogether.

Because daylight-saving time is in effect this week, there should not be more ties. “Maybe a game will go until 8 p.m.,” Dusserre said. “I wouldn’t doubt it. This has been really strange.” . . . Paul Fell started in Crespi’s outfield last season but had fallen from grace after getting off to an 0-for-15 start this year. He may be back in favor after getting a pinch-hit single to tie Loyola, 9-9, last week in a Del Rey game halted by darkness. “It was kind of exciting,” Muckey said. “I felt he was a starting outfielder who happened not to be starting because of a slump. Paul’s been swinging better in practice and the pinch hit was a line drive over the second baseman’s head.”

Smartin’ Spartan: Martin Valencia, Sylmar’s starting shortstop, was taught as a child to hang in there and try to suck up the bad hops and low throws. But last week Valencia undoubtedly regretted his own persistence when he nearly inhaled a throw that took a brutal bounce. “Two very black eyes and some blood,” Coach John Klitsner said. “The ball broke his nose just like that.” It didn’t break his spirit, however. Valencia played in Sylmar’s 6-2 win over Fairfax on Monday. . . . Agoura’s Jai Eller suffered a broken nose when he collided with teammate Mike Spina in practice Friday, and Coach John Crow thought he’d be without the senior pitcher for a while. But Eller, who was 1-0 and did not allow an earned run in 10 innings before the accident, worked out over the weekend and started Tuesday against Nordhoff. He allowed seven runs in two innings in an 11-8 defeat.

Sheep shot: Ken Sollom hit Canyon’s first home run of the season, a 400-foot solo shot that landed in a sheep pen beyond left field at Antelope Valley. “The sheep started running all over the place,” Canyon Coach Wally Hammond said. . . . After starting the season 1-4, Chaminade has won three of its first four Santa Fe League games. All-league first baseman Scott Stuber is 5 for 10. . . . Poly, 10-0 and ranked No. 1 in the Valley by The Times, has found a variety of ways to win. The Parrots may have the Valley’s best 1-2 pitching combination in Greg Nealon (5-0, 1.55 earned-run average) and Nick Lymberopoulos (4-0, 2.00 ERA), and the Poly offense has provided plenty of runs. Through nine games, every regular has at least seven runs batted in, and five have 10 or more. The team batting average among the eight regulars is .440, and three--Joey Speakes, Danny Gil and Rodrigo Fuentes--are batting .500 or above. . . . Oak Park pitchers Chris Hall and Mike Birch combined for a no-hitter against Bishop Diego last week but lost, 2-1, because of Oak Park errors.

Buoyed by Ballards: The three Ballard brothers--Matt, Jason and Christopher--led the Birmingham swim team to its 15th consecutive league title with a West Valley League victory last week over Taft. The Ballards have won every race they’ve entered this season. . . . The Thousand Oaks two-mile relay track team of Paul McCarter (2:00.7), Dave Patterson (1:59.9), Derrick Tadlock (2:02.0) and Steve Fairman (1:59.05) ran a school record 8:01.65 at Saturday’s Alemany/Northridge relays. Also, Tom Parker of Notre Dame set a meet record in the pole vault (15-1), Russell White of Crespi won the triple jump (48- 3/4) with a personal best and Doug Fairman of Thousand Oaks won the 1,500 meters (3:58.95). . . . Simi Valley’s Robert Harris strained his right hamstring in a meet against Newbury Park last week and is expected to be out for two weeks. Harris placed fifth in the 200 meters at the 1986 state championships. . . . Volleyball player Cheryl Conly of Montclair Prep signed a letter of intent Monday to attend Stanford.