Pitchers Hold Title in Palm of Their Hands

Three fine teams are battling for the Pioneer League title: Leuzinger, El Segundo, Redondo. Most prep baseball observers say pitching will decide the championship.

If the axiom holds that standout pitchers dominate high school baseball, then what happens when three good teams, each with a star pitcher, face off for a league title?

That’s the situation in the Pioneer League over the next two weeks when Leuzinger, Redondo and El Segundo play two-game series against each other. The games will not only determine the Pioneer title but probably top seeding in the CIF 3-A playoffs.

In the 3-A ratings two weeks ago, the teams were ranked 1-2-3 (Leuzinger, Redondo, El Segundo), an unparalleled grouping for one league in the memory of any of the coaches, including El Segundo’s John Stevenson, who has been there since the 1950s. In the latest ratings, Leuzinger is No. 1 with an 18-3 record. Redondo is No. 2 at 14-6 and El Segundo has slipped to No. 4 after several non-conference defeats.

On a personal level, the games may also determine the king of the hill in the South Bay. Each team has a star pitcher: Scott Davison at Redondo, John Ingram at Leuzinger and Heath Jones at El Segundo.

All three teams are 4-0 in league, having taken turns beating up on Miraleste, Morningside and Centennial.

The schedule: This week Leuzinger and Redondo play Friday night at Redondo after opening their series Wednesday. Next week, El Segundo and Leuzinger play a Wednesday-Friday home-and-home series. In the second week of May, El Segundo and Redondo close out the Pioneer season with Wednesday-Friday games.

Last weekend, while Ingram and Davison were throwing masterpieces in non-conference games, the coaches were debating whether to match their star pitchers or avoid the one-on-one duel. Either case presents a no-win situation: Matched up, one figures to lose or get no decision; if one coach holds his ace until Friday, he appears to be playing for a split.

That’s why El Segundo’s Stevenson offered the theory that the team with the best No. 2 pitcher has the edge. Leuzinger’s Dennis Bowman figured the key was which team could hit the other’s ace. Redondo Coach Harry Jenkins theorized that the team that hit best would win.

The teams are pretty even. Leuzinger is hitting well, but going into the big series Bowman said, “If someone was to ask me right now, ‘Would you be happy with a split,’ I’d say yeah. You have to avoid getting swept.”

Leuzinger’s ace is Ingram, 11-1, a 6-4, 210-pound left-hander who throws hard with an over-the-top motion and has a good curve. He has struck out about 110 batters in 60 innings. Nearly half a dozen scouts were in the stands Saturday when he shut out University High, 14-0. “He has a chance to be drafted. A lot of it depends on how he does against the big boys (Redondo and El Segundo),” Bowman said.

Paced by the steady play and hitting of shortstop Johnny Blood, second baseman Ray Robles, brothers Carlos and Alfredo Rodriguez and outfielder Wayne Johnson, the Olympians have rung up a .320 team average. Bowman is even more impressed with his team’s defense. “About 40% of our games have been errorless,” he said.

Leuzinger’s second starter is Ramon Felix, and lately Bowman has been using Blood as a spot starter and reliever. He won one game and saved another last week against Centennial.

El Segundo began the season with an injury problem that was compounded by a late start by many of the players whose basketball and soccer teams were in CIF winter playoffs. The young team--which has only five seniors--is rounding into shape with pinch hitter Scott Talanoa returning to the lineup with a home run last week after having been out with a broken foot and pitcher Dan Parente coming back from a traffic accident in which he suffered a broken wrist.

“Parente is playing but he’s at the point everybody else was in early March,” Stevenson said. “Of our 16 (players), we probably have six basketball players and six soccer players. So Leuzinger and Redondo were ready to go out of the gate. We weren’t. The timing is good--we’re playing our toughest games at the end of the year.”

Parente figured to be the Eagles’ ace, but while he has been recuperating, junior Jones has emerged. The younger brother of major league outfielder Tracy Jones, the right-hander has size (6-4, 185) and throws hard, generating speed with a whipping motion that makes right-handed batters think twice about digging in.

“He’s been a little inconsistent. . . . He had one bad game, a couple average ones and three or four real good games,” Stevenson said shortly before Jones one-hit Miraleste last week to improve his league record to 2-0. Jones plays first base and outfield when not pitching and hits with power. Talanoa, who recently signed for a baseball scholarship with Cal State Fullerton, has awesome strength at 6-5, 245.

Parente came on in relief in the second game against Miraleste last week and earned the victory while striking out seven batters in three innings. He raised his record to 2-0 in league games. Parente is less a power pitcher than Jones but changes speeds effectively. “Parente can give a team fits,” Leuzinger’s Bowman said.

Redondo may have the best 1-2 pitching punch in the league in junior Davison and senior Todd Combs, who has thrown three straight well-pitched games, one a 1-0 loss to Newbury Park. Both opposing coaches mentioned him as a key player. “I think Combs is doing a fine job. He’s found himself,” Bowman said.

Redondo’s keystone combination of shortstop Mike Stone and second baseman Bobby Brooks is among the best around, and outfielder Victor Carillo has been batting .420 as the cleanup hitter. When Davison isn’t pitching he plays short and Stone moves to second.

When Davison is pitching, fielders are almost superfluous. A starter since he was a freshman, the 5-10, 170-pound right-hander may be the most polished of the South Bay’s pitchers, and the 16-year-old is getting stronger. “He’s throwing harder, he’s got a better slider. He’s gained about 20% strength from last year,” Jenkins said.

On Saturday night in the championship game of the Redondo-Palos Verdes Tournament, Davison ran his record to 9-1 with a 5-1 two-hitter against Cerritos. He struck out 16 including eight in a row. Recently against a good Edison team he opened the game with nine straight strikeouts and 12 in four innings of a 3-2 victory. Jenkins, who has had several All-CIF pitchers, called it “as dominating a four innings as I’ve seen in 17 years.”

Davison’s pitching, however, is a given. Jenkins wanted to talk about Davison’s batting. “He’s having a phenomenal year,” Jenkins said. Davison is batting about .550. Last week he broke the school season runs batted in record of 39 and is closing in on the CIF mark of 56 set by Loyola Marymount University star Chris Donnels at South Torrance in 1984. If Davison reaches that mark he’ll also break the CIF career record of 105, with a season left to add to it.

If the three teams tie for the league title, it will present interesting seeding problems for the CIF playoffs. The CIF gives four teams--usually league champions--top seeding, which gives them advantageous scheduling and a guaranteed home game. If the three tie, one would be considered a third-place team for playoff placement.

“We were talking about that last week, how you could tell a first-place team it’s not a seed,” Bowman said. Stevenson looked at it from the other side: “You wonder what will happen when we get to the playoffs. One is going to be a third-place team. You gonna’ rank ‘em No. 3? It’s a unique situation.”

Of course, one team could pull away and decide the issue. But it’s doubtful. One league coach said, “Redondo, with Combs, may be stronger than the others.”

Jenkins answered, “El Segundo, with Parente, is very solid if he’s sound. I give the pitching advantage to El Segundo. Leuzinger has nine good players. El Segundo and myself don’t match their overall athletes or their speed. We can beat anybody on a given night. I think overall hitting in the series will get it.

“It’s a shame it’s (come down to) a four-game league.”