College Notebook : Mike Erb Area’s Top Draft Choice

Mike Erb, San Diego State pitcher, was the area’s top college player selected in this year’s professional baseball draft, June 2-4. The junior right-hander from Madison High School went to the Angels in the second round. Erb, 6-6 with a 3.47 ERA this season, was the 43rd player picked overall.

Other Aztecs selected were Rich Holsman, a junior left-hander who was 4-6 with a 4.90 ERA, to the Padres in the 14th round; Doug Royalty, a junior right-hander who was 3-2 with a 3.41 ERA, to the Houston Astros in the 18th and Bob Parry, a senior outfielder from Mt. Carmel High School and Palomar College, to the Oakland A’s in the 32nd round. Parry led the Aztecs with a .417 batting average and had 42 RBIs and 19 doubles.

Jim Dietz, San Diego State baseball coach, said he’s happy to see his players get a chance to play pro ball, but the draft does affect his team. “It’s OK,” he said. “We expect that to happen each year. You just get used to it. It’s just part of it. It makes it difficult.”

Bob Natal became the highest drafted player in the history of UC San Diego, a Division III school. Natal, who went to Hilltop High School, was picked in the 13th round by the Montreal Expos. He hit .465 this season.

Four players from United States International University were selected.

Steve Hendricks, a junior who went to Coronado High School, was picked by the Padres. Hendricks hit .338 for the Gulls this season. The round was unavailable.

The St. Louis Cardinals selected senior pitcher Dean Wees (6-3, 4.68 ERA); senior shortstop Opie Moran (.349), who went to Escondido High School and outfielder Kevin Robinson (.312) who went to Marian High School.

Matt Haar, a senior left-hander who went to Helix High School, was not drafted but signed a contract with the independent Boise Hawks, a Class A team. He was 2-3 with a 2.89 ERA for the San Diego State this season.

UC San Diego added three NCAA Division III trophies this spring.

The Tritons won a national title in women’s tennis, finished second in men’s golf and fifth in baseball. UCSD qualified for its first Division III World Series appearance.

Mike Wydra, the Triton golf coach, was named the Division III Coach of the Year. Wydra, a UCSD graduate, has coached the Tritons since 1980. He has taken the team to the national championships every year since the team reached Division III status in 1981.

Triton Pat Weishan, who won the individual national title, became the first Division III golfer to earn All-American honors four times. Sophomore Joost Steenkamer was named an honorable mention All-American.

Lyle Yates, the baseball coach, was honored as the Division III West Region Coach of the Year by the American Baseball Coaches Assn. Yates led the Tritons to a 32-13 record, including a 17-3 mark against Division III schools.

Natal, a senior catcher, and sophomore pitcher Rick Nowak were named first-team All-Americans. Natal, from Chula Vista, led the Tritons with 18 home runs and a .465 batting average. Nowak finished the season 10-4 with a 1.97 ERA.

Several Tritons also were named to the All-West team. First baseman Brian Rude joined Natal and Nowak on the first team, and second baseman Thad Ferre, third baseman Derek Alkonis and outfielder Gary Fessia were named to the second team.

Steve Krallman, University of San Diego forward, has been named the West Coast Athletic Conference male Scholar-Athlete of the Year. Faculty representatives from the eight league members present the award. Krallman played four seasons for the USD basketball team and was co-captain last season. Krallman, who is majoring in accounting, had a 3.2 (4.0 scale) grade-point average.

Steve Boardman, San Diego State soccer player, will play in a collegiate all-star match June 23 at Richfield, Ohio. Sixty of the nation’s best senior collegiate soccer players will be divided into four teams for an indoor doubleheader in front of Major Indoor Soccer League scouts. The MISL draft will be held in Cleveland after the match.

Point Loma Nazarene College has signed six basketball players, including 6-foot 5-inch forward Jimmy Hill from Burroughs High School in Ridgecrest, Calif. Hill averaged 28 points in his senior season.

Also signed were Mark Bulgin, a 6-2 guard and honorable mention all-state player at South Salem High School in Salem, Ore.; Brian Thurston, a 6-2 guard from Phoenix Community College; Kyle Thuemler, a 6-7 forward from Mesa (Arizona) Community College; Mark Ryan, a 6-4 forward from Chula Vista who transferred from Concordia College, and Kevin Barbarick, a 6-3 guard/forward from Hancock Community College in Santa Maria, Calif.

Janelle Low, UCSD women’s water polo player, was named a USA Collegiate Water Polo All-American for the third straight season. Lowe, a senior, led the UCSD club team to a sixth-place finish at the Women’s Water Polo Championships.

The UCSD men’s tennis team finished the season ranked No. 13 in Division III by the International Tennis Coaches Assn. poll. Kyle Knapp was ranked No. 35 in singles and Jeff French and Francois Monnar were No. 23 in doubles.