Orange County Roundup : 11 Players Prepare for State Games

Orange County will be well represented in the first California State Baseball Games at Lodi, Aug. 20-23.

Six teams, divided by their telephone area codes and made up of members of the high school classes of 1987 and 1988, will compete.

Eleven of the 20 players on the 714/619 team are from Orange County. The team is coached by Jack Hodges of Laguna Hills High School, and Dave Demarest of La Quinta and Bob Ickes of Mater Dei are assistants.

The team, sponsored by the San Diego Padres, will play at least five games in the round-robin tournament.

There also will be a 213 team, sponsored by the Dodgers; 818/805 team, Brewers; 408/415 team, Giants; 916/707 team, Cubs, and 209 team (Rangers).

“This will give college coaches and professional scouts a chance to see many of the players they might have missed, or at least a chance to place the name with a face,” Hodges said. “One of our major concerns is that players get missed by coaches and scouts and don’t get the opportunity to move on. This tournament should bring together some of the best players in the state.”

The county players: Tommy Adams of Capistrano Valley; Craig Robinson of Troy, who will attend Cal State Fullerton; Mark Dion and Mike Wilson of La Quinta; Al Rodriguez of Westminster, who will UC Irvine; Kevin O’Connor of Mater Dei, who will attend Cal State Fullerton; Joe Ciccarella and Larry Sutton, also of Mater Dei; Jason Moler and Doug Saunders of Esperanza, and Andy Croghan of Servite.

Around the Area

Sheila Conover, a 1987 graduate of Orange Coast College and winner of two gold medals in team kayaking in the 1987 Pan American Games, is training in West Germany in preparation for the World Games, which begin Wednesday. She is training with Shirley Dery-Batik of Costa Mesa, JoJo Toeppner of Newport Beach and Tracy Phillips of Hawaii, the foursome who won a gold in the 500 meters. . . . Al Unser Sr. will be at the Cunningham Automotive Museum, located on the corner of Red Hill Avenue and Baker Street in Costa Mesa, Aug. 18 at 10 a.m. . . . Maureen Whann of Pacifica High School signed a letter of intent this week to attend Mississippi State on a volleyball scholarship. . . . UCLA football coach Terry Donahue will speak Wednesday at the Orange County UCLA Bruin Booster club meeting at Salvatore’s Restaurant in Anaheim. For more information, call 776-0500 or 636-1011. . . . Pacifica High School is looking for head baseball and wrestling coaches, assistant football coaches and an athletic trainer for the upcoming school year.