Strong Chatsworth Lineup Shatters More Than Records With Slugging

It’s a long fly ball, deep to left field . . . going . . . going . . .

Crash!

Sound like a problem? It’s becoming one at Chatsworth High.

“The people in the apartments are really getting bent out of shape,” Chatsworth Coach Bob Lofrano said. “We break windows all the time. You hear a ball hit the street and bounce up and . . .”

Crash!

Actually, Chatsworth third baseman Joel Wolfe said it is not that often that he or a teammate smacks the ball over the 345-foot sign at Chancellor Field and breaks a window across the street.

“I see balls hit the windows,” Wolfe said. “But I’ve actually only seen one window broken in my three years there. It’s just that the people get a little mad when they see the balls come flying over.”

Said Chatsworth Principal Donna Smith: “Neighbors have been calling. It starts at the beginning of baseball season. When the ball goes over the fence, the apartments are right there and . . .”

Crash!

It is likely to be a noisy spring on Lemarsh Avenue with the fence busters--er, window busters--in the Chancellors’ lineup. But there is more to the problem than meets the ear.

“We’re not getting the balls back,” outfielder Ty Powell said. “Some lady on the first floor comes out and yells at us, then takes the ball and runs back inside.”

Said Lofrano: “That cuts into my budget.”

Smith said that the possibility of rearranging the diamond so that it faces another direction has been considered, but it won’t likely happen. And lack of funds, Smith said, prevents the fence from being extended.

“If we didn’t have such good hitters, we wouldn’t have this problem,” Smith said. “But the coach and the kids are doing everything right. We’ve got what we want.”

Add Chatsworth: Wolfe will not be swinging for any fences if his legs keep taking abuse. Wolfe, who led the team with four home runs last season, sat out a week recently because of a hamstring pull.

Last Saturday, on his second day back in the lineup, Wolfe was hit by Alemany pitcher Charlie Winner on the game’s first pitch.

“Right above the left kneecap,” Wolfe said. “Now I’m having trouble going to my left.”

Who needs hitting?: Before the East Valley League season began, Poly’s biggest concern was its offensive production. The Parrots (3-0) have not exactly been lighting up the scoreboard, but the pitching staff has more than made up for it.

Poly pitchers Nick Lymberopoulos, Greg Nealon and Mario Gomez have yet to give up an earned run in 21 innings and have allowed only 10 hits. Meanwhile, Poly’s hitters have averaged 6.3 runs a game against teams that have given up 9 runs a game.

“We need to hit the ball better, we didn’t hit the ball with consistency,” Poly Coach Jerry Cord said after the Parrots beat Verdugo Hills on Monday, 9-0. “I think the offense is there, it’s just a matter of it being consistent. It’s the key hits we’re not getting.”

The next best thing: Royal basketball Coach Joe Malkinson is using his position as color commentator on radio station KWNK in Simi Valley to get a courtside vantage point of the playoffs. Malkinson, who coached Royal to an 11-12 record in his first season, has worked all but one of Simi Valley’s five playoff games with play-by-play man Clay Morgan. Cleveland Coach Bob Braswell worked the quarterfinal.

“There’s nothing like being there but this has given me a feel for what we might encounter next year,” Malkinson said. “It’s kind of tough watching because I’d like to be there, but it’s fun to see someone from our league finally win it.

“Beside, it’s good PR for our program--as long as I don’t make too big of a fool of myself,” he quipped.

Back in the backfield? Crespi football Coach Bill Redell is considering adding former Banning Coach John Hazelton to his staff as the backfield coach.

Hazelton was fired in January after one season at Banning after a 6-4 record and a 17-14 upset loss to Cleveland in the first round of the City Section 4-A Division playoffs. Banning administrators stated that Hazelton was dismissed because he did not possess a teaching credential.

Hazelton, who formerly coached at Montclair Prep and as a walk-on at USC, would be an unpaid volunteer, Redell said.

“I’ve talked to the guy three or four times, and he came to our last staff meeting,” Redell said. “But right now, nothing is official.”

Add Celts: Crespi, which advanced to the Big Five Conference semifinals before losing to Fontana, the No. 1 team in the state, has made several other staff changes. Defensive secondary coach Doug Semones has accepted an out-of-state position at another high school, and defensive coordinator Frank Bean is scaling down his involvement with the team because of the excessive demands on his time.

Ron Gueringer, who worked with the junior varsity last year, will coach the defensive backs, and Tim Lins, formerly the quarterback coach, will assume the defensive coordinator role.

Redell, in turn, will coach the quarterbacks.

Second add Celts: Two Crespi players will attempt to walk on at Division I schools next season, Redell said.

Rob O’Byrne, who started the season at quarterback and passed for 822 yards and 4 touchdowns in 8 games before breaking his throwing arm in a win over Alemany, will walk on at UCLA.

“He’s one that really fell through the cracks,” Redell said. “He’ll most likely be trying to play somewhere in the secondary.”

Kyle Cummings, The Times’ Valley-area lineman of the year, will walk on at Oregon State.

All-Valley linebacker Chad Santander has been accepted and is expected to play at UC Davis, a Division II school that does not offer athletic scholarships.

Blessing in disguise: When Tom Parker of Notre Dame suffered a stress fracture in his right foot in January, he reasoned that a crucial part of his season had been lost. But Parker thinks the injury may prove to be beneficial after he raised his personal best in the pole vault to 16-feet, 1-inch in a dual meet against Poly last week.

“It gave me some time to rest,” said Parker, runner-up in last year’s state championship meet. “Last year, I was burned out by the time of the state meet. This year, I don’t think that will happen. I think I’ll be fresh. The injury gave me a chance to rest, and I think that will help later in the season.”

Parker, who first cleared 16-0 at last year’s Mt. SAC Relays, has vaulted 16 feet or higher in three meets in 1988.

Staff writers Steve Elling, John Ortega and Chris J. Parker contributed to this notebook.