Pro Scouts Keep Eye on Davison, Clayton

They held another version of “Super Tuesday” this week at St. Bernard High School.

The occasion was the St. Bernard-Redondo baseball game featuring Redondo pitcher Scott Davison and St. Bernard shortstop Royce Clayton, two of the top prospects in Southern California.

As expected, there were major-league scouts in the stands. St. Bernard Coach Bob Yarnall has become adept at identifying them: “They have their stop watches and little books,” he said. “And they’re chewing tobacco.”

Some had radar guns, which were pointed at Davison. The right-hander kept the ball humming. He threw a two-hitter and struck out 11 in Redondo’s 6-3 victory in the third round of the Westside Tournament.

But the scouts were also there to see Clayton, a slick-fielding senior with 3.9-second speed from the batter’s box to first base.

“He’s big, he’s strong and he can run,” said Otha Evans, a scout for the Montreal Expos. “No doubt about it, he will go quick (in the draft).”

Yarnall counted 19 scouts at St. Bernard’s season opener last Friday against Westchester.

“I think (Clayton) was a little nervous for the first game because there were so many scouts,” Yarnall said. “He still did real well.

“He’s got a lot of scouts looking at him. I get phone calls every day.”

Yarnall has been around several talented players. He went to Westchester High with former major league infielders Roy Smalley and Rob Picciolo, and last season he coached pitcher-first baseman Tim Williams, the Southern Section 1-A player of the year.

He says Clayton is the best with a glove.

“Defensively, he’s something else,” Yarnall said. “He gets the ball on the other side of second base. I can’t hit the ball by him in practice. He makes it look so smooth.

“I can’t believe his arm strength from shortstop. There’s no dip in the ball when he throws from deep in the hole.”

Clayton’s talent and grades (B student) make him attractive to major colleges. He has narrowed his choices to USC, UCLA and Loyola Marymount, but Yarnall thinks the lure of professional money might be too strong.

“I think he’ll go to USC unless he gets the right offer,” he said. “If a pro team offers him a bundle, I think he’ll sign.

“The scouts think if he signs with a college, he’ll still be drafted in the top three rounds. If he doesn’t sign with a college, two scouts have told me he’ll be somebody’s first pick.”

Either way, Clayton can’t lose.

Rolling Hills basketball Coach Cliff Warren, upset over his team’s triple-overtime loss to Kennedy in the semifinals of the Southern Section 3-A playoffs, found the pairings for the Southern California Division II Regionals almost as upsetting.

Four teams from the San Diego Section were granted berths in the eight-team bracket, including losing semifinalists El Camino of Oceanside and Torrey Pines of Del Mar.

Because the Southern Section has an unwritten rule against entering teams for the regionals that did not reach a division final, Rolling Hills and Palos Verdes, the losing semifinalists, were never considered for an at-large berth in the regionals.

“The knot in my stomach is worse than ever,” Warren said. “It’s unfair. I think the Southern Section teams should stand up and be accounted for.”

Palos Verdes Coach John Mihaljevich also had harsh words for the Southern Section’s policy.

“I think they blew it,” he said. “For them to bypass ourselves and Rolling Hills is inexcusable. Our section is so much bigger (than San Diego) that it is a lot more competitive.

“They didn’t help the tournament by doing what they did.”

Part of the problem is that the Southern Section’s divisions are not aligned with the state’s five divisions, which are based on enrollment. That explains why Woodbridge of Irvine, the Southern Section 2-A runner-up, is competing in the Division II regionals (1,500-1,999 enrollment) while Banning of Riverside, the 2-A champion, is playing in the Division IV regionals (400-999).

Palos Verdes, which defeated Los Altos last Friday for the Southern Section girls 3-A basketball title, will play Los Altos again at 7:30 tonight at home in the semifinals of the Southern California Division II Regionals.

The top-seeded Sea Kings (24-8) received a bye in the first round when Mt. Whitney of Visalia forfeited. Los Altos (21-4) advanced with a 47-36 win over Fallbrook on Tuesday.

Morningside, top seed in the Division I regionals, meets Central Section champion Hanford (25-1) at 7:30 tonight in the semifinals at Morningside.

The Lady Monarchs (31-1) proved too much for Reseda in Tuesday’s first round. The Southern Section 4-A champion got 30 points from forward Shaunda Greene in a 70-31 win over the L.A. City 3-A champion.

Hanford advanced with a 64-54 victory over Santana of the San Diego Section.

One that got away:

Mitchell Butler, who had 47 points and 19 rebounds in Oakwood’s 61-60 win over Hesperia Christian in the Southern Section Small Schools basketball finals last Friday, almost went to high school at Chadwick.

Butler, of Inglewood, attended Oakwood in North Hollywood in seventh and eighth grades but planned to enroll at Chadwick in ninth grade after his family mistakenly thought Oakwood was going to terminate his financial aid.

Chadwick basketball Coach Tom Maier remembers the day Butler showed up on campus.

“It was during our registration, and this kid gets out of the car,” he recalled. “He looked like he played college football, muscles all over.”

Maier learned of Butler’s situation and informed the Chadwick headmaster, who called the headmaster at Oakwood.

“Their headmaster said there was a misunderstanding and everything was resolved,” Maier said. “I would have loved to have him, but he liked it at Oakwood and wanted to stay there.”

Butler, a 6-5 junior, has been the dominant player in the Small Schools Division for the last two years. He averages 33.6 points and 16.1 rebounds a game for Oakwood, which is 25-2 and seeded No. 1 in the Southern California Division V Regionals.

“He’s a man playing with boys,” said a CIF official.

Butler, who is black, enrolled at Oakwood through the Happy Hairston Foundation, which steers academically inclined minority youngsters into private schools. Hairston was a starting forward with the Lakers.

PREP NOTES--Toby Harris of Redondo placed highest of all South Bay wrestlers last weekend at the state tournament in Stockton, taking third at 112 pounds . . . Twenty-seven track teams from Southern California will compete in the Mobil Track Classic on Friday and Saturday at West Torrance. All events are finals, starting at 1 p.m. Friday and 9 a.m. Saturday . . . The Serra-United States Army Baseball Classic, featuring 32 teams, will get under way Friday and Saturday. Area teams entered are Serra, Masada, Morningside, Mary Star, Carson and Miraleste . . . A headline in last week’s South Bay sports section incorrectly stated that Redondo is seeking its fourth straight Pioneer League baseball title. The Sea Hawks won the Bay League title in 1985 and 1986 before moving to the Pioneer League last year.