High School Notebook : Worley Will Just Turn the Other Cheek When Antelope Valley Visits

Saugus baseball Coach Doug Worley intends to be a gracious host when Golden League opponent Antelope Valley visits Saugus on April 26.

If the Centurions’ pregame music is too loud for Antelope Valley Coach Jack Donnelly, Worley says he will have it turned off. If the Antelopes need a little extra time to warm up, hey, it’s no problem.

“We’re looking forward to playing them again,” said Worley, whose team was beaten by the Antelopes, 7-3, at Antelope Valley on Friday.

There are those at Saugus, however, who probably would rather see Worley yank the red carpet out from under Donnelly and his players. Saugus’ visit Friday was hardly a pleasant one.

For openers, because of a transportation foul-up the Centurions were forced to cram into a bus with the school’s tennis team. When the bus arrived late, Donnelly reportedly threatened to protest if the game did not start immediately. Consequently, Saugus had about seven minutes to warm up.

“I said we’ll get ready as soon as we can,” Worley said. “He said, ‘You’ve got one minute.’ The umpire suggested that we’d better start because they didn’t want a big stink. I thought maybe this guy being such a jerk might incense us.”

Worley was wrong. Once the game began, Antelope Valley players badgered the Centurions and pitcher Roger Salkeld with a verbal assault from the dugout. Antelope Valley, which moved into a first-place tie with Saugus, scored five runs in the fifth inning to erase a 3-0 Saugus lead and chase Salkeld (4-2), who was tagged for three hits and four walks in the inning.

“It could have been a different game altogether,” Salkeld said. “I didn’t have any time to warm up. I threw 15 pitches and then I had to go out there. I usually throw 45 at least.”

Said Worley: “The whole atmosphere did distract us and we weren’t really into the game. I didn’t really have a good feeling about it. We weren’t mentally ready.

“But I won’t be that way with him. If someone irritates you, there is a right way to deal with it.”

Suspended series: After 19 innings this season, Frontier League rivals Agoura and Calabasas still cannot claim a victory. The Chargers and Coyotes were tied, 4-4, in the 11th inning Friday when the game was called because of darkness. It was the second extra-inning game between the teams this season that was called because of darkness. Three weeks ago, their game ended after eight innings with the score tied, 2-2.

“At the end of the first game we both thought that when the daylight-saving time change came this wouldn’t happen again,” Calabasas Coach Bob Wade said.

Think again, guys. Friday’s game lasted until nearly 8:30.

“It was about 10 o’clock before I got out of the locker room,” Agoura Coach John Crow said. “By the time I had some pizza and beer and talked about the game, I lost a little sleep.”

The teams play again April 26 at Calabasas. “I hope somebody wins it, I don’t care who,” Crow said, jokingly. “This is killing me.”

Valiant effort: St. Genevieve junior right-hander Roland De La Maza can hardly wait until next year when the Valiants join Notre Dame in the newly formed San Fernando Valley League.

“That’s our league they’r e coming into,” De La Maza pointed out. “I think they think they’re going to dominate. I think they’re going to see a different story. I think we’re going to give them some good games.”

De La Maza has good reason to be so thoughtful. Especially after his performance against Notre Dame on Friday. De La Maza had seven strikeouts and pitched a four-hitter but surrendered three unearned runs and lost, 3-2. De La Maza, who has 57 strikeouts in 30 innings, has an earned-run average of 0.93.

St. Genevieve is a 2-A Division school, but the Valiants may have sent a message with their performance against the 5-A Division Knights.

“We could have played a little better ball and sent a better message,” De La Maza said. “I was a little nervous out there. I felt like it was a really big game. Our bats weren’t alive.

“Next year, I think we can beat them.”

Up goes the average: Simi Valley catcher Marcus Lockwood went a week without making an out, hitting safely in nine consecutive at-bats before being retired Friday against El Segundo.

Lockwood, who is batting .435, began his streak April 1 against Colonial High in the Colonial Baseball Classic in Orlando, Fla. He followed with three hits against Boone, Fla. Returning to California, Lockwood had two hits against Channel Islands and three against El Segundo in the first game of a doubleheader.

Add Simi Valley: First baseman Scott Sharts, hit his 11th home run of the season against El Segundo, which tied his own school record. Sharts is five home runs shy of the Southern Section single season record.