Loyola Slips in National Polls, But Is Still Unbeaten in Conference Play

The Loyola Marymount baseball team slipped to seventh in the national polls this week, but the Lions have been more than a match for most teams in the West Coast Athletic Conference, where they are 8-0 going into a four-game series with St. Mary’s, scheduled to start today.

The Lions are batting .409 in WCAC games, and Carl Fraticelli (.536), Mark Graffiti (.500) and Don Sparks (.459) are 1-2-3 in batting in conference games. Additionally, catcher Miah Bradbury, who missed the first four league games with an injury, went 10-for-14 (.714) in the four conference games he played last weekend. That performance earned the rangy 6-4 sophomore WCAC player of the week honors.

On the mound, pitcher Scott Neill has the WCAC’s best earned run average in conference games, 0.71, and reliever Darryl Scott has the best ERA for the season, 2.66. Sophomore starter Steve Surico is the top winner at 9-0.

Add WCAC: The University of San Francisco may have the bats to challenge anyone in the conference, but USF rests at the bottom of the league at 2-10 due to a combination of hitting at the wrong time and poor fundamentals. In five games last week, the Dons scored 43 runs and outhit opponents, 67-48. But they were only 1-4. Nearly half the runs came in the lone 20-10 victory against Nevada-Reno. Another 10 runs came in a 5-run loss to UC Berkeley. The Dons contributed to their downfall by issuing 38 walks, making 17 errors and hitting 7 batters.

The University of San Diego, tied with USF in the cellar, has a nine-game losing streak that is particularly galling because the Toreros have led going into the last inning in six of those games.

Signings: Loyola Marymount signed players for the men’s and women’s basketball teams Wednesday. Heading for the men’s team is Oakland Tech point guard Terrell Lowery, the Oakland Athletic League player of the year. The 6-foot-2 Lowery averaged 25 points and 4 rebounds in leading his school to a 22-4 record. This season he twice won games with three-pointers as time ran out. Lowery reportedly chose Loyola over Santa Clara, USC and Arizona. He’ll probably run into older brother Josh, who transfered out of San Diego State and was expected to sign with Portland, a rival of Loyola in the West Coast Athletic Conference.

Lowery, an all-Northern California choice as a junior as well as this year, declined to sign before the season ended. He told the Oakland Tribune: “I thought I was being overlooked in some cases. I felt if I played the year out, I’d have a better shot. It worked out smooth.”

Loyola women’s Coach Todd Corman signed 6-foot forward Joelle Longobardi, an All-CIF 3-A selection out of Antelope Valley High School. Longobardi averaged 20.6 points and 12.3 rebounds and was most valuable player in the Golden League. Her school records include most points in a game (36) and season (428).

Cal State Dominguez Hills Coach Dave Yanai signed 6-7 center Chris Dane of Fairfax plus Segaro Bozart, a Narbonne High graduate who hasn’t played in two years and will have freshman eligibility.

Lady Toros Coach Alice Textor, looking for some power around the basket, signed 5-11 forward Marvette Williams from Compton College, 5-11 Kim Hallman from Beverly Hills High School, 5-10 Erika Stinson from Washington High plus 5-8 guard Connie McKenney from El Camino College. Williams, Hallman and Stinson all averaged more than 10 rebounds, while McKenney, a Torrance High graduate, was good for 16.6 points and 9.3 rebounds. Williams averaged 17.6 points and 15 rebounds for Compton.

At El Camino College, most of the men’s state champion team’s sophomores are headed to major colleges. Leading scorer Kirkland Howling, a tall guard/small forward, is bound for Clemson. The state tournament’s most valuable player David Lee, a center/forward, is going to North Carolina State, and guard Eric Dunn is going to Oregon. Another guard, Darron Jackson, is going to Northern Arizona. Team star forward Charles White signed before the season with Purdue.

El Camino and Harbor colleges could be on a collision course when community college baseball regionals begin in the second week of May. El Camino, having its best season in several years, entered the week tied with Cerritos for the lead in the South Coast Conference, thanks to a 6-5 victory over Cerritos on Saturday. The Warriors then pulled into sole possession of first place on Tuesday with a 9-8 victory over Golden West, giving them an 8-2 league mark.

Meanwhile, Harbor, the perennial heavyweight in the Southern California Athletic Conference, is running away with the Southern Division title, with an 11-2 league record. Valley College and Rio Hondo are the closest pursuers at 6-6-1. Conference playoffs will begin May 3 to determine regional qualifiers.

College Notes:

Dominguez Hills outfielder Joe Pardo threw out three runners at the plate last week. . . . Toros infielder Ruben Jauregui has recaptured the lead in the California Collegiate Athletic Assn. batting race, taking a .411 average into the weekend. His closest pursuer is Dave Hajek of Cal Poly Pomona at .378. . . . Toros junior Dave Haggard ranks third in the CCAA with a 2.70 earned run average. He’s also third with three complete games. . . . Two more Toros players have gone down with injuries. Outfielder Bob Gonzales’ season is over due to an elbow injury. Senior pitcher Joe Cortez won’t pitch anymore due to a shoulder injury, but he may fill in as an infielder. . . . Kevin Hughley, a Gardena High and El Camino College product, recently pole vaulted a career-best 15 feet, 5 inches for Cal State Los Angeles. Meanwhile, Cal State L.A.’s 1,600-meter team, including El Camino grad Jerry Coulson, has qualified for Division II nationals.