Prep Review / Elliott Teaford : Sunset League Is Tough to Figure

Around and around they go in the Sunset League baseball race. Who will emerge as the champion is anybody’s guess.

What is clear at the midway point of the league schedule, however, is that any of the six teams has a shot at the title.

Entering this week’s play, Edison, Fountain Valley and Westminster are 4-3 in league play. Huntington Beach is 3-4 and Ocean View and Marina are 2-3-1.

Westminster Coach Ken Ostrowski said Saturday it will take four or five consecutive victories to break open the race.

Edison Coach Paul Harrell agreed. “Whoever puts a couple of games together is going to be in good shape,” he said.

Will it be Westminster, Edison, Fountain Valley, Ocean View, Huntington Beach or Marina?

Ostrowski, for one, is concerned with Marina, his next opponent.

“That’s a big test,” Ostrowski said of Wednesday’ game. “They’re really a good team. That’s a win we’ve got to get.”

If a 10-1 victory over Edison Saturday is any indication, Westminster has a good shot at winning the championship.

The Lions have been getting solid hitting from Ryan Klesko (.471 with four home runs), David Rodriguez (.413), Ben Mendoza (.357) and Joe Miasano (.339).

Brian Stubbs (6-2 and 3-1 in league play) has led the Lions’ pitching staff with a 0.98 earned-run average. He struck out 13 against Edison, raising his total to 66 in 64 innings.

Klesko, the Lions’ other pitcher, has a 3-1 record with a 2.36 ERA but is nursing a sore shoulder. Ostrowski is hoping Klesko returns to the rotation soon, which would make Westminster tougher still.

Add baseball: Conrad Colby, a senior first baseman for Estancia, has 27 career doubles--three short of the Southern Section record.

Brian Greer of Sonora (1974-77) holds the record with 30.

Colby had three doubles in the Eagles’ 13-3 victory over Newport Harbor Wednesday. He also hit a home run and had five RBIs.

Friday, he pitched a three-hitter in a 3-0 victory over Newport Harbor.

Estancia, 12-5 overall and 5-2 in Sea View League play, is in third place behind league co-leaders, Saddleback and Tustin (both 6-1).

Platter patter: Allison Franke, a junior at Canyon, threw the discus 155 feet, 10 inches at the Tustin Relays Saturday. It was the second best throw in the state this season. Melissa Weis of Bakersfield High is the state’s leading competitor with a toss of 160-10.

Though Franke’s mark is the Southern Section’s best this season, it is far off the Orange County record of 174-4 set by Natalie Kaaiawahia of Fullerton in 1983.

Ojai Tennis: The 89th Ojai Valley Tennis Tournament begins Thursday with a number of Orange County players among the top six seeded players in their divisions. Some 490 junior players are entered in the event. Finals will be held Sunday in Ojai’s Libbey Park.

Defending Southern Section doubles champions Stan Sanders and Neel Grover of Dana Hills are top-seeded in the boys’ CIF doubles. Also among the top seeded doubles teams are: Steve Arnott and Dave Moore of Edison, Jeff and Chris Belloli of Servite and Gabe Pate and Randy Ivey of Woodbridge.

Jonathan Leach of Laguna Beach is among the top six in the boys’ 16-and-under singles. Noelle Porter of San Clemente and Danielle Scott of Corona del Mar are seeded in the top six in the girls’ 18-and-under singles.

Scott advanced to the Southern Section singles final last fall, but lost to Kim Po of Miraleste. Po also is among the top-seeded players entered.

Where Are They Now Dept.: EVANSTON, Ill. (AP)--Bob Brucato singled home the winning run in the bottom of the eighth inning to give Northwestern a 7-6 victory over Michigan State in the first game of a doubleheader Saturday.

Brucato graduated from Mission Viejo in 1985 and was named The Times’ Player of the Year that season. He was 12-0 as a pitcher, and batted .437 for the Diablos. Brucato, who moved with his family to Mission Viejo from Park Ridge, Ill. before his senior season, led the Diablos to the 2-A championship game where they lost to Diamond Bar, 3-2.

Saturday, he also picked up the victory for Northwestern (1-5 in Big Ten play), pitching two innings of scoreless relief.

Finalists for the CIF State Scholar-Athlete of the Year Award include: Michael Dixon, a cross-country runner at Newport Harbor; Jeff Glesea, a tennis player at Foothill; Melissa Jo Rush, a volleyball player at Laguna Beach, and Julie Willett, a tennis player at Woodbridge.

The winners will be announced May 2.

Prep Notes

Bret Johnson, El Toro quarterback, will be honored as Orange County’s high school football player of the year by the Orange County Sportswriters’ Assn. Thursday, May 26, at the Saddleback Inn. Johnson, who passed for 6,627 yards in three seasons, will be honored along with the squad members for the Orange County All-Star football game at the dinner. A plaque commemorating the achievement will be displayed in the Hall of Fame room at Anaheim Stadium. . . . A dinner honoring retiring Magnolia athletic director Tom Noel is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. on Friday, April 22, at Mr. Angelo’s Cape Cod House in Garden Grove. For further information, contact Sid Shue at 220-4227.