Prep Wrap-Up : Thomas Keeps On Winning, Despite Controversies

Eyebrows were raised when Leuzinger High hired former Dodger Derrel Thomas as its baseball coach before the season. Like the knee-high basket catches he used to make in center field and the familiar David Letterman gap in his smile, controversy is a trademark with Thomas.

There was grumbling when the Olympians--consistent winners under Dennis Bowman, a popular figure in the Lawndale community who died last spring--opened the season 1-6 under Thomas.

But the Olympians are suddenly sizzling, improving to 10-9 overall and 3-0 in the Pioneer League behind junior Jose Silva’s 9-0 shutout of Centennial on Friday.

“We’re playing excellent baseball,” Thomas said with a ready smile. From pregame warm-ups to a post-game chat with his pupils, first-year Coach Thomas seemed to be relaxed, involved and loose. So did his team. “I love it. I enjoy it,” Thomas said.

Still, with his team facing its biggest week of the season, Thomas can’t seem to escape the shadow of controversy.

The latest chapter involves Thomas and player Glen Wilkinson, who was dismissed from the team last week after a dugout confrontation.

None of the sides will comment, but student sources said Wilkinson had challenged Thomas’ authority from the start of the season and that it came to a head last week in a game against Morningside. At that time, they said, Thomas angrily ordered Wilkinson to remove his uniform and leave. Thomas may have tried to remove part of the uniform himself, and there were behind-the-scene rumblings all week of possible assault charges.

As of Saturday, however, Wilkinson’s father, Brian, said the family was lodging a complaint with the Centinela Valley Union High School District and was not taking legal action.

Leuzinger Athletic Director Steve Carnes would say only, “There was an incident.”

One student said, “The whole thing’s been blown out of proportion.”

And Thomas said as far he’s concerned, “It’s no big thing. It’s all taken care of.”

The big thing for Thomas is the Pioneer League schedule, which offers a home-and-home series on Wenesday and Friday against Redondo, also 3-0 in the league and the top-rated team in the CIF 4-A Division. The following week, Leuzinger plays a home-and-home series with El Segundo, off to a 4-0 start in league play.

Leuzinger showed speed, power and pitching in its victory over Centennial. Silva’s shutout came on the heels of a two-hit, one-run game in his last appearance.

The Olympians showed their ability to score when the first two batters got on base and No. 3 hitter Tyrone Scott sent a fastball over the fence in right-center. Later, cleanup hitter Alex Sanchez hit an even longer shot to the fence deep in left center. It would have gone as a grand slam, but the ball got tangled in the wires and Sanchez was awarded a bases-clearing triple. He has 10 runs batted in for the three league games.

Speedy switch-hitting leadoff man Wayne Johnson, meanwhile, went 2 for 2 with three stolen bases and just missed a homer, hitting a fly off the top of the high fence in right. He has 20 stolen bases for the season.

“We found out what kind of team we had early,” Thomas said. “Now that we’ve got all the bugs out, we’ve got the guys in the right places. We have two switch-hitters at the top of the lineup, power in the three and four spots. I like to do a lot of running.”

During the game, Thomas, wearing his old Montreal Expos jacket (Leuzinger’s are virtual duplicates), constantly urged his hitters to go for line drives or hit the ball on the ground. He was the first one to encourage Silva when he pitched out of a bases-loaded situation in the fifth and to congratulate him when he stranded a runner on third to end the game.

“Their concentration level is so high right now,” he said. “I’m just trying to get them to keep the ball out of the air. I knew we had a lot of players with a lot of ability. It was just a matter of bringing out that ability and enhancing their skills.”

There may still be repercussions from the Wilkinson run-in, but as he has much of his career, Thomas is thinking about baseball and shrugging off trouble.

“If there is, we’ll just have to wait and see,” he said.

Redondo’s No. 2 pitcher, Henry Schelb, had to help himself with the bat on Friday to keep the Seahawks undefeated in league play.

Schelb, who pitched a no-hitter earlier this season, was hammered for five runs by Morningside in the third inning. But Schelb homered in both the second and third innings as Redondo took a 6-5 lead, and Scott Taylor came on to pitch three scoreless innings.

The Seahawks then nailed down the victory behind star pitcher Scott Davison, who struck out all three batters he faced in the seventh.

El Segundo, meanwhile, unlimbered the big sticks to sweep a double-header from Miraleste, 15-10 and 14-7, to take a half-game league lead at 4-0. The biggest bats belonged to shortstop Jeremy Varner, who hit three home runs and drove in seven runs, and first baseman Heath Jones, who went 7 for 8 on the day with a homer and 5 RBI. Miraleste, which was swept despite scoring 17 runs, was paced by third baseman/pitcher Jesse Esphorst, who hit 3 home runs and drove in 6.

Morningside, Centennial and Miraleste are all winless in the top-heavy Pioneer League.

The hot baseball race in the Bay League got even closer Friday when North Torrance defeated Palos Verdes, 9-2, to pull into a first-place tie with West Torrance. Both are 7-2 in league games, setting up a home-and-home showdown at North on Tuesday and at West on Thursday. Rory Natividad was the pitching star for the Saxons on Friday, hurling a four-hitter and striking out 10. Catcher David Bewley supported him with a three-run homer.

Palos Verdes, at one time in first place, fell to fourth at 4-5 and is now battling for a playoff spot. South Torrance is in third at 5-4. They face off this week at South on Tuesday and at Palos Verdes on Thursday.