SportsScope : Loyola Nine Will Hit the Road for Last Time This Season

The Loyola Marymount baseball team, 42-11, ranked fifth and sixth in the national polls and averaging 9.6 runs per game, will take its last regular-season road trip to Santa Clara for a four-game West Coast Athletic Conference series starting today. They will play a double-header Saturday and close out the series Sunday. The Lions lead the WCAC at 15-1. Santa Clara is third at 11-3-1. The Broncos helped knock the Lions out of playoff contention last year by winning several key conference games.

The Lions will face the WCAC’s leading power hitter in Santa Clara catcher Troy Buckley, who took an 11-game hitting streak into the week. Buckley leads the WCAC with 20 home runs and 62 runs batted in--10 short of the school record--and is second in batting at .426. Santa Clara may also have the league’s top starter in Wes Bliven, who leads in wins (10-2), innings pitched and strikeouts. He’s 3-0 in the WCAC with a 2.70 earned run average. He’ll challenge Loyola’s .420 conference batting average.

Cal State Dominguez Hills’ baseball team plays a California Collegiate Athletic Assn. series against league-leading, ninth-ranked UC Riverside, with a 2:30 p.m. game today at Riverside and a noon double-header Saturday on the Toros’ Carson field. The Toros lost to 10th-rated Cal Poly Pomona on Wednesday to fall to 13-27 overall and 4-17 in the CCAA. Riverside leads the conference with a 15-6 record and is 27-18 overall. Saturday’s double-header is the start of a seven-game home stand for the Toros, all of them conference games.

The L.A. Heat will play a 2 p.m. game Sunday at West Torrance High School against the Calgary Kickers of the Canadian Soccer League. The Heat will also play host to the Vancouver 86ers at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday. The Heat defeated the U.S. National team, 2-0, last week but fell in its Western Soccer Alliance opener, 3-2, on penalty kicks to the California Kickers.

The American Youth Soccer Organization Region 7 will hold its annual sign-ups for youths from Westchester, Inglewood, Playa del Rey, Marina del Rey and Ladera Heights from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. May 7 and May 21 at Westchester Townhouse on Emerson Avenue just north of Manchester Avenue. Registration is open to youths ages 5 through 16. Fees are $40 for one child, $65 for two or $85 for three or more.

Dokie Williams, James Lofton, Mervyn Fernandez and Jack Youngblood are the latest National Football League players and ex-players who have committed to Saturday’s NFL Players Assn. Bowling Tournament to benefit the Childhelp Organization, which helps abused children. Marcus Allen, Charles White and Vince Ferragamo are among stars also expected to bowl. The event is at 12:30 p.m. Saturday at Palos Verdes Bowl, 24600 Crenshaw Blvd., in Torrance. Bowling is open to the public for a $50 entry fee.

El Camino College will hold a golf tournament to raise funds for its athletic program. The event is scheduled for May 13 at the Los Verdes Golf Course. The entry fee is $100. Call 715-3550.

The first inductions into the El Camino College Athletic Hall of Fame will be held May 12 at the Los Verdes Golf Course. The inductees are: former Los Angeles Rams football star and current television actor Fred Dryer; former National League Most Valuable Player George Foster; former UCLA basketball star Keith Erickson; former Dodger public address announcer John Ramsey; Rose Bowl MVPs Amby Schindler and the late Norm Verry of USC, who also coached at El Camino; Olympic water polo players and swimmers Bill Dornblazer and Bob Hughes; former El Camino football Coach Ken Swearingen, now at Saddleback College; former ECC quarterbacks Paul Held and Ron Veres; basketball-football player Allen Herring; football and track speedster Tom Reynolds; track record-holder Mike Thornton, and former athletic director and coach John Morrow.

Tickets are priced at $25. Call 715-3550.

Cal State Long Beach baseball Coach John Gonsalves will be honored with a retirement party at his home in Seal Beach at 1 p.m. May 21. Gonsalves, a 19-year veteran, announced his resignation recently. The event is open to former players, many of whom reside in the South Bay, and friends of 49er baseball. Call 498-4661.