American Legion Notebook : Opponents Are Doffing Their Caps to Van Nuys-Notre Dame’s ‘Romeo’

The way Jody Breeden remembers it, a few days passed before what he was seeing took full effect. This player on the Notre Dame High junior varsity kept showing up for practice holding his cap in hand.

After a few days, Breeden told the player, pitcher Cary Wichmann, “You can leave your hat on.”

“He has this wavy blond hair,” said Breeden, the Notre Dame junior varsity coach who also coaches the Van Nuys-Notre Dame Legion team. “I guess he has this thing about messing it up. I finally busted him one day and nicknamed him Romeo, something that kind of stuck. He wears his hat now.”

The right-hander looks pretty good on the mound, too. Wichmann, who will be a sophomore next year at Notre Dame, is 3-2 and is one of only two pitchers to beat Woodland Hills (West) this season. Wichmann threw a three-hitter against West three weeks ago, allowing a home run to Bryce Welch in a 2-1 victory.

Another sophomore, Vinnie Orlando, is 19 for 40, has 8 runs batted in, 3 steals and has scored 9 runs.

Another Knight to remember: Camarillo second baseman Kenny Knight had an unforgettable weekend at the Cherry Creek Classic in Denver. Not only did the team win its second consecutive consolation title, but Knight took advantage of the rarefied air to launch a fireworks show.

He hit six home runs in five games and finished with 15 runs batted in. Knight hit two home runs against Brighton of Salt Lake City on Saturday and two in a 10-0 consolation victory over Hillcrest of Salt Lake on Sunday.

Sleeper hold: Woodland Hills (West) Coach Gary Gibson swears Welch is the best unsigned player in the area.

Welch, a third baseman, is batting .560 and has 7 home runs, 3 triples, 5 doubles and 25 RBIs. He is the team leader in six offensive categories and bats cleanup ahead of UCLA-bound Mike Kerber, the 1987 City Player of the Year.

“He has to be the most overlooked player around,” Gibson said. “He’s an awesome talent.”

Welch’s stock fell after a disappointing senior season at El Camino Real, where he hit .303 with 1 home run and 15 RBIs for the Conquistadores, who finished 8-11 in the West Valley League.

“It wasn’t a real good year for a lot of the ECR kids,” Gibson said. “But now it seems like we’re relaxing and having fun, and everybody is more productive.”

Who was that masked man: Anyone who says catchers wear the tools of ignorance had better not be standing within earshot of a Glendale coach.

“We’ve lost three games to catchers,” assistant Dave McKinnon grumbled. “It seems like we can really get all over the other team’s No. 1 guy in the opener, and then they throw some thumber at us in the second game and we fall apart.”

David is Goliath: Mark David missed five of Sun Valley’s first seven games because of other commitments. But he’s making up for lost time; in his past six games, David, who graduated from Poly earlier this month, has 10 hits--3 doubles, 1 home run and 10 RBIs.