Community College Notebook / Steve Kresal : After a Slow Start, Miller Has Spent a Lot of Time on Receiving End

Scott Miller, a receiver for Saddleback College, got off to a slow start this season.

Miller was hurt in the first half of Saddleback’s season-opening victory over San Diego Mesa, didn’t play in the second half and had no catches for the game.

But Miller, a sophomore from El Toro High School, has been quick to make up for missed opportunities.

In the last 2 games, he has caught 25 passes for 386 yards. He set 2 Mission Conference single-game records by catching 14 passes for 220 yards in Saddleback’s 34-7 victory over Grossmont Sept. 24.

He followed that by catching 11 passes for 166 yards last Saturday as Saddleback defeated Palomar, 29-7.

He now leads the 16-team Mission Conference in receptions.

But even after two outstanding performances and several last season, the first thing his coaches mention is the pass he should have caught.

Against Grossmont, Miller broke open on a streak pattern, but dropped a pass from quarterback Scott Stark on what could have been a 92-yard scoring play.

“I guess I just need to concentrate better sometimes,” Miller said.

Coach Ken Swearingen said: “It just goes to show he’s human. He normally catches everything thrown close to him.”

Miller set 2 freshman school records last season with 60 catches for 898 yards.

Miller will need to continue his torrid pace if he is to set any Saddleback single-season receiving records. Bret Mersola, now at Rutgers, set the national single-season record with 91 catches in 10 games in 1986 for Saddleback.

Mersola also holds the Saddleback career record with 138 receptions.

Mike Angelovic, the starting quarterback at Orange Coast the first two games this season, suffered a broken right leg along with ligament damage to the ankle and is out for the season.

Angelovic was running out bounds in the final two minutes of Orange Coast’s 27-13 victory over Mt. San Antonio at Walnut when he was injured on a clean tackle.

Angelovic underwent surgery Sunday morning and is expected to be in the hospital four or five days. He’ll be in a cast for eight weeks to three months, according to OCC Coach Bill Workman.

Steve Calhoun, a freshman from Santa Ana Valley, will be the starter, with Mike Crowe, a freshman from Costa Mesa High School, the backup quarterback.

Despite all the success Bob Hamelin had in baseball at Irvine High School in 1986, area newspapers had a tough time spelling his last name. He was Hamblin or Hamline , even Hamlin.

But since he went on to UCLA in 1987, then Rancho Santiago last season, where he hit a state-record 31 home runs and had 105 RBIs, everybody seems to have figured out how to spell his name.

Well, almost everybody.

He was the second-round pick of the Kansas City Royals in June, and after signing, was assigned to the organization’s Class-A team at Eugene, Ore.

He led the Northwest League with 17 home runs and 61 RBIs in 61 games.

Well, when the official Eugene Emeralds baseball card set came out, card No. 1 belonged to Bob Hamblin.

Community College Notes

The Fullerton women’s volleyball team rebounded from an opening-match sweep by Cerritos to win the next seven matches. Sue Guest, a sophomore transfer from Washington State, leads the team with 15 kills a match. . . . Cypress lost its season-opening wrestling match to Palomar, 24-15, Friday at Palomar. Karen Caires of Cypress is one of eight women’s finalists for the 1987-88 California Community College Outstanding Scholar-Athlete Award. Caires was a two-time all-conference guard for the Cypress basketball team.