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The High Schools : Though Royal’s Jones Hit a Batter, His Pitches All Proved Unhittable

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James Jones of Royal High came within one inside fastball of a perfect game in Monday’s no-hitter against St. Monica.

The Highlanders won, 5-0, behind 13 strikeouts by Jones, who made only 79 pitches--53 were strikes--in the seven-inning game at Marine Field in Santa Monica. The one that got away was a fastball that hit a St. Monica batter with one out in the fifth inning.

Jones pitched so well that, of the 13 strikeouts, 10 were in situations in which the batter was caught looking.

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“His fastball was really moving on the inside of the plate,” Royal Coach Mike McCurdy said. “It was exciting. We needed that type of a game.”

Jones also had three hits in as many at-bats as Royal improved to 3-3. “He had a career in one night,” McCurdy said with a laugh.

Interestingly, Jones pitched Monday only because he was unable to last weekend when he was still feeling the effects of the flu.

His eyes are on Texas: Gregg Zaun wouldn’t be specific, but it’s going to take quite an offer to lure the St. Francis catcher from the University of Texas. He already has orally committed to the Longhorns.

“It’s going to take a pretty good offer from a pro team to give that up,” Zaun said. “The money I want you just don’t see in somebody my size, and the draft is pretty much size-oriented.”

Zaun stands 5-foot-10 and weighs 165 pounds, which he figures is the perfect size for a Longhorn.

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“I always wanted to go to Texas, anyway, and when I went there it was everything I expected and more,” he said.

While in Austin a couple of weeks ago, he saw Texas beat UCLA twice. Zaun also was impressed with the atmosphere.

“The field was great and the fans were really into the game,” Zaun said. “Longhorn sports are really popular.”

Taking offense: Chatsworth might have got out of the gate a little slowly, but the offense cannot be blamed for the Chancellors’ 3-2 record.

With a team batting average of .314 through five games, Chatsworth has outscored the opposition, 55-24, and has posted lopsided wins of 19-2 over Ventura, 13-5 over Rio Mesa and 12-2 over Hueneme.

Chatsworth, which finished third in the Blue Division of the Westside tournament, has had an eight-run inning, a 10-run inning and an 11-run inning.

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Against Rio Mesa, a grand slam by shortstop Jason Evans, coupled with a two-run home run by catcher Eric Johnson, highlighted an eight-run eighth inning that snapped a 5-5 tie.

Against Hueneme, 13 batters came to the plate in the third inning as Chatsworth broke a scoreless tie with 10 runs. Senior Nick Schultz had a leadoff single and a three-run double in the inning.

Senior center fielder Kevin Chong is batting a team-high .562 (nine for 16) and Evans is batting .437 with two home runs and a team-high 11 runs batted in.

Evans, Johnson and pitcher-first baseman Derek Wallace each have hit two home runs.

Strikeout leaders: A year ago as juniors, Roland De La Maza of St. Genevieve and Roger Salkeld of Saugus shared the Valley-area lead with 126 strikeouts. And the two right-handed starters are off to fast starts as seniors.

Salkeld has 43 strikeouts and has not allowed an earned run through 23 innings. He has pitched three complete games--a one-hitter with 13 strikeouts in a 6-0 win over Gahr; a three-hitter with 19 strikeouts in nine innings against Crespi, a 1-1 tie called because of darkness; and a two-hitter and 11 strikeouts in a 2-0 win against Santa Clara.

After giving up three earned runs and losing in the season opener against Quartz Hill, De La Maza struck out 18 in nine innings last week and allowed eight hits (seven singles, one double). During one stretch, De La Maza struck out 13 of 14 batters.

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Kennedy left-hander Denny Sharp showed signs of rivaling those two for strikeout honors. The 5-10 junior has 31 strikeouts in 15 innings, including 14 in a 22-2 win over Camarillo on Saturday.

Belt-high fastball: Taft catcher Adam Zutler launched what some observers claimed was a 450-foot home run Saturday against Santa Monica. But that’s stretching the tape measure, according to Coach Rich McKeon. “Four-fifteen was more like it,” he said. “But it was up high and it went far.”

Master thieves: St. Genevieve (2-1) has stolen 22 bases in 26 attempts, but Coach Kevin Kane does not attribute such success to blazing speed.

“It’s not like we’re the St. Louis Cardinals,” he said. “But because we’re a young team, I’ve taught the kids to be really aggressive.”

Advancing to second base on a walk, going from second to third on a wild-pitch strikeout and converting double steals are examples of the Valiants’ attacking style. Stealing home is about the only thing St. Genevieve hasn’t accomplished on the base paths, but Kane says he is working on that.

“The opportunity just hasn’t presented itself yet,” he said. “But when it does, we’ll probably try it.”

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No field, no pitch: Chaminade, which began the week 0-5, could be the most disappointing team in the Valley. Coach Steve Costley says that there is no mystery to the Eagles’ woes.

“I can sum it up in two words,” he said. “Errors and walks.”

Chaminade has committed 23 errors and the Eagle pitching staff has walked 37 batters.

“We’ve been terrible,” Costley said. “And I don’t understand why. We’re fine in practice, but then we go to pieces in the games.

“I can’t hit too many more ground balls in practice. I’ve got blisters all over my hands as it is.”

Add Chaminade: The Eagles’ poor fielding has hurt left-handed pitcher Chris DeCristo as much as anyone. DeCristo, a senior, has an 0-3 record despite a 2.92 earned-run-average. In 12 innings, he has allowed 20 runs, five of them earned.

BASEBALL TOP 10 Selected by sportswriters of The Times

Last Rk Wk Team League Record 1 2 San Fernando North Valley 4-0 2 1 Hart Foothill 5-1 3 3 Simi Valley Marmonte 5-1 4 4 Notre Dame S.F. Valley 5-0 5 5 Chatsworth West Valley 4-2 6 9 Kennedy North Valley 4-2 7 6 Westlake Marmonte 3-2 8 10 Monroe Mid-Valley 1-0 9 NR Newbury Park Marmonte 5-1-2 10 NR Alemany Del Rey 4-2

NR--Not ranked.

Through Tuesday’s games.

Staff writers Tim Brown, Vince Kowallick and John Ortega contributed to this notebook.

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