Salkeld Makes Convincing Pitch for Pro Scouts

Roger Salkeld, Saugus High’s hard-throwing senior right-hander, could be the No. 1 high school pitcher selected in the June 5 amateur draft, according to the May 8 issue of Sports Illustrated.

Salkeld (6-feet-5, 210 pounds) last week notched his 26th career complete game and improved his season record to 9-0. He has four shutouts, an 0.74 earned-run average and 126 strikeouts in 75 1/3 innings. In addition, he holds every significant Saugus career pitching record.

Those marks include 26 wins (against just six losses), 232 1/3 innings pitched, 344 strikeouts, a 1.38 ERA, eight saves and nine shutouts. Salkeld has a school-record 19 strikeouts in one game, and his next strikeout will break the single-season record he set last year.

In addition, Salkeld has six career one-hitters. He has struck out 17 batters in a game twice and 15 in a game three times, but two feats have eluded him: His high school record includes neither a no-hitter nor a playoff victory.

Saugus--and Salkeld--were defeated in the first round in each of the past two seasons. Saugus lost to El Rancho, 2-1, in 1987 and to Santa Clara, 2-1, in 1988.

Batting: Jason Jones of Royal continued his torrid hitting last week, including another big day against Camarillo ace Steve Biggs, who likely is Jones’ favorite pitcher to bat against. Jones, a senior, has 21 hits in his past 28 at-bats. He was four for four in Royal’s 10-5 loss to Camarillo, including his school-record seventh home run, his fourth in two seasons against Biggs.

In three games against Biggs, who has signed a national letter of intent with Cal, Jones is nine for 12.

L. A. Baptist shortstop Shane Wight has helped transform the Knights from a cellar-dweller last season with a 2-12-1 record to a playoff contender this year at 14-5, 4-4 in league play. He has hit in all 19 games and has 12 multiple-hit games. He is batting .576 (34 for 59) with six doubles, four triples and four home runs. He also has scored 30 runs and driven in 31.

Notre Dame has been explosive since losing two of its first three league games. After scoring two runs in the losses, the Knights have outscored their opponents, 61-15, in the past five league games and outhit them, 73-33. Chris Lohman (.481), Kevin Milligan (.472) and Bobby Hughes (.419) are hitting better than .400, and Hughes (32), Vinnie Orlando (31), Lohman (30) and Milligan (25) have 25 or more runs batted in.

Saugus’ Scott Warr is batting just .241 and has five singles. But he has nine extra-base hits, including a team-high five home runs. He also is 5-2 with a 1.93 ERA.

Records: East Valley League teams have dominated their Valley Pac-8 counterparts from the Mid-Valley League. Grant, North Hollywood, Poly and Sylmar have a combined 25-8 record against Birmingham, Monroe, Reseda and Van Nuys.

Sylmar (12-2) and Poly (11-3) are battling for first in the East Valley League, and Monroe (7-7) and Van Nuys (6-8) are battling for the lead in the Mid-Valley League.

Stolen bases: L. A. Baptist has stolen 128 bases in 134 attempts, a 95.5% success rate. The Knights’ total ranks eighth on the Southern Section single-season list. Dave Garcia leads the team with 30 steals in 31 attempts, and Wight is 20 for 20. . . . Notre Dame has been successful on 68 of 78 steal attempts (87.2%). Kevin Crosby is 22 of 25. . . . Rio Mesa is also doing some running. The Spartans have been caught stealing just eight times in 86 attempts. Dmitri Young is 17 for 18, Tom Deardorff is 16 for 16 and Carlos Cendejas is 14 for 16.