Notebook : Pepperdine Baseball Stars Drafted High by Major Clubs

Pepperdine senior center fielder Rick Hirtensteiner, named a first-team All-American last week by Baseball America, was selected by the California Angels in the eighth round of this week’s summer major league draft. Pepperdine senior first baseman Scott Shockey was selected in the eighth round by the Oakland Athletics, and junior pitcher Wayne Helm was chosen by the Angels in the 15th round. Hirtensteiner, the 1989 West Coast Athletic Conference Player of the Year, was expected to sign this week with the Angels and to be assigned to Bend, Ore., of the Class A Northwest League.

Hirtensteiner, Pepperdine’s career leader with 17 triples and 229 runs scored, batted a team-high .366 this season and led the Waves to a WCAC championship and the NCAA playoffs. He had 12 home runs, four triples, 11 doubles and knocked in 41 runs.

A graduate of Buena High School in Ventura, he made 12 appearances as a relief pitcher and posted a 3-2 record with three saves and a staff-low earned-run average of 2.28.

University of Arizona junior catcher Alan Zinter of Santa Monica was another who made Baseball America’s first team.

Pepperdine has signed 19 more athletes to letters of intent, and 30 Santa Monica College athletes have signed with four-year schools.

Freshman recruits for Pepperdine baseball include infielder Brett Bieger of Capistrano Valley High School, infielder Steve Rodriguez of Valley High in Las Vegas, outfielder Steve Rooten of Mission Viejo High, pitcher Josh Schulz of Henry Foss High in Tacoma and outfielder Chris Sheff of Laguna Hills High. Junior college transfers are pitcher Richard Lodding of Cypress College, outfielder Jeff Pearce of College of Marin and pitcher Ryan Thibault of Orange Coast College.

In men’s basketball, the Waves signed guard Clint Arnold of Luther Burbank High in Sacramento, and women’s basketball recruits include forward Carrie Milligan of Tigard High in Tigard, Ore.; guard Trina Runge of Northern Idaho Junior College, forward Karry Wagoner of Oxnard Santa Clara High and guard Heather White of Glencoe High in Hillsboro, Ore.

Other incoming Pepperdine freshmen include Palisades High volleyball setter David Martin, swimmers Kristina Lewis of Yorba Linda and Emily MacDonald of Dallas and women golfers Ashley Adleta of Dallas, Cathy Cordova of Mission Viejo and Jody-Marie Cosgrove of Kailua, Hawaii.

Three members of Coach John McMullen’s Santa Monica College basketball team, ranked first in the state for most of last season, signed letters: Troy Batiste with San Jose State, Kemo Patrick with Eastern Washington and Von Shuler with Chapman College. Keith Amerson, an all-state selection for the Corsairs, signed earlier with Kansas State.

Mike Sheehan, another of McMullen’s players, plans to enroll at North Carolina Charlotte, but three other Corsairs have not made decisions: DeShawn Pullard, Mark Day and Terry Clark.

Corsair football players and the schools they will attend or are attending include Everett Jones, William Harris, Darrick Hightower, Sean Taylor and Varrian Smith, San Francisco State, and Deon Thomas, Ken McKyer, Robert Taylor and David Collins, Cal State Fullerton.

Others are Shane Cox, Tremain Robinson and David Gardner, Chico State; Ron Walker, Latrelle Barnes and Fabian Pope, Texas Southern; Eric Dozier and Greg Griffin, Oregon; Larry Kizzee, Sacramento State, and Haamid Wadood, San Jose State.

More are Naim Shah, Fresno State; Daryl Hobbs, Pacific; Vincent McGowens, Nevada Las Vegas; Eric Ahola, Cal State Northridge; Calvin Silvera, North Carolina Central; Jimmy Ito, Occidental, and Mario Henriquez, Cal State Los Angeles.

After four weeks of play in the World Basketball League, former Palisades High School and Duke University star Chip Engelland was among the professional league’s top 10 scorers.

Engelland, a guard for the Calgary 88s, averaged 17.8 points in eight games and was in eighth place.

Gail Wehrli was named the top woman student-athlete in the senior class at Trinity College in Connecticut. Wehrli, a top cross-country and distance runner from Marlborough School, received the Trinity Club of Hartford Award.

Wehrli competed for four years and earned letters on the college’s cross-country and indoor and outdoor track teams. In cross-country last year, she was clocked in 18:33 over a 3 3/4-mile course, the fastest such race by a Trinity runner. In indoor track, she finished second in the 1,500 meter run at the NCAA Division III New England championships. Outdoors this spring she set a school record of 4:39.18 in the 1,500.

She majored in human biomechanics and graduated from Trinity in May. She is the daughter of Martin and MaryBrent Wehrli.