Redondo’s Brian Davison Is a Star Who Follows a Legend--His Brother : Prep baseball: Scott Davison was a natural. His younger brother has to work harder at the game, and feels the pressure.

Scott Davison left his footprints deep in the dirt of the baseball diamond at Redondo High School.

So deep that Brian Davison, Scott’s younger brother, won’t even try to settle his spikes into them. When Brian thinks of the legacy his older brother established at Redondo, he just shakes his head.

In his four years at Redondo, Scott Davison posted a 48-6 record with 511 strikeouts. In the same four years, he batted .452. Twice in that span he was named Southern Section player of the year. He is the Southern Section career leader in hits (147) and runs batted in (147).

“There’s no way I’ll ever be as good as my older brother was,” Brian Davison said. “All I can expect is to play to the best of my ability and try to take baseball on up to the next level.”

For Scott, the next level is now. On Wednesday, he was playing shortstop for the Montreal Expos Class-A affiliate at West Palm Beach, Fla.

On the same day, Brian was playing shortstop for Redondo.

This is Brian’s third year as a starter for the Sea Hawks. In 1988, when his brother was in his final, record-setting season, Brian was Redondo’s sophomore second baseman. That year Brian hit .360, including an even .500 in Ocean League games.

Last season, stepping out of his brother’s shadow, Brian hit .391 and led Redondo with 36 hits and 23 runs batted in. He even pitched a little, picking up a couple of key saves and winning a crucial league game in relief against North Torrance.

This year is a little different, however. There is pressure.

First of all, Brian has a new position to patrol.

He was moved to shortstop to fill the void left by departed senior Mike Houck. It is uncharted country for an infielder whom Redondo Coach Tim Ammentorp calls a “natural second baseman.”

Then there is the production that Redondo fans naturally expect from Brian.

He’s the team’s best hitter and bats third in Redondo’s order. After a slow start, Brian has nine hits in his first 35 at-bats after 11 games.

And then, of course, there are those footprints.

He’s a senior. He’s a shortstop. His name is Davison.

“To be honest, I’ve been pressing,” Brian said. “I want to get hits. They just haven’t been falling.

“But it has nothing to do with my brother. This is my third year on varsity and I’m supposed to be the leader. It’s my obligation to get this team going.”

Ralf Davison, Brian’s father, had Wednesday afternoon off and watched from the stands as his youngest child had an 0-for-4 afternoon.

“I think Brian does feel the pressure,” Ralf Davison said. “I also think he’s trying too hard. He knows he’s got to have a good year, and he knows his brother was almost a legend here.”

Still, anyone who has seen Redondo play this season knows that some of those zeros in the box score next to Brian’s name should have asterisks next to them.

Wednesday, he hit the ball hard four times but still came up empty. On his last at-bat of the game, Brian spanked the first pitch he saw to deep left field, but South Torrance’s Brian Lee hauled the drive down at the warning track a few feet short of the fence.

“That’s the kind of thing that happens when you’re struggling,” Ammentorp said. “Brian was five feet short of a big hit. There was another ball where he’s got a hit if it goes 10 feet on either side of the shortstop. Every time Brian hits the ball hard, it’s right at someone.”

Brian doesn’t know why his line drives have been so unkind to him so far this year. All he can do is keep trying.

“I’m seeing (the ball) all right and I’m hitting it all right,” he said. “I know when I get hot, I’ll probably get some blooper singles. It’ll all even out.”

Brian has been red hot for two games this season. The first time was two weeks ago, right before Scott Davison, who had been home for the off-season, left for spring camp in Florida.

The previous game, Brian had videotaped his swing. He and his brother analyzed the tape and decided that Brian was crowding the plate too much and getting jammed by inside pitches.

The next game, against Marshall in the Westside Tournament, Brian hit three rockets--a single, a double and a home run.

Friday against Morningside, Brian went 4 for 4.

“Brian knows he can hit,” Ammentorp said. “He knows it’s gonna happen for him sooner or later. He’s gonna win some ball games for us this year.”

Entering Saturday night’s game against El Segundo in the second round of the Palos Verdes/Redondo Tournament, the Sea Hawks were 7-3 overall and 2-0 in the Ocean League.

Brian Davison hasn’t let his slow start at the plate affect his view of a new side of the infield.

“Brian has done a very good job playing out of position at shortstop,” Ammentorp said. “He’s filled the hole for us the way it’s supposed to be done.”

Brian would rather play second base, his best position, but since Redondo’s other shortstop, Frank Bignami, is also the team’s best pitcher, Brian had to adjust.

“I’m still learning how to play shortstop, but it’s best for the team right now for me to play there,” he said. “The biggest difference is knowing which balls to come in for, and knowing when I can hang back and still get my runner.”

Wednesday, a heads-up play by Davison saved a run in Redondo’s 8-7 victory over South Torrance. South’s Tay Sneddon was on third with no outs, and Ammentorp decided to keep the infield back. A grounder was hit to Davison, who saw Sneddon break late from third and gunned him down at the plate.

The smart play brought a smile to at least one fan in the grandstands.

“Both of my kids are good players, but Scotty’s got more raw talent,” Ralf Davison said. “He’s more of a natural. Brian has to work harder than Scott does.”

He may also have to work longer to get to the level of baseball where his brother is now. Brian, who also plays football (he passed for 1,027 yards as Redondo’s quarterback in 1989), plans to take the college route first.

But he has one thing on his side--good baseball blood. The game has been the biggest part of the brothers’ lives since they were infants.

“I gave ‘em a ball and a bat when they were still in their crib,” Ralf Davison said.

Brian Davison nodded. “We had baseball from the get-go,” he said. “Dad worked us till we dropped.”

Ralf Davison, a burly cargo worker for Delta Airlines at Los Angeles International Airport, still bears the scar where he split his nose while sliding head-first into third base during a game in Phoenix 20 years ago.

He was a second baseman, like his youngest boy. He starred at Lennox High and reached the Class-AA level of the San Diego Padres organization.

Ralf Davison figures he has hit thousands of ground balls to his sons. When his professional career ended, he took the boys to his amateur games on Sundays at Lennox Park and let them take a few cuts against his friends.

After Wednesday’s game, while the Redondo players were gathering up their gear, Ralf Davison looked across the field to where Ammentorp’s sons, Andy, 3, and David, 1, were playing catch off the mound with the coach’s wife, Sandy.

Ralf Davison winked and smiled. “That’s the way you do it,” he said.