THE HIGH SCHOOLS : Streaking Sylmar Brings New Resolve to the Task After Tragedy

Since resuming play following the death of teammate Ryan Vela, Sylmar High’s baseball team has won four of five games and scored runs at a dizzying rate.

With the exception of an 8-0 loss to San Fernando on Saturday in the Holt-Goodman tournament, the Spartans have outscored opponents, 53-6.

Particularly devastating have been junior Dereck Ornelas, who has gone 10 for 18 with eight runs batted in, and Robert Garcia, who has six hits in his past 13 at-bats. London Woodfin went six for eight in two wins over Reseda to contribute to the onslaught.

The surge has moved Sylmar into position to lock up the No. 2 playoff spot in the East Valley League behind runaway leader Poly (9-0). The Spartans (4-3) have a two-game lead over third-place North Hollywood.

Sylmar Coach Gary Donatella attributes the good play to increased concentration since the team mourned the loss of Vela, who was killed in an automobile accident March 24.

“Some of the kids made some statements about doing something for Ryan and maybe there’s some thought that if they don’t, there will be some type of letdown,” Donatella said.

“And they realize that now is the time to quit talking and do it.”

Bad break: Mismatched spring vacation schedules for Tri-Valley League schools have caused problems with the league’s baseball season for years. St. Bonaventure and Bishop Diego, which are parochial schools, observe the week after Easter as spring break while the league’s public schools-- Moorpark, Oak Park, Fillmore and Carpinteria--break Easter week.

In years past, the baseball schedule has accommodated the public schools, but it suits the minority this year. Baseball teams were scheduled for two games this week and are off next week.

“It’s kind of tough because we have to stick around and practice when there’s no school,” Moorpark Coach Dave Rhoades said. “We’ve practiced but the kids have been kind of lackadaisical.”

Moorpark and Oak Park will play only once this week, having agreed to postpone their game Friday until April 20 at Moorpark in the lone league game next week.

The wild side: Although St. Genevieve’s bats are wide awake, the team’s pitching staff is nodding off on the mound.

“Our pitching has been horrible,” said Coach Scott Smith, who loathes the lethargy.

Strikes have been few and far between. The Guards (5-5-1) have walked 75 batters in 70 innings and hit 10. Even ace Carlos Concha has 37 walks in 35 innings.

Newman on tear: The blazing bats at First Lutheran (6-2) are pounding out an average of 10.5 runs a game. Leading the Falcons is senior John Newman, who is hitting .517, including three triples, four home runs and 20 RBIs.

In addition, Newman has posted a 1.20 earned-run average with 63 strikeouts in 35 innings.

Said Coach Dennis Mifflin, “Without John, we’re just an average wimp team.”

Far East flavor: Junior right-hander Tommy Tominaga, who transferred from Japan this season, and Tum Ratanatraiphob, who was born in Thailand, have helped Highland Hall (14-1, 2-0) make sushi out of its Westside League competition.

Tominaga is batting .476 with five home runs, five doubles and 25 RBIs. Ratanatraiphob is batting .368 with 32 stolen bases.

Tominaga, however, is out indefinitely after he separated a shoulder diving back into first base Friday against Einstein Academy. The Hawks have won 26 consecutive league games over the past four years.

Fast times at Westlake High: The Warriors’ track team has had its share of sprinters in recent years but never has had the depth it has now.

Though Gary Wellman’s 1986 school records in the 100 meters (10.67 seconds) and the 200 (21.7) are in no immediate danger, sprinters Erik Holcomb, Joe Maashoff and Graham Wallace all have times that rank in the top eight in the Valley at 200 meters.

The threesome ran 22.1, 22.2 and 22.2, respectively, in the Warriors’ dual meet with Royal last week. Also, Luke Crawford ranks fourth on the Valley 100 list at 10.8 and Wallace (10.98) is eighth.

“Basically, nobody’s been able to touch us in the sprints,” second-year Coach Ed Lingelbach said.

The Warriors timed 43.1 in the 400 relay three weeks ago to take over the No. 1 spot from Canoga Park (43.2).

The future looks just as bright as the present for Westlake. Three sprinters return next year.

Holcomb is a sophomore and Maashoff and Wallace are juniors. What’s more, Holcomb has run 50.1 for 400 and may break the school record of 48.74, set in ’86 by his late brother, Mike.

Back to basics: Camarillo’s Chad Malesich nearly cut his senior track season in half when he attempted to block a shot in a pickup basketball game at home, injuring his left knee.

But after several visits to a therapist and low-intensity workouts, Malesich made an impressive return to the 800 with a clocking of 1 minute 58.6 seconds in the Scorpions’ dual meet with Channel Islands last week.

“Right now, I haven’t been able to work out as hard as I wanted to,” said Malesich, who ran a personal-best 1:57.82 as a junior. “I didn’t want to do speed work because I was afraid I might reinjure (the knee).”

Malesich trained five to six miles a day and lifted weights in therapy to maintain strength, but the healing process was interrupted when he tried to do too much too soon.

“I felt pretty good a couple of weeks ago and I did some speed work and messed it up again,” Malesich said.

His long wait is now over.

Malesich said he will run more speed workouts starting this week in preparation for the league and Southern Section meets: “Hopefully, I’ll be back to where I was before and have a good postseason.”

Mike Glaze and staff writers Sam Farmer, Vince Kowalick and Brian Murphy contributed to this notebook.