PREP NOTES / ROB FERNAS : Coach Surprised by Young Rolling Hills Team’s Tie for Bay League Title

Garry Poe has experienced many emotions in 20 years as the Rolling Hills High baseball coach.

There was the exhilaration of 1972, when the Titans upset El Segundo and the legendary Scott McGregor, 2-0, in the Southern Section 3-A semifinals. “McGregor was considered unbeatable,” Poe said of the ex-Baltimore Oriole left-hander, who was 51-6 in his prep career. Rolling Hills went on to defeat Katella of Anaheim, 3-2, for the 3-A championship.

Then there was the disappointment of last season, when Rolling Hills lost five of its last six games to fall from first to fifth in the Bay League and drop out of playoff contention. “Everyone was looking for us to have a great year,” Poe said. “Unfortunately, my rain dance didn’t prove very efficient and we had to play the last six.”

And now there is the surprise of 1990. With only three returning starters and five seniors on the varsity, Rolling Hills was considered a year away from contending for the Bay League title. But the Titans overcame inexperience to tie Torrance and Beverly Hills for the championship, the school’s first league title since 1978.

“A real pleasant surprise like this one is worth waiting for,” Poe said. “The kids have been enthusiastic and upbeat the whole time. For 20 years it’s been fun, but every once in a while you get surprised.”

Poe wants the surprises to continue Friday, when Rolling Hills (12-11) plays host to Angelus League runner-up St. Paul of Santa Fe Springs (17-9) at 3:15 p.m. in the first round of the 5-A Division playoffs.

The Titans haven’t won a playoff game since 1984, and another early exit isn’t out of the question. Poe didn’t expect to get even this far after the 1989 team graduated its top three pitchers, two all-league outfielders and an all-league catcher.

“It was a complete make-over,” Poe said. “We were so young, I really didn’t expect a lot.”

Rolling Hills keeps surpassing expectations, especially when Kirt Kishita pitches.

The junior right-hander, the starting first baseman as a sophomore, beat every Bay League team on his way to a 7-1 record. Kishita (8-4 overall) also plays second base and ranks second on the team with a .403 batting average.

“He’s improved so much,” Poe said. “Most of it has been on-the-job training. He’s done a wonderful job of keeping everything in balance. He’s poised every time out. We feel so comfortable with him on the mound.”

Tristan Paul is another junior who has played a key role. The shortstop and No. 2 pitcher, Paul leads the Titans with a .408 average. “He’s one of the better athletes in the area,” Poe said.

With 12 of 17 varsity players returning, Rolling Hills could be looking at another championship season in 1991.

But, as Poe can tell you, there are no sure things.

Rolling Hills continued a pre-playoff tradition Tuesday, splitting the team for a rousing game of Frisbee baseball at Torrance Beach.

The seniors and sophomores beat the juniors and freshmen, 14-12, in seven innings. The game ended with runners on second and third.

“It was a bit of a surprise,” Poe said. “All those juniors thought they would outrun the seniors, but experience counts in Frisbee baseball.

“It’s a nice break. Too much of the time you get caught in that grind during the season. You need a change of pace.”

Poe said much of the credit for the Titans’ success belongs to walk-on assistant coaches Tom Papadakis and Tom Vick.

“They help out part-time, but they’re usually there at the right times,” he said. “They did a great job of balancing me and keeping the kids in balance. The kids have responded so positively.”

The 1972 Rolling Hills team that won the 3-A Division title was led by pitchers Mike Ongarato and Tom Bondurant and catcher Phil LaFollette, a 5-foot-5, 125-pounder who was named to the All-CIF first team.

Ongarato was drafted out of high school and played triple-A ball for the Boston Red Sox. Bondurant pitched for Arizona State.

Bondurant’s biggest victory at Rolling Hills came when he won the duel with McGregor in the ’72 semifinals. That season, the El Segundo ace was 17-2 with an 0.24 earned-run average and 175 strikeouts in 117 innings pitched.

McGregor’s 51 career victories is still the Southern Section record.

McGregor also holds the Southern Section record for consecutive shutouts with six in 1972.

Right-hander Rob Croxall, El Segundo’s current ace, is in the middle of a similar streak. He has not allowed a run in 30 consecutive innings since St. Anthony scored off him in the sixth inning of a Camino Real League game April 5.

Despite Croxall’s impressive streak, Coach John Stevenson hasn’t decided who will start El Segundo’s Southern Section 2-A playoff opener Tuesday. The top-seeded Eagles (24-3) have a first-round bye Friday.

Aside from Croxall, the team also has two capable starters in right-hander Tate Seefried and left-hander Jason Wayt.

“It’s hard to say (who will start),” Stevenson said. “We’re going to go with at least two (starters in the playoffs), and it’s nice to have that third one. I don’t see it as a major issue. I think all three are good enough to win.”

Croxall is 9-1 with an 0.71 ERA, Seefried is 7-1 with a 1.58 ERA and Wayt is 6-1 with a 2.62 ERA. In addition, junior Brian Wise, a left-hander, has a 2-0 record and an 0.41 ERA. The Eagles boast an outstanding team ERA of 1.44.

“You’d have to go back a long time to find (an El Segundo) staff that has this quality,” Stevenson said. “We have four guys who would be aces on any other staff in the area.”

Stevenson said he will probably decide on a starter for Tuesday’s game after watching Santa Clara of Oxnard and Morro Bay play Friday. The winner meets El Segundo, the defending 2-A champion.

Morningside girls’ basketball Coach Frank Scott said there was a good chance he would have been hired as an assistant coach at Cal State Long Beach if Lisa Leslie had picked the 49ers instead of USC.

“That was a strong possibility,” he said Tuesday, one day after the 6-5 Leslie signed with USC. “But I’m not really disappointed. Who knows? Maybe I’ll get the same offer at (USC). It’s possible, but nothing is definite now.”

Scott said he is pursuing a college job. He has coached Morningside for 10 years, guiding the Lady Monarchs to two state titles, four Southern Section titles and eight consecutive league titles.

“If something breaks, I might possibly be leaving,” he said. “I’d say it’s about 60-40 that I will be back at Morningside. I’ve done just about everything on this level. I’m ready to explore new territory.”

Sisters Brigit and Beth Tapp, two of the busiest athletes at West Torrance High, will help lead the Warrior softball team against visiting Laguna Beach at 3 p.m. today in the first round of the Southern Section 3-A playoffs.

Brigit, a senior who bats lead-off, ranks second on the team with a .352 average. She also has 21 steals. Beth, a sophomore who bats fifth, is fourth on the team with a .327 average.

This is the third sport in which the sisters have competed this school year. They also played on the soccer and volleyball teams, and this summer they plan to compete on traveling softball teams.

“They live this stuff 12 months out of the year,” said Bob Tapp, the girls’ father.

West (17-5) tied South Torrance for the Ocean League title, while Laguna Beach (10-6) took third in the Pacific Coast League. South (17-3) plays host to Capistrano Valley (15-10) in another playoff opener today.

PREP NOTES--Bishop Montgomery and St. Bernard will hold a weightlifting competition from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday at Bishop Montgomery to raise funds for the schools’ football programs. It will also give the teams a chance to get acquainted with each other before meeting next season as new members of the Mission League. . . . Former El Segundo baseball standout Jeremy Carr, freshman center fielder for Cuesta College in San Luis Obispo, has been named to the All-Western State Conference first team. Carr, the left fielder on El Segundo’s 1989 2-A Division champion team, batted .321 with an on-base percentage of .615. He led the conference with 16 stolen bases and was named the conference’s best defensive outfielder by the coaches.