THE HIGH SCHOOLS / BRIAN MURPHY : Sink Era Comes to a Close at Birmingham as Coach Completes His 26th Season

As he has done nearly every spring day for year after year, Wayne Sink showed up at Birmingham High’s Ramirez Field on Friday.

He was seen in the dugout before the game, checking and double-checking that day’s lineups, making sure they were correct.

Then, oddly enough, he exited the dugout and walked to a seat behind the backstop--where he would announce the City Section 4-A Division semifinal game between Chatsworth and Taft over the public-address system.

Wayne Sink, after all, is now a retired baseball man.

His 26th season of coaching Birmingham baseball came to an end Wednesday. Sink, 54, retired as graciously as he carried himself on the diamond.

“I knew it was time to get out when my back started hurting after I shagged fly balls,” Sink said. “And when I couldn’t throw batting practice anymore. Suddenly, it was call home, ‘Put the Jacuzzi on, mother,’ and I didn’t want to be a hanger-oner. I always said I wouldn’t do that.”

Add Sink: The coach’s final season was marked by excellence. The Braves (19-7-1) won 13 consecutive games, the longest win streak among Valley-area City Section teams this season. They won the 1990 Holt-Goodman tournament, hosted by Sink and Birmingham for many years, and they advanced to the 4-A quarterfinals before losing to El Camino Real, 6-0, last Wednesday. El Camino Real has advanced to the City final.

It was odd seeing Sink in a non-coaching capacity Friday at his home diamond, reading glasses propped on the nose, stirrups and jersey traded in for shorts and a short-sleeved shirt. This, after all, was his diamond, the one into which he had poured so much work. And, he admitted, there was some emotion attached to the farewell when he left the field for the last time after Birmingham defeated Sylmar, 14-13, in a first-round game May 18.

“There was a moment,” Sink said of that day. “I thought about Occidental (where he played catcher before graduating in 1959). I thought about how much personal energy I had poured into the field. And you know what? I wanted to go back and trade places with any of those 15-year-olds. And just have that feeling of starting over.

“I taught ‘em a lot of baseball at Birmingham.”

Sink smiled and lapsed into a comedic voice: “And baseball’s been betty, betty good to me.”

New kid in town: Lost? Need directions to Dodger Stadium? Contact Tom Meusborn, 29, the Chatsworth coach who is headed to Chavez Ravine in only his first year at the Chancellor helm.

By taking Chatsworth to the final, Meusborn undoubtedly has endeared himself to Chatsworth boosters, a tough-to-please crowd that endured six semifinal losses in the ‘80s under Coach Bob Lofrano, currently at Pierce College.

Lofrano, who won a City title at Chatsworth in 1983, said he feels nothing but joy for his successor.

“It’s a heckuva way to break in,” Lofrano said. “And as an ex-player at Chatsworth and an ex-coach at Chatsworth, I’m really excited for the community and the whole school. And I’m glad for the players that played for me last year.”

Lofrano said that he considers Meusborn a friend and that the two have grown closer throughout Meusborn’s first year. They often attend Dodger games together.

“I’ve kept my distance,” Lofrano said of his involvement with Chatsworth. “It’s Tom’s program, not mine. But we talk a lot and we’ve become good friends.

“For Tom, it’s a great feather in his cap. I feel like all the work we did the past 10 years, in the 1980s, well, Tom’s continuing that tradition.”

The early line: The City final at Dodger Stadium presents a West Valley League matchup of great interest: Chatsworth is one of just two teams to defeat El Camino Real (21-2-1) this season.

The other was 1-A Montclair Prep, which defeated the Conquistadores in the Thousand Oaks tournament when injuries and vacations left El Camino Real with a fourth-string pitcher.

But Chatsworth (23-5-1) beat El Camino Real at full strength. Head to head, the Conquistadores took two of the three games, which makes for some interesting speculation.

It is likely that El Camino Real will start 6-foot-4 Pat Treend (12-0), coming off a dominating one-hitter in a 3-1 semifinal win over San Fernando. And it is equally likely that Chatsworth will counter with Reed McMackin (12-2), coming off a four-hitter in a 6-1 semifinal win over Taft.

McMackin defeated El Camino Real, 9-3, four weeks ago. Treend defeated Chatsworth, 11-8, two days later. In other words, something has to give.

Treend, mindful of McMackin’s prowess on the mound, said he expects very little in the way of charity Wednesday.

“He’s got a lot of movement on his ball,” Treend said. “It’s very seldom that we see heat like that. And he’s a smart pitcher. It helps to have a smart catcher like (Mike) Mancuso too. Every time he pitches, you’re gonna see his best.”

Of course Treend, who boasts pinpoint control and a fastball that travels in excess of 80 m.p.h., is hardly what one would call a slouch. In fact, with 11 complete games, he spends most of his time making batters feel like slouches.

“We’re gonna have to pull something out of our hat to beat him,” McMackin said. “Something we haven’t done before. Something nasty.”

A plot with a catch: San Fernando was on the receiving end of Treend’s nearly unhittable offerings Friday at Valley College, yet still had a chance to tie--and even win--the game.

In the sixth inning, with runners at first and second, San Fernando’s Fernando Ortega launched a ball into the left-center-field gap that appeared as if it would land untouched.

But El Camino Real center fielder Jeff Marks chased it down and made a game-saving catch.

“I thought for sure it was in the gap,” San Fernando Coach Steve Marden said. “With two rabbits on base, it would have easily scored both. But Marks broke hard to his right and caught the damned thing in the web of his glove.

“As soon as that ball was hit, I looked at it and said, ‘That’s a gapper. That ties it up.’ I felt, ‘OK, here we go. Typical ECR-San Fernando. We’re not dead, baby.’ All it took was six inches and it’s a tie ballgame. We might still be playing right now.”