Talented All-Valley Baseball Team Proves Tough Club to Crack

Perhaps the best way to evaluate the quality of The Times’ 1990 All-Valley high school baseball team is to consider the players who are missing from the 16-member group. What does a guy have to do to crack this list?

This year’s team has set high standards. So high, in fact, that a couple of players selected in the top rounds of last week’s amateur baseball draft failed to make the cut.

The first team is led by Chatsworth and Hart highs, which each contributed three players. Hart’s Andrew Lorraine was pitcher of the year and is joined by teammates Rob Davis and Lance Migita, the Indians’ double-play combination.

Chatsworth earned the City Section 4-A Division title behind pitcher Reed McMackin, infielder Nestor Martinez and outfielder Mitch Root. El Camino Real, which fell to Chatsworth in the final, 3-2, is represented by pitcher-first baseman Ryan McGuire and Pat Treend, the player of the year.

For the second consecutive season, a first-year coach earned the area’s top prize. Chatsworth’s Tom Meusborn follows Kennedy’s Manny Alvarado as coach of the year.

Still, any coach could have won with the collection of players on the second team.

Cleveland outfielder Pat Bryant, who one scout called a Rickey Henderson clone, was selected in the second round by the Cleveland Indians. Bryant, one of the area’s top athletes, faces the enviable task of choosing between an offer from the Indians and a football scholarship from the University of Hawaii.

Birmingham’s Danny Larson, an outfielder for the Mid-Valley League champion, was selected in the third round by the Philadelphia Phillies. Larson will choose between a professional contract and Cal State Northridge.

Those two lead a list of players wondering what it takes to make the All-Valley first team. The 16-member second team, which boasts two high draft picks, a Division I recruit and a host of league most valuable players, reflects the depth of talent in the area.

Senior right-hander Eddie Castellanos, another second-team selection, led Poly to an 18-0 East Valley League record with a 12-0 mark and a 1.70 earned-run average.

North Hollywood infielder Erik Martinez, who batted .507, and Notre Dame infielder Vinnie Orlando, who batted .364 and tied a Southern Section record with a six-hit game, also rated no better than second-team consideration.

Reseda outfielder Joe Tushnet wound up on the second team despite a .562 average and 37 stolen bases.

And all second-team catcher Brent Polacheck did was bat .429, drive in an area-high 41 runs and help Montclair Prep win the Southern Section 1-A Division title.

Second-team selection Bob Kazmirski of Agoura, who batted .443 with 21 RBIs, will play next season on scholarship at Fresno State.

The quality of this year’s second team underscores the point that athletes from the region seem to shine brightest on the diamond.

For the third time in the past five seasons, the region sported a team ranked No. 1 in the nation by USA Today when Westlake reached the top spot. And Westlake catcher Mike Lieberthal follows Roger Salkeld of Saugus as the second consecutive player from the region to be selected third nationally in the amateur draft.

(Lieberthal and his Westlake teammates are included in The Times’ All-Ventura County team.)

Valley teams extended their domination of the City 4-A Division to 18 years when Chatsworth prevailed at Dodger Stadium last month.

* SECOND-TEAM CHART: C14