Legion Leaders Each Place 5 on All-Star Teams

Woodland Hills East and Sun Valley each have landed five players on the rosters for the American Legion District 20 All-Star Game, to be played at Birmingham High on July 15.

Woodland Hills East, which leads the Western Division standings, will be represented on the West roster by pitcher Chris Brown, catcher Glen Nahmias, outfielder Brett Reisner, third baseman Carey Wilbur and shortstop Benji Belfield.

Sun Valley, the Eastern Division leader, will send outfielders Wil Molina and Robert Aros, third baseman Marlin McKinney, second baseman Roy Lozano and pitcher-first baseman Robert Flores to play for the East.

Panorama City landed four players--including pitchers Dave Unter, Roland De La Maza and Sean Henson--on the East roster. Outfielder Dave Garcia will join his Panorama City teammates on the East.

Quartz Hill will be represented by four players on the West side, including Times All-Valley infielder Kendial Armstrong.

West third baseman-catcher Del Marine, the 1989 American Legion National Player of the Year, is the lone All-Star representative from defending Legion World Series champion Woodland Hills West.

The West All-Star team will be coached by Tom Pedersen of Newhall-Saugus, the East by Scott Smith of Panorama City.

Players were selected by district coaches. Members of Northern Division teams are divided between the East and West rosters.

Derek Sparks of Montclair Prep leads a group of five area players included on the list of top 100 high school senior football players compiled by The Sporting News magazine. Sparks, The Times’ Valley Back of the Year in 1989, rushed for 1,944 yards and scored 35 touchdowns last season.

Also listed are Oxnard running back Kenyon Lewis, Notre Dame lineman John DiSante, and defensive backs Tim Ross of Royal and Derrick Stewart of Granada Hills.

Barry Smith has been hired as sports information director at Cal State Northridge. He will replace Rocky Railey, who resigned this spring to accompany her husband, Ran Railey, former CSUN director of athletic promotions and development, to Eastern Washington University, with which he has accepted a similar position.

Smith formerly was an assistant in the sports publicity offices at Fresno State and Ohio State.

The Major League Scouting Bureau, which represents all 26 big-league clubs, will hold a tryout for players aged 16 to 25 at Westchester High on Saturday at 9 a.m.

Players should bring their own equipment to the tryouts. American Legion players also need the written permission of their coach.

A series of all-comers cross-country meets at Paramount Ranch in Agoura will start this evening. The meets, which include a two-mile race at 6 p.m. and a three-mile run at 6:30, will be held every Thursday for the next 10 weeks, culminating in a championship meet Aug. 30.

Information: 818-992-6219.