AMERICAN LEGION NOTEBOOK : West Takes Flight With Grounded Marine

The jersey and cap of Woodland Hills West third baseman Del Marine have been hanging in the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, N.Y., for about a year. Marine hasn’t seen the display, but he has seen pictures.

The 1989 American Legion Player of the Year, Marine passed up a chance to take part in the Hall of Fame induction ceremonies of Jim Palmer and Joe Morgan on Monday, choosing to play alongside his teammates in the state tournament in Yountville, Calif., instead.

Things turned out great for Marine, who was honored in a short ceremony before West’s game with Stockton on Monday. And with Marine holding down third base, West eventually won the state title by defeating Escondido, 13-9, on Tuesday.

But things didn’t go as smoothly for other members of his family. Marine sent his mother and brother to Cooperstown to attend the enshrinement ceremony, but there were a few hitches.

A bomb threat aboard the airplane forced an unscheduled stop in Texas, where the plane was unloaded and searched, Marine said.

It was enough to send a shiver up Del’s spine. The plane truth is that Marine is no fan of air travel.

“If Del would have been on that flight,” West assistant coach Ricky Banuelos said, “he would have never gotten on another plane again.”

Good thing he wasn’t. West soon will be traveling to Union City, Calif., to participate in the Southwest Regional, Aug. 15-20.

This spud’s for you: For the second consecutive year, a Yountville-area Legion fan supplied each player who homered in the state tournament with a case of sweet potatoes, to be delivered around Thanksgiving.

Too much of a good thing? This summer, each player who homered also was given a two-liter bottle of soda with which to wash the taters down.

Fine-tuning: Anytime West is playing, first baseman Jason Cohen’s father, Barry, usually can be found behind the backstop with a video camera in hand.

It comes in handy after the game when players want to review a questionable call or an error. But it has other advantages as well.

Just ask outfielder Greg Lederman, who batted close to .500 last season as a junior at El Camino Real High but fought a slump during regular-season Legion play.

While reviewing game tapes two weeks ago, someone noticed that Lederman’s stance seemed too open and that he seemed to be standing farther from the plate than usual.

How’s this for instant replay: After making an adjustment, Lederman had two hits in each of the three games he played in Yountville and drove in nine runs.

Lederman’s numbers--six for 14 (.428), a double and a triple--compared favorably with those of tournament MVP Brian Kooiman of Escondido. In five games, Kooiman was nine for 21 (.429) with two home runs and six RBIs.

“Lederman should be (the MVP),” Jason Cohen said. “If a guy drives in 10 runs or whatever in three games, he deserves it.”

Add valuable: West outfielder Jeff Marks reached base 13 times in 18 plate appearances and scored 10 runs in four state tournament games.

West’s Bobby Kim caught every inning of all four tournament games and drove in nine runs.

Double trouble: West starting pitchers Pat Treend, Sean Boldt and Corey Bromberg allowed five earned runs in 32 2/3 innings, an earned-run average of 1.38.

The trio also managed five hits in 15 at-bats and drove in four runs.

He called it: After West defeated Lakewood, 8-6, Saturday, Jason Cohen told a Napa sportswriter that as long as the team received decent pitching, the state title was all but in the bag.

“If a pitcher holds everyone down, to under about six runs, we’ll win every game,” Cohen said. “And you can definitely mark my word on that one.”

Mark it down. West pitchers allowed 4.75 runs a game while the offense averaged 11.

Honor roll: Kim, Marine and West second baseman Paul Geller have been selected to play in the first North-South All-Star Game on Saturday at 1 p.m. at UCLA’s Jackie Robinson Stadium.

The trio will play for the North and will represent District 20, which also will send Chris Brown of Woodland Hills East, Oscar Silva of Newhall-Saugus, David Cooke of Lancaster, Kevin Milligan and Chris Prince of Van Nuys-Notre Dame, Brian Lovelace and Tim Salado of Quartz Hill, Shane Cowsill of Glendale, and Roland De La Maza of Panorama City.

Representing District 16 will be Mike Lee of Conejo Valley, Rob Neal of Westlake, Steve Philbrook of Ventura, and Mike Muncy of Camarillo. The District 16 players also will play for the North, as will players representing districts in eastern Los Angeles County and Santa Monica.

Legion districts from throughout Southern California will participate.