HIGH SCHOOL NOTEBOOK : Holcomb to Stay Put--and a Receiver--at Westlake

With the departure of Westlake High quarterback Todd Preston to Cal, some have speculated that wide receiver Erik Holcomb would be converted to quarterback.

In fact, one area newspaper reported that not only would Holcomb be moved, he would move himself--to another school. The story claimed that Holcomb, a 5-foot-10 wide receiver with 4.5 speed in the 40-yard dash, would transfer to Royal where he could team with quarterback Ryan Fien, an NCAA Division I prospect. Fien has thrown for nearly 3,500 yards during his first two varsity seasons.

Buzz Holcomb, Erik’s father, vehemently denied the report.

“There is absolutely no truth to it whatsoever,” he said. “He will be at Westlake regardless of where the coach wants to play him.”

Westlake Coach Jim Benkert has no intention of converting Holcomb to quarterback, saying he will choose among seniors John Snyder and Steve Collette and junior Brian Fields to find Preston’s successor.

“It’s ridiculous,” Benkert said. “All it does is cause a lot of problems because recruiters might say Erik has an attitude problem.”

Holcomb caught 32 passes for 682 yards and a school-record 11 touchdowns as a junior.

Buzz Holcomb, who attended Alemany High with current Royal Coach Gene Uebelhardt, said his friendship with Uebelhardt might have fueled the rumor.

“Gene is just an old acquaintance,” Holcomb said. “I’m trying to teach Erik some discipline, loyalty, and camaraderie, and he learns none of those through a transfer.”

Throwing away the blues: The biggest--perhaps the only--worry of Rio Mesa baseball Coach Rich Duran was his thin pitching staff.

After all, most of the position players of a team that batted .400 and won the Channel League title in 1990 had returned. Defense and speed were not a problem, either.

But tossing the ball over the plate was expected to be a big weakness. Yet Rio Mesa’s pitchers have allowed only eight hits in the past four games, including three one-hit efforts.

Duran concedes that the recent competition has not been awesome: Rio Mesa posted wins over San Marcos and St. Francis’ junior varsity. But assistant coach Ted Robison has been cited as an important influence on the pitchers.

Robison, who in 1965 played on a national championship team at Arizona State, played in the Dodgers organization in the early 1970s.

“The more time our kids spend with him, the better they get,” Duran said. “We still need to improve, but they’re getting better because of him.”

Flippant remark: The plate umpire in a game last week between Taft and Granada Hills, it seems, had trouble establishing a strike zone.

One Taft player felt that the strike zone had floated around so much that a personal statement was necessary. Sean Collins, who was not in the starting lineup, walked to the backstop screen, flipped a coin, and said to the umpire, “Hey, blue, it came up tails.”

Postscript: Collins’ tail was not tossed.

No repeat: The combination of bad weather and the spring break will sideline the Buena baseball team for nearly two weeks, a situation that does not please Coach Stan Hedegard.

Rain washed out much of last week’s schedule, and Buena will not play this week because of a conflict in vacation schedules among Buena and many other Southern Section schools.

Defending champion Buena dropped out of this week’s Babe Herman tournament after administrators would not allow the players to leave school early to compete in the tournament. School is still in session at Buena this week, unlike some other schools.

Buena is not scheduled to play again until Tuesday and Hedegard frets that the layoff will harm the development of his inexperienced team.

“You can’t help but think it’s going to hurt us,” he said. “This whole thing just does not bode well for us.”

Rising star: Canyon second baseman-pitcher Oscar Silva, a second-team All-Golden League selection last season, is on pace to earn first-team honors this year.

He is hitting .450 with four runs batted in and four stolen bases for the 5-1-1 Cowboys, but his pitching statistics have been even more impressive.

Silva (3-0) has struck out 31 and walked six in 26 innings while posting an 0.50 earned-run average. He is the dean of a Cowboy staff, which has an ERA of 1.60.

“Oscar had some good stats (3-1, 1.35 ERA) last year,” Canyon Coach Rich Montanio said. “But he’s just been sensational this season.”

Swinging for the fences: Quartz Hill has hit six home runs in five games this season, but Coach Stan Lyons is frustrated with the offense.

“Our pitching and defense have greatly improved,” said Lyons, whose team is 3-2. “But we’re struggling offensively. We lack consistency at the plate.”

So how does Lyons explain the home runs? “Our guys are trying for the long ball every time they’re up there,” he said. “They’ve had some success and that has made the problem worse at times. We’ve had a hard time stringing together several hits in a row.”

Comeback: Three and a half weeks after nearly severing his left index finger in a kitchen accident, Rio Mesa shotputter and discus thrower Patrick Van Scoy is at the top of his game.

The senior won the shotput Thursday in a Channel League dual meet with San Marcos with a personal best of 56-6 1/2--1 foot 7 1/2 inches farther than his previous seasonal best.

Van Scoy finished third in the discus in the Santa Barbara Easter Relays last Saturday at 151-3, his best mark this season. He has a personal best of 168-2 3/4.

“He’s still got his hand in a brace,” Rio Mesa co-Coach Brian FitzGerald said. “He’s been throwing (the shot) 56 feet in practice. His discus has suffered a little bit but I think that should come back too.”

Out of nowhere: The recent rain not only has forced the postponement of several area track meets, it also prevented Kevin Triblehorn of Moorpark High from posting a fast time in the 100 meters.

When the weather improved Saturday, Triblehorn found his mark at the Santa Barbara Easter Relays.

Although he finished second to Compton’s Ricky Carrigan, Triblehorn timed 10.87 seconds and shot to the top of the Times regional 100 list. Carrigan ran 10.72.

For better or worse: Burroughs snapped a six-game losing streak when Mike Rossiter threw a no-hitter in a 12-0 win over Burbank on Friday. However, the Indians (2-7) dropped a 10-2 decision to Canyon in the first round of the Babe Herman tournament the following day.

“It’s like going on a blind date,” Coach Terry Scott said. “I never know what team is going to show up. The trouble is you have to stay out there for the whole game. You can’t sneak out the back door like you can on a bad date.”

Worry wart: The members of last year’s El Camino Real baseball team--which was the heavy favorite to win the City Section 4-A Division title last season before falling in the championship game--might have a difficult time swallowing this line from Coach Mike Maio, who has been known to fret about the smallest of details.

Maio, on how spring rains have upset his timetable: “When you’re a young team, you need all the work you can get,” he said. “Last year, if it had rained like this and we missed a couple of days, I wouldn’t have worried at all.”

Flying high: Crescenta Valley is undefeated in its first three Pacific League games, including an 8-7 eight-inning win over Pasadena.

The Falcons (6-2) used five pitchers before Brendon Cowsill knocked in the winning run with a two-out single.

“I’m not surprised that we’re 3-0,” Coach Tony Zarrillo said. “Our pitchers were inexperienced before the season began and I think they will be the key.”

Mike Glaze and staff writers Steve Elling, Kirby Lee and Jeff Riley contributed to this notebook.