Winning Tradition Draws Cady to ASU

Grossmont High catcher Todd Cady has a lot of respect for Jim Dietz and Mark Marquess, the baseball coaches at San Diego State and Stanford. But when it came time to signing a letter of intent, Cady had more respect for Arizona State Coach Jim Brock and the tradition he has built in Tempe, Ariz.

“Coach Brock teaches like it’s almost the pros,” Cady said. “They take it real seriously there. And they’re used to winning . . . like I am.”

In 19 years at ASU, Brock has won more than 900 games--second to Texas’ Cliff Gustafson among active coaches--and two national championships. Cady helped Grossmont to the 2-A section title last year while setting a single-season section record for RBIs with 62. He also batted .442 with 10 homers and 22 stolen bases.

Cady, 6-feet-4, 210 pounds, is hitting .333 with one homer and eight RBIs for third-ranked Grossmont (12-1) this season. He also holds the section RBI record with 120, is within eight hits of the all-time section record of 235 and is three homers shy of Jim Franco of Santana’s career record of 24.

During his visit to ASU during Easter vacation, Cady said he was affected by seeing the retired numbers on the Packard Stadium outfield fence of Reggie Jackson, Rick Monday, Barry Bonds, Bob Horner and Sal Bando.

“It was a good feeling to know that those guys played in the same park as I’m going to,” he said.

Cady said it was also a good feeling to know he will play immediately. ASU catcher Clark Rea has informed Brock that he will sign a professional contract at the end of the season.

“There is not a catcher coming in ahead of him next year,” said Brock, who was at a press conference to announce Cady’s signing.

Cady said Stanford and SDSU could not guarantee him a significant amount of playing time as a freshman.

Brock said he wanted to sign a catcher during the early signing period, but he was willing to wait on Cady.

Brock has coached some talented catchers--Eric Helfand, Chris Bando and Tim Spehr--but he said Cady could be better than all of them.

“I don’t think I’ve ever had anybody close to Todd physically,” Brock said. “His height, throwing arm, and the fact that he’s a switch-hitter, is really hard to beat.”

During the early signing period last November, Erik Meek of San Pasqual signed with Duke, Darryl Parker of Rancho Buena Vista with UC Santa Barbara and Ray Hooper of University City with Cal State Fullerton.

Three Times All-County basketball players from El Camino have yet to decide where they will play. Jeff Reeves has narrowed his choices to Southern California College, La Verne and Azusa Pacific.

Shaun Scurry, a 6-5 forward, signed a letter of intent with Division II powerhouse Central Missouri State in the fall. But the school withdrew its offer when Scurry did not meet academic requirements. El Camino Coach Ray Johnson said Central Missouri is attempting to place Scurry, who averaged 18 points and 10 rebounds last year, at a Texas junior college.

Heath McCoy was being recruited by some Division I schools, but because of grade problems he might wind up at Sheridan Junior College in Wyoming.

San Dieguito guard Matt de la Pena signed with Hawaii Pacific, a Division II school. His teammate, forward Sean Howard, announced he will play for MiraCosta College.

Matt Fletcher, a 6-3 guard from Poway, and Mike Oviedo, a 6-7 small forward, from Kearny have committed orally to UC San Diego.

Desiree Weimann, a 5-4 Times All-County guard from Santana, signed with Adams State, a Division II school in Alamosa, Colo. Weimann’s teammate, Stephanie Thompson, will attend San Diego State, but she is not going to play basketball.

Santana Coach Wade Vickery said Thompson, who averaged 23.5 points and 12 rebounds for the Sultans, considered playing at UCSD.

“I was hoping she’d go to UCSD, but they didn’t have her major (criminal justice) and the tuition increase at the UC schools was just too much for her,” Vickery said. “I was a little disappointed, because I enjoy watching her play so much.”

Charlotte Kornik of University City signed with the University of Arizona. Kara Berg, a 6-2 forward from Poway, is deciding between Azusa Pacific and UC Riverside.

Other Signings

Track and field: Eric Bell of Castle Park, the section 110-meter high hurdle champion, has accepted a scholarship at USC. He chose the Trojans over Cal State Northridge and Cal.

Bell said he will concentrate on the hurdles. He was a wide receiver for the Castle Park football team and a guard on the basketball team, averaging 19 points. Bell and Escondido’s Keith Williams are two of the top hurdlers in the state.

Soccer: Ian Seward of Valhalla to Dartmouth; Jennifer Helland of San Dieguito to UCLA; Poway’s Pattie Southwood to UC Irvine; Tracey Christensen of Poway to SDSU . . . Tennis: LeeAnn Rostovsky, 1990 Section girls’ singles champion, of La Jolla to UCLA; Lynne Coakley, to UC Santa Barbara; David Smith of La Jolla to Cal Berkeley; Jimmy Brown of La Jolla probably to Vanderbilt. . . . Volleyball: Michelle Rico of USDHS to Santa Clara.