Replacing Petrill as Mira Costa Coach Is No Small Task

Forget about graduation losses.

The biggest loss Mira Costa High’s football team will have to overcome next season is that of Coach Larry Petrill, who resigned this week to take a job as an assistant at San Jose State.

In his two seasons at Mira Costa, Petrill turned around a team that had won a paltry seven games in five seasons and was 1-9 in 1988. Under Petrill, the Mustangs were 12-10-1 and earned two Southern Section playoff spots, reaching the second round of the Division VIII playoffs last season.

More than numbers, though, Petrill helped instill a winning attitude in Mira Costa’s athletes that had been missing for quite some time. That may be tougher to replace than the victories.

What’s sad is that the school had an opportunity to keep one of the area’s finest coaches, but was unable to because the financially strapped South Bay Union High School District is considering numerous budgetary cuts, including closing one of its two schools--Mira Costa or Redondo.

Petrill said he might have stayed at Mira Costa if the district had been willing to guarantee his teaching job in writing. Without a guarantee, though, Petrill said he could not continue to work under probationary classification.

“I went to the superintendent (Walter Hale) and said, ‘Look, I need a commitment from you in order for me to come back,’ ” he said. “He couldn’t give me a written guarantee.

“So, what I had was a job (at San Jose State) and a potential job. I would have liked to make a fair judgment, but it never got on equal terms.”

Petrill, a former assistant coach at Aviation High and El Camino College, previously coached at San Jose State for three seasons from 1985-87. He will be working on the staff of Terry Shea, a close friend, as outside linebacker coach and kicking game coordinator.

South Torrance baseball Coach Bob Grant said he is protesting the Spartans’ 4-3 Pioneer League loss Friday to West Torrance on the grounds that West violated a base-running rule.

West scored the winning run with one out in the bottom of the 10th inning when Steve Sarkisian’s bases-loaded ground ball bounced off shortstop David Rosato into the outfield, scoring Tom Dallen.

Grant contends that West’s runners on first and second never touched the next base, a violation of CIF rules when a force is in effect, he said.

“As soon as (Dallen) touched home plate, the umpires walked out,” Grant said. “Our outfielder threw the ball to third and then we threw it to second. It ends up being like a double play. The game should not have ended as long as a force was in effect.

“I think there were two people who knew the rule, myself and the father of one of my kids. But the umpires didn’t seem to know the rule and didn’t want to hear about it.”

Former El Segundo baseball standout Jeremy Carr is enjoying an impressive season for Cuesta College in San Luis Obispo.

Carr, a sophomore center fielder, leads the state with 35 stolen bases in 38 attempts and is batting .338 (49 for 145) with 12 doubles, three triples, one home run and 17 runs batted in.

Carr’s play has helped Cuesta maintain a first-place record of 12-3 in the Western State Conference and an overall record of 25-11. Cuesta is ranked 19th in the state.

Carr, who played on El Segundo’s 1989 CIF-Southern Section 2-A Division championship team, will attend Cal State Fullerton in the fall on a baseball scholarship.

So much for Hawthorne making a move in the Bay League baseball race.

First-place Beverly Hills hammered the Cougars for the second time this season, 13-0, Tuesday at Hawthorne to open a three-game lead in the standings. Beverly Hills (8-0) has now outscored Hawthorne, 30-3, in two league games.

Allen Fischer led the Normans on Tuesday, driving in five runs, including three with his league-leading seventh home run.

The teams meet again at 3 p.m. today at Beverly Hills.

Notes

Retiring Carson football Coach Gene Vollnogle, the winningest coach in state history (289-73-1, 10 L.A. City Section titles), will be honored at a testimonial dinner Friday night at the Carson Community Center. Festivities begin at 6:30. . . . Erik Donnelly, an All-Bay League lineman for Leuzinger’s football team, has transferred to a high school in Texas, but reportedly will return to Leuzinger before next season. Donnelly is a junior.

Mark Ponce De Leon, a pitcher-third baseman for Mary Star’s baseball team, batted nine for 11 in three games last week to raise his average 83 points to an area-leading .625. . . . Miraleste second baseman Paul Lemire batted seven for 12 in three games last week to raise his average 66 points to .436. . . . Serra outfielder Dwon Knighten, who leads the area with 30 stolen bases and ranks second with a .563 batting average, reportedly is getting long looks from pro scouts.

Torrance third baseman Antone Williamson and El Segundo catcher Jeff Poor each reached double figures in runs batted in last week. Three-games totals: Williamson 12 RBIs and one home run; Poor 10 RBIs and three home runs.

Mike Busby, the Banning ace, pitched a five-hitter and hit a two-run homer Monday to lead the Pilots past Washington, 20-1; their ninth victory without a loss in Southern-Pacific Conference play. Busby is 6-0 with an 0.58 earned-run average. . . . For the second time in a week, a South Bay pitcher hurled a no-hitter Saturday when Bishop Montgomery’s Mario Juarez blanked Notre Dame of Riverside, 16-0, in the St. Paul Tournament. Rolling Hills’ Kirt Kishita pitched a no-hitter April 10 in a 20-0 Ocean League victory over Morningside.

South Bay’s Baseball Top 10

Selected by Times Sportswriters

Through Tuesday’s Games Rank, School, League: Record 1 El Segundo (San Fernando): 15-2 2 Banning (Pacific): 11-4 3 Rolling Hills (Ocean): 9-4-1 4 Torrance (Pioneer): 11-4 5 St. Bernard (Mission): 10-6-1 6 San Pedro (Pacific): 8-3 7 Mira Costa (Ocean): 8-7 8 West Torrance (Pioneer): 9-6 9 Narbonne (Southern): 9-5 10 South Torrance (Pioneer): 7-7