THE HIGH SCHOOLS / STEVE ELLING : Van Leeuwen Rides Bench for Antelope Valley but Almost Ends Up With Cycle

Antelope Valley High senior pitcher-outfielder Von Van Leeuwen has been a model citizen all season, according to his coach, Ed t’Sas. He has never complained, never ragged on his teammates, never thrown a tantrum.

Amazing, in that he never played.

Finally, Van Leeuwen made his season debut during Friday’s road game against Quartz Hill. In his first three at-bats, he doubled, tripled and homered.

And as he walked to the plate in the top of the seventh needing just a single to hit for the cycle, his teammates were abuzz.

“Nobody could believe what was happening,” t’Sas said. “Everybody was behind him. He’s a great kid.”

With a hit, Van Leeuwen might have been a hero. Antelope Valley had a man on first with two out and trailed by a run. The bubble burst, however, when Van Leeuwen grounded to third. Quartz Hill hung on for a 10-9 victory.

“But it looks like we found ourselves another outfielder,” t’Sas said.

Look who’s counting: Not only can the players at Granada Hills hit, they can count.

In the preseason, Highlander Coach Darryl Stroh posted the won-loss records of each team in his 21-year tenure. Five of Stroh’s teams have won City Section championships, but what was intended to motivate the players by underscoring the program’s tradition came back to embarrass the veteran coach.

Last Tuesday, after the Highlanders defeated San Fernando, 7-6, Stroh’s players handed him the game ball--and he didn’t have the slightest clue as to why.

As it turns out, some enterprising players calculated Stroh’s victory total, and the win was the 300th of his career.

Stroh was typically nonplussed.

“I don’t even know if it’s accurate,” he said. “I don’t pay much attention to that stuff.”

Stroh said he does not know how many games his teams have lost. In fact, he does not seem to care what his career winning percentage is.

“All this means is that I’m old,” he quipped.

Chomping at the bat: Granada Hills first baseman Robert Fowble might have stumbled upon a culinary gold mine. How many times he walks through the chow line depends on him.

Stroh’s wife Judy has promised to cook Fowble dinner each time he produces in a late-inning pressure situation.

In Northwest Valley Conference play, Fowble three times had hit tying or game-winning home runs in the late inning. Additionally, he had a late-inning triple that keyed another victory. And while the promise was made after Granada Hills’ victory over El Camino Real 10 days ago, Fowble already is looking to collect.

Fowble drove in what proved to be the winning run in Granada Hills’ 6-5 victory over San Fernando on Thursday, but he isn’t sure if he gets a payoff. The hit came in the fourth inning.

“I’ll have to wait to find out,” he said.

He won’t have to wait long. Judy Stroh teaches home economics at Granada Hills and Fowble has her for two class periods.

No holds barred: Stroh’s parents should have named him Frank. The shoot-from-the-lip coach does not pull punches when discussing the mistakes of his players or his own miscalculations.

After a recent 6-4 loss to El Camino Real in eight innings, Stroh was asked why he removed starting pitcher Heath McElwee after the latter was leading after four innings, 2-1.

Bryan Martin, the staff ace who relieved McElwee, was wild and surrendered the lead, which the Highlanders never regained.

Did Stroh question his decision? Yes, and in typically forthright fashion.

“Of course you second-guess yourself when you bring in a guy and he pitches the worst he has all year,” Stroh said of Martin, who has played both football and baseball for Stroh.

“I wish someone would have told me he was going to come in and have absolutely nothing.”

Branching out: Chatsworth shortstop Mitch Root has been resting the past two weeks, spending his time as the team’s designated-hitter. The payoff has been immediate.

In a two-game sweep of Taft last week, Root, a returning All-City Section selection, went six for eight and hit his sixth homer of the season, tops among area City players.

Have a nice day: Third baseman Greg Lederman of El Camino Real was the leading returning hitter in the Northwest Valley Conference, batting .493 as a junior, but he entered last week’s play batting .224. On Thursday, things started to even out. Lederman was five for five with four doubles in an 18-0 victory over Reseda.

He had one double in his previous 49 at-bats.

Track and field: Sophomore Marion Jones of Rio Mesa posted a 1991 national-best mark of 53.89 seconds in the 400 meters in the recent Mt. SAC Relays, but the one-lap race is her worst event statistically. Jones’ personal bests of 11.38 in the 100 and 22.87 in the 200 rank eighth, and second, respectively, on the all-time girls’ high school list. But she would have to lower her 400 best to 53.44 just to break into the top 40 in that event.

Correction: Dave Hartman of Canyon ran a personal best 9 minutes 0.66 seconds in the 3,200 meters in the Arcadia meet earlier this month.