Marmonte Catchers Able to Hit as Well as Receive

If catchers who hit well are a luxury, the Marmonte was one lavish league this season.

Four Marmonte catchers batted better than .400--Newbury Park junior Robert Fick (.460), Simi Valley senior Steve Bernstein (.456), Channel Islands junior Jose Gastelum (.433) and Royal senior Steve Talafuse (.413). Two others--Camarillo senior Robert Sanchez (.381) and Thousand Oaks senior Brian Sturges (.367)--were among their teams’ top hitters.

Hitting: Notre Dame’s Vinnie Orlando, who has signed to play at UC Irvine, led the Knights in four offensive categories: batting average (.373), hits (28), stolen bases (16) and runs (24).

Notre Dame senior Louie Tapia finished the season with a 1.333 slugging percentage. He had 25 hits, including 11 doubles, three triples and three home runs.

Pitching: Before a losing effort Tuesday, Jason Chandler (6-1) had pitched three complete games in a row, allowing only eight hits. The senior left-hander threw a four-hitter and a three-hitter before pitching a one-hitter in a 2-1 win over West Covina in the first round of the Southern Section 5-A Division playoffs. . . .

Crespi junior Phillip Aghajanian, who was not expected to crack the Celts’ starting rotation, finished the year with a team-high 66 innings pitched. Sophomore Jeff Suppan was second with 64. Aghajanian’s record was 5-1 with a 3.39 earned-run average.

Suppan, meanwhile, did not receive much defensive support. Of the 44 runs he allowed, just 16 were earned, leaving him with an ERA of 1.75.

Records: Royal finished 17-6, setting a school record for winning percentage (.739). In addition, junior shortstop Dave Landaker scored 33 runs, eclipsing Lindsay Sivret’s school mark of 28 in 1976. Talafuse had a 14-game hitting streak, which surpassed Dan Russell’s 1984 record of 12 consecutive games. Senior third baseman Richard Naranjo hit 13 doubles, exceeding the record of 11 by Russell (1984) and Jeff Blake (1981).