Sylmar’s Fate Sealed With a Kiss

Before Sylmar High began its semifinal-round game against San Fernando last week, Sylmar Coach Gary Donatella was given a good-luck peck on the cheek by Vicki Campbell, wife of Monroe Coach Kevin Campbell.

It was a nice gesture, but for Donatella it did not bode well.

“She kissed me on the cheek and said, ‘This is gonna be your year, Gary,’ and I said, ‘Oh, why did you have to say that? I don’t like to hear things like that before a game.’ ”

Sylmar (21-8), the second-seeded team in the City Section 4-A Division playoffs, lost to San Fernando, 10-2.

Said Donatella: “It was the kiss of death.”

No surprises: San Fernando’s victory over top-seeded Banning in the 4-A championship last week might have surprised some observers but certainly not Poly Coach Jerry Cord.

“I’ve said all along that they were a tough ballclub,” Cord said.

Nor was Cord surprised when Banning handed the Parrots a 5-1 loss in the semifinal round.

“When you’re playing in a one-game elimination championship, the best team doesn’t always win,” he said.

Banning pitcher Mike Busby (10-1) threw a two-hitter to beat Poly and struck out 11 batters.

“They did as good a job as they could do against a kid like that,” Cord said. “The seniors were disappointed, but the juniors want another crack at it.”

Looking forward: Saugus (15-10) failed to win the Golden League baseball title for the first time in three seasons this year, but the Centurions appear to be in great shape for a run at the title in 1992--six of their eight everyday starters will return.

“We were a very young team this year, and we really played like it at times,” Coach Doug Worley said. “But I’m hoping that this year’s seasoning will help us next year.”

Chris Hernandez, a junior left-handed pitcher-first baseman, could play a big part in the Centurions’ fortunes.

Hernandez was 1-1 this season after posting a 7-4 record as a sophomore. He came out late for baseball because he was a member of the Saugus basketball team that advanced to the semifinals of the Southern Section Division I-A playoffs and because he sustained a fractured bone in his ankle with two games left in the regular season.

Nonetheless, Saugus advanced to the quarterfinals of the 3-A playoffs for the fourth consecutive season.

“If Chris is healthy next season, he could really help us,” Worley said. “He could give us a second strong starter on our pitching staff.”

Hernandez would team with Bobby Cowan to give the Centurions that 1-2 punch. Cowan, a right-handed junior, was 4-1 with an earned-run average of 2.93.

Turnabout is fair play: Twenty-two Grant batters were hit by pitches this season, but Coach Tom Lucero is more likely to boast about it than to complain.

“We don’t back off inside pitches,” Lucero said. “If the ball is inside, we tell them not to flinch, to stay in there.

“Long ago, when we used wooden bats, an inside pitch would break your bat for an easy out, but now with metal bats, an inside pitch can go for a home run.”

While the Lancers have benefitted from hit batters, they in turn have suffered.

“The thing is, I think we also lead the league in batters hit,” Lucero said.

Add Grant: Lucero is looking forward to next season when he expects to welcome back 11 players. Lucero believes the Lancers can give East Valley League co-champions Sylmar and Poly a run for the league title.

For inspiration, Lucero said he will point to San Fernando’s victory over top-seeded Banning in the City 4-A championship.

“San Fernando went in as the heavy underdog and won it all,” Lucero said. “I will definitely use that as a tool next year to show these guys that anything can happen in this game.”

Close call: In the City Section track and field finals last week, the Birmingham High boys’ team finished second to Locke, 55-50, for the school’s highest team finish. Give or a take an inch or two and the Braves would have been the first Valley team since 1987 to win the City boys’ championship.

“To win a championship you have to be a little lucky . . . and luck wasn’t on our side tonight,” Coach Scott King said. “I sure am glad they have automatic timing so there won’t be any questions in my mind.”

It is true that Accutrack photos tell the whole story, but none provided Birmingham with a Cinderella ending.

Birmingham lost two points in the 400-meter relay when San Fernando anchor Leonice Brown edged the Braves at the finish to claim third place in 42.08 seconds. Birmingham was fourth 42.17.

In the 400, Locke’s Amado Coleman pulled even with Mike Moguel of Birmingham in the final steps and outleaned Moguel to finish second by one-hundredth of a second, 48.55 to 48.56. The result was a four-point swing in Locke’s favor.

Kyhaunn Woods of Locke was seeded third entering the long jump competition but leaped 23 feet 4 inches to beat top-seeded Cornell Hill (second at 23-1) of Taft by three inches. Had Woods placed third he would have scored only six points instead of the 10 awarded for first.

If Birmingham had placed third in the 400 relay, Moguel second in the 400 and Woods third in the long jump, Birmingham would have beaten the Saints, 58-49.

Mike Glaze and staff writers Steve Elling, Paige A. Leech and John Ortega contributed to this notebook.