NOTEBOOK / GARY KLEIN : Giambi Is Invited to Olympic Tryouts

Jason Giambi, a former standout infielder at South Hills High in West Covina, is one of 90 players that have been invited to try out for the U.S. National baseball team that will represent the United States at the 1992 Olympics in Barcelona, Spain.

Giambi, a junior at Cal State Long Beach, batted .340 with five home runs and 27 runs batted in in 30 games this summer for Team USA, which qualified for the Olympics by finishing third at the Pan American Games in Cuba.

Giambi, batted .424 last season for Long Beach and helped the 49ers advance to the College World Series. He was named to the World Series all-tournament team after getting five hits in nine games, including a home run, two doubles and a triple.

Onward and upward: Charter Oak Coach Lou Farrar is happy his team ended its 19-game winless streak, but he’s hoping the hoopla surrounding the victory will fade soon.

The Chargers’ 16-14 win was their first since the final game of the 1988 season, when they defeated West Covina.

“We kind of felt like we used to feel when you win, when you’re not really happy because you know you can play better,” said Farrar, who has been coaching for 23 years. “It was good to feel that way--not being satisfied with a moral victory.

“(The last two years) we played against better teams and lost, and we said, ‘Well, at least we played well and tried our best.’

“We finally tried our best and we won, but we know we can do better.”

Ask and ye shall receive: It’s been almost a decade since Bishop Amat played Damien, but a rivalry between the two schools exists nonetheless.

Bishop Amat is in La Puente. Damien is in La Verne.

“Some of the kids from that area come over here and play for us, and some of the kids from our area go over there and play for them,” Bishop Amat Coach Mark Paredes said. “There’s always the talk, ‘Well, we should be playing Damien.’

“Well, we got ‘em. Now it’s time to play them, and I think a lot of people are excited about that.”

Tough Times for Titan Tennis?: Both the standout player and coach of the San Marino High girls’ tennis team are downplaying their No. 4 ranking in the Southern Section 4-A Division preseason poll.

“It’s going to be really tough. We’ve lost a lot of players,” said senior Nicole Hummel, whose team was scheduled to open its season Wednesday against South Torrance.

“No. 4 is way too high for us,” Coach Maureen Bryant said. “We probably should be in the top 10, but I would think 7, 8, 9, 10 even. That will show up because we play (No. 7) Santa Barbara (Oct. 21) and our weaknesses will show up definitely.”