Brahmas Show Unity Through ‘Horn-Shakes’

Just when it seemed that the relatively simple high-five had been established as the traditional congratulatory gesture after a home run, the Pierce College baseball team came up with something new.

The Brahma Bull “high-two,” a spinoff of the handshake used by the Texas Longhorns, was put to use in Pierce’s season-opening 19-3 victory over Glendale on Friday.

“I saw it for the first time after one of those home runs on Friday,” Pierce Coach Bob Lofrano said of the gesture, which features the index and pinky as bull horns. “It’s the Brahma Bull horns.”

Pierce, which will play its home opener Saturday at noon against perennial state power Cerritos, hit six home runs in a sweep of Glendale, Citrus and Southwestern in the Foothill-Citrus tournament. That meant six bouts of locking Brahma Bull “horn-shakes” by the Pierce players.

“It’s nice for me to see that because it shows they’re playing for Pierce,” said Lofrano, whose club features five starting players who transferred from Division I schools. “I hope we see more of it.”

ALL SYSTEMS GO

Pierce outscored its competition, 42-3, in winning the Foothill-Citrus tournament championship. Robby Welles, a sophomore from Beverly Hills High, paced the attack by driving in a head-spinning 15 runs. In 15 at-bats, Welles had seven hits, including three home runs.

Erik Martinez (North Hollywood) was seven for 14 and Josh Smaler (Agoura) was seven for 13 with two home runs.

Lofrano was giddy but not for the obvious reason. The Brahma pitching staff allowed 10 hits in three games.

“As much as coaches love to have runs, they love to see that even more,” Lofrano said. “If we hold teams to that many hits all season . . .”

Eric Raba, a sophomore from Camarillo High, tossed a three-hitter, walked two and struck out eight in the victory over Southwestern. Mike Eby, a redshirt freshman from Westlake High, threw a four-hit shutout in Pierce’s 18-0 victory over Citrus on Saturday.

OVERDOG

Christ College’s 5-2 victory over Cal State Northridge in a baseball opener last week reminded Matador Coach Bill Kernen of a similar early season upset three seasons ago.

In that game, an unheralded Northridge team knocked off fifth-ranked USC, 4-2, behind a complete game by left-hander Fili Martinez, whose variety of pitches baffled the Trojans.

This time Northridge, ranked 11th among Division I teams, was on the other end of the upset, falling to tiny Christ College, an NAIA school, and junk-throwing right-hander Mike Adams.

“That’s life in the fast lane,” Kernen said. “Everybody is gunning for us now because we’re not the underdog anymore.

“I’m sure those guys over there are feeling the same way my guys did two years ago at USC. Being on this side of it is a lot tougher.”

JUNK MAIL

Northridge managed only four hits against Adams, which surprised Eagles Coach Scott Sarver.

Sarver said that he expected Northridge hitters to adjust to Adams’ off-speed pitching by attempting to shorten their swings and slap the ball to the opposite field.

But it never happened, and with good reason, according to Kernen.

“He never gave us much of a chance,” the Matador coach said. “(Adams) would get behind on the count and then throw a 2-0 breaking ball for a strike.

“What was I supposed to tell them, to sit on a 3-1 knuckleball?”

RETURN TO SENDER

Scott Sharts and Craig Clayton, Northridge’s 1991 baseball All-Americans, got mixed reviews Saturday when they returned to Matador Field for the annual alumni game.

Sharts grounded out in his only plate appearance and, as a pitcher, didn’t get an out against the five batters he faced. Sharts walked the first three hitters, then gave up a double to Kyle Washington (who was allowed to swing at a 3-0 pitch) and a towering home run by Greg Shepard.

Clayton, meanwhile, lined out to third and hit a solo home run, accounting for the only run the alumni scored in four innings against Matador left-hander David Eggert.

Eggert allowed only two hits, struck out seven and did not walk a batter. He said he threw only one bad pitch--”a fastball I left over the middle of the plate”--and Clayton drove it over the 375-foot sign in left-center.

The alumni lost, 16-6, but at least Clayton had his moment.

“When he came around third,” Eggert said, “he just kind of looked over toward the dugout and waved at everybody.”

LAST LAUGH

Jeff deLaveaga, whose 28.9 scoring average is tops in the NCAA Division III, needed to make a free throw with four seconds left to lift Cal Lutheran over Redlands in a key Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference game last Saturday.

And, while he was standing at the line with the score tied, 94-94, he had to put aside a troubling memory.

DeLaveaga had scored 21 points against UC San Diego on Dec. 27, but in the final seconds he missed the front end of a one and one, which could have sent the game into overtime, and Cal Lutheran lost, 67-65.

DeLaveaga, a 72% free-throw shooter, made his first attempt, then Redlands took a timeout. The interruption could have shaken deLaveaga with the experience against UC San Diego weighing heavily on his mind.

But Coach Mike Dunlap used some unexpected humor to settle him down.

Dunlap, normally intense and serious, made light of the situation in Cal Lutheran’s huddle, which took some of the tension away from deLaveaga.

Then, before deLaveaga stepped to the line, Dunlap leaned over to the scorer’s table and whispered, “If something weird doesn’t happen in these last four seconds, I will be absolutely astounded.”

He was.

DeLaveaga hit his second free throw and Redlands missed a desperation shot at the buzzer.

MISTAKEN IDENTITY

Late in the second half of Ventura’s 79-70 victory over rival Oxnard last week, Condor forward Tony Ziuraitis intentionally fouled Ventura’s D’Mitri Rideout to stop the clock and force free throws.

But when the players lined up for the foul shots, Rideout’s teammate, Stephane Brown, went to the line instead. It was an apparent case of mistaken identity. Rideout wears uniform number 51 and Brown wears 21.

“I couldn’t believe it,” Ziuraitis said. “I was guarding (Rideout) and I had the foul to give. But the ref said (Brown was fouled).”

Ventura might have been accused of trying to have a better free-throw shooter take the two shots--except for one small detail.

“Rideout is a better free-throw shooter,” Ventura Coach Philip Mathews said. “I didn’t tell (Brown) to shoot.”

Brown made one of the shots.

RETURN TRAIL

Ian Alsen, a former standout at Granada Hills High, is hoping that a return to his old training grounds and a reunion with the man who coached him during high school will get his running career back on track.

Alsen ran 4 minutes 9.67 seconds in the 1,600 meters and 8:59.54 in the 3,200 as a high school senior in 1988, but he never got untracked at Arkansas, which has one of the nation’s top collegiate distance-running programs.

“It didn’t seem to (me) that I was getting it done at Arkansas,” said Alsen, who returned from Fayetteville last week. “I don’t think the program or the coaching damaged me. . . . They got me running good, but I never reached my full potential.”

Alsen is now training under the auspices of Bob Augello, his coach at Granada Hills as a junior and senior.

“I just want to get him running well so he feels good about himself,” Augello said.

Alsen figures that he is capable of running 13:50 in the 5,000.

“I’d like to qualify for the Olympic Trials,” Alsen said. “I have no illusions about making the team, but I’d like to get there.”

The automatic qualifying standard for the trials in the 5,000 is 13:47.

The provisional standard is 13:58. Provisional qualifiers will be allowed in the meet if they are needed to raise the number of entrants in a particular event to a desired level.

LOOKING UP

Tom Parker of Northridge has been given clearance by his doctor to begin pole vaulting again, and he is hopeful of competing for the Matadors by the end of this month.

Parker, a junior, cleared a personal best of 17 feet 3/4 inches last season while competing for Advantage Athletics (He was redshirting at Northridge.).

But after undergoing surgery for a ruptured disk in his back in December, he was not convinced he would be able to compete this season.

“I am amazed with how quickly I’ve recovered,” Parker said.

IN-DEPENDENCE

One of the more significant problems a Division I basketball independent faces is scheduling games during late January and all of February when most teams are competing in conference games.

The Northridge women’s basketball team provides a glaring example of the problem. After playing 12 games in 23 days earlier in the season, the Matadors will play their first game in 13 days Friday against visiting Chapman.

Northridge (0-21), closes out this season with just five games during February. The Matadors played 12 games in December.

TALL ORDER

Against Chapman, Northridge could have an edge in size for the first time this season.

Chapman (9-10) does not have a starting player taller than 5-foot-10. Northridge centers Roz Linton and Sandi Olson are 6-foot and 6-2.

Northridge also should be bolstered by the return of senior guard Christine Rumfola, the Matadors’ second-leading scorer with an 8.8 average. She has missed the past two games because of a sprained left foot.

SMOOTH TRANSITION

The Cal State Northridge men’s volleyball team spent four days in Mammoth preparing for the season, a retreat that is expected to become a team tradition.

Freshman initiation was part of the festivities, and while complete details of their experience were not revealed, they did return with cleanly shaven heads.

The players also went sledding, played cards, watched movies and played football in the snow.

Said Northridge All-American Coley Kyman, who should know: “It was a genuinely fun time.”

TOP TRAINER

Art Venegas, the weight events coach for the UCLA men’s and women’s track and field teams, had another fine year in 1991, based on Track & Field News magazine’s national rankings for last year.

Four Bruin athletes who trained under Venegas, a graduate of St. Genevieve High and Northridge, were ranked among the top 10 in the nation in their respective events.

Tracie Millett, Dawn Dumble and Melisa Weis were ranked seventh, eighth and ninth in the women’s shotput, and Millett was ranked 10th in the discus.

On the men’s side, Eric Bergreen was ranked sixth in the shotput.

Ron Twersky and staff writers Steve Elling, Mike Hiserman, Theresa Munoz, John Ortega and Wendy Witherspoon contributed to this notebook.