VALLEY PAC-8 CONFERENCE : EAST VALLEY LEAGUE

GRANT COACH: Tom Lucero, 16th season LAST SEASON: 11-14; 3rd in league, 9-8 PLAYERS TO WATCH: It has been six years since Grant won the City title with pitcher Rodney Beck, now with the San Francisco Giants. Lucero has a team that could take him back to the final if his 10 returning players play like veterans. The Lancers should give defending co-champions Poly and Sylmar a fierce run for the title. Five of the 10 returners--seniors Tony Kuper, Justin Howard, Nick Oriti, Jim Guth and Petur Georgesson--are entering their third season at the varsity level. The Lancers’ three-deep pitching staff is led by Kuper, who finished 4-3 and is being recruited by Cal State Northridge and USC. Senior left-handers Jason Litt and Ryan Messervier have been impressive in the off-season and will start. Howard, a two-time all-league first baseman, finished third among the region’s City players with a .471 batting average last season. Oriti (.283) will move from shortstop to second base, and senior Jose Velazquez will go from second base to shortstop and bat leadoff. Guth returns at third. Returning to the outfield are Georgesson, who moves from left to right field, and senior Peter Chong (.343) in center. Senior Carlos Sepulveda will start in left. OUTLOOK: Twelve of the 16 players are seniors and the team has adopted a now-or-never attitude, Lucero said. “I pick ourselves to be first (in the league). Our players have to believe that. On paper, this is by far the most experienced team I’ve ever had. But time will tell if it’s the most successful.” North Hollywood COACH: Rick Pally, 1st season LAST SEASON: 4-18; 4th in league, 3-14 PLAYERS TO WATCH: Pally is the fourth coach in four years at North Hollywood, but he is hoping to stick around long enough to build a competitive program. He will begin his first season with four returning starters: senior catcher Ted Liotopoulos, junior second baseman Oscar Gonzales, junior third baseman Eddie Gonzalez and senior outfielder J.C. Cabrera. Liotopoulos will share catching duties with senior Brady Bateman, who also will pitch and bat cleanup. Gonzales, who also will play shortstop, will be platooned at second with junior Ignacio Olmos. Junior Kiki Guerrero will help Gonzales at shortstop. Sophomore Juan Zuniga will start at first. Cabrera, who started in left last year, will move to center. Senior Nathan Wrought will start in right, and senior Omar Aguilar and junior Horacio Gomez will split time in left. Bateman and junior Rene Avelar will pitch. OUTLOOK: “It’s a rebuilding season. This will be a season where they learn to work together,” Pally said. “I’d like to build a program here, but they have to understand that it’s not going to happen overnight.” Poly COACH: Jerry Cord, 17th season LAST SEASON: 24-4; tied for 1st in league, 15-2 PLAYERS TO WATCH: Poly lost a bevy of talented players to graduation, but Cord still has an impressive blend of experience and youth. Senior right-hander Eric Diaz (4-0; 2.97 earned-run average) is the lone returning pitcher from a staff of five that had a combined ERA of 2.27. Senior Franciso Flores (6-foot-5, 225 pounds), who batted .310 with six doubles, four home runs and 19 runs batted in, returns at first base and also will pitch for the first time. Senior Steve Chavez, a three-year starter at catcher, batted .338 with 25 RBIs. Senior Frankie Medina will move from second to shortstop. Senior Jesus Perez (.438, five triples, 27 RBIs), who will move from right to center field, was the Parrots’ top hitter last season. Senior Robert Ingleses (.370), who started in right field for the last third of the season, will start in left. Senior Orlando Chavarria will start in right. Seniors Mike Labrunda and Ernie Bueno are battling it out at second base, and junior Sergio Garcia will play third. Senior left-handers Allen Alegria and Reynaldo Gutierrez round out the four-man pitching staff. OUTLOOK: There is more parity in this league this season, so Poly will have to stay on top of its game to defend its back-to-back titles. “Our league will be a little tougher this year, but if we get some pitching, we’ll do OK,” Cord said. Sylmar COACH: Gary Donatella, 4th season LAST SEASON: 21-7; tied for 1st in league, 15-2 PLAYERS TO WATCH: Sylmar lost just about everyone to graduation. Worse still, Donatella lost junior Rene Navarro (.403, 19 RBIs) because of academic ineligibility. Three senior starters return: pitcher Jose Villafana, second baseman Jimmy Lemos and shortstop Juan Flores. Villafana (9-2), a right-hander, had a 2.27 ERA last season and batted .333. “He’s our big man,” Donatella said. Lemos, who also will pitch, will split time in center field with Villafana. Junior John Bohman rounds out the three-pitcher rotation. Flores, a junior, returns at shortstop. Junior starters include Shane Rankin (catcher), Oscar Mendoza (first base), Jaime Cordero (second base) and Andy Camarillo (third base). Junior Anthony Martinez and senior Ray Ibon are vying for a starting berth in left field, as are juniors Ruben Aguilar and Mike Gabert in right. OUTLOOK: Sylmar will have a tough time defending its co-championship. Donatella said the team is inexperienced and needs to learn the fundamentals. “This team isn’t as smart as last year’s team and they’re not as close. But, we’ll find a way to win. We’ll be in the hunt.”