VanWagenen Teeing Off With the Bat

Brodie VanWagenen’s father Jeff is a former PGA Tour professional who routinely blasts the ball past everybody in Crespi High’s golf tournament fund-raiser for the baseball program.

The way VanWagenen has been swinging his club for the Celts, he fast will become known for his long drives too.

VanWagenen, a senior second baseman who already has earned a partial scholarship to Stanford, recently hit as many home runs in three at-bats as the entire team did in the previous two seasons.

VanWagenen hit three home runs in consecutive at-bats in the El Segundo tournament over the weekend. Last season, he hit a team-high two homers. No other Crespi player hit a home run that year. In 1990, catcher Kevin Walsh hit Crespi’s lone homer. Mark Cavaretta hit three home runs for Crespi in 1988 and was the last Celt player to accomplish the feat.

VanWagenen has 11 runs batted in for the Celts (5-1), two RBIs less than he had last season.

MORE SCORE

The Foothill League will undergo a face lift next school year with Alhambra, San Gabriel and Schurr joining the newly formed Almont League. Hart, Burbank and Burroughs will join current Golden League members Canyon and Saugus.

That will not be the only change, however.

In an effort to increase participation in track and field, Hart track Coach Dan Houghton and the league’s other coaches have proposed a new scoring system for the league’s dual meets.

Under the new system patterned after the NCAA championships, the top eight finishers in each event score on a 10-8-6-5-4-3-2-1 basis.

Under the current format, the top three finishers score on a 5-3-1 basis.

“The feeling among the coaches is that more kids would participate in track if they knew that more than just the top three finishers in each event would score points,” Houghton said. “The new system would reward teams with a lot of depth and encourage more kids to come out.”

School administrators are expected to vote on the proposal this month.

FIELD OF HITS

Valerie Serpico’s reputation as a slugger led to the installation of a fence at the La Reina softball field.

“Because of her, we went to a fenced outfield (last year),” Coach Don Hyatt said. “Our league teams were putting their fielders out at about 210 (feet) and just waiting.”

In her first three seasons, Serpico amassed 10 doubles, 12 triples, seven home runs and 73 RBIs.

“I was always asking where the left fielder was,” Hyatt said.

Serpico’s first four hits this season have been for extra bases. A four-year starter, Serpico has committed to play for Penn State next season.

GONE IN 90 MINUTES

Camarillo softball Coach Darwin Tolzin knew that maintaining the state’s top ranking would be tough.

Camarillo, which improved from a mediocre team in 1990 to the Southern Section 5-A Division champion in 1991, received the No. 1 ranking from Cal-Hi Sports magazine. Now every opponent is out to upset the Scorpions.

“I tell them all the time that it takes a long time to get to be No. 1--and about an hour and a half to lose it,” Tolzin said.

Tolzin’s words of wisdom rang true over the weekend. Camarillo (4-1) was edged, 3-2, by Saugus (7-1) in the semifinals of the Hart tournament.

LIGHT SCHEDULE

There might not be any high school baseball fields in the San Fernando Valley with lights, but that has not stopped Chaminade from scheduling a pair of night games--both at UCLA’s Jackie Robinson Field, no less.

On Monday, Chaminade will play host to West Albany, Ore., at 7 p.m.

At 7 p.m. on April 27, the Eagles will play Mission League rival Notre Dame.

FENCED IN

One of the longest left-field lines in any area ballpark is no more.

At Canyon, a new left-field fence was erected during the off-season, cutting the distance from home plate to the foul pole from 382 feet to 330.

“It’s more symmetrical,” Coach Scott Willis said. “Now it looks like a baseball field instead of a lot where a field was put.”

WINTER WONDERBOY

John Lister spends the spring playing left field for Glendale’s baseball team. If things go well, he soon will be spending his winters, well, on the skids.

Lister, a senior, recently returned from a one-month stay in Lake Placid, N. Y., where he participated with the U. S. Junior Development luge team.

Yes, luge.

Seems strange, considering Lister was born and raised in Glendale and had never even seen a luge before reading a newspaper article last summer advertising tryouts for the Junior Development team.

One thing led to another, and Lister soon was among 27 teen-aged hopefuls--and one of three from Southern California--sliding through an icy chute at speeds greater than 50 m.p.h.

“It’s just something that sounded interesting at the time,” Lister said. “And it just snowballed from there--no pun intended.”

Lister said he is awaiting word on whether he will be invited next year to try out for the Junior National team. From there, his goal is to earn a berth on the Olympic team.

If Herschel Walker can race bobsleds . . .

“I just want to take it step by step,” Lister said. “I’m not going to say I’m going to make the Olympics. That’s sort of like saying just because I’m a high school baseball player, I’m going to make the big leagues.”

DIAMOND IN THE ROUGH

Montclair Prep’s 21-game winning streak in baseball ended on Friday the 13th, but a positive emerged during the 9-4 loss to St. Bernard.

Freshman right-hander Jared Sandler gave up one run and two hits in five innings, striking out two and walking two.

He relieved Osman Khan (0-2), who was victimized by four unearned runs in two innings.

Sandler, who throws a fastball, changeup and curve, has composure beyond his years. Coach Walt Steele noted that after Sandler gave up a leadoff home run in the fourth inning, he settled down to strike out the next batter.

Sandler is the latest of several Montclair Prep freshman standouts. Two years ago, Chris Ferebee posted a 4-0 record with a 2.01 earned-run average. Senior Russell Ortiz, 19-2 since his sophomore year, also broke in as a freshman.

“It seems like every year except last year, we’ve had a good ninth-grade pitcher,” Steele said.

UNDERCLASSMAN

Sandler is not the only freshman pitcher to emerge from the Alpha League. Right-hander Jason Robitaille has a 2-0 record and 1.40 ERA for Village Christian.

“He can throw the ball hard and has a good curveball,” Coach Mike Henzie said. “But he has good control. He makes them hit the ball. That’s the main thing.”

BOYS WILL BE BOYS

As a first-year coach of the boys’ tennis team at Ventura, Chris Mikles said she is prepared to deal with the sometimes zany antics of teen-aged boys. “Fortunately, I have four brothers, two sons and a husband,” Mikles quipped.

Vince Kowalick and staff writers Steve Elling, Paige A. Leech, John Ortega, T.C. Porter and Jeff Riley contributed to this notebook.