Blistering Pitches Yield No-Hitter

Chris Garza put the no in Notre Dame High on Monday.

Garza, a junior left-hander, pitched a no-hitter in a 9-0 victory over Chaminade, a team that entered the game with a batting average of .340. Chaminade batters had struck out only 27 times in 221 at-bats; Garza struck out 13.

As the saying goes, Garza was never in serious trouble. That is, unless you count the blood blister he developed on the index finger of his left hand. Notre Dame Coach Bob Mandeville considered removing Garza (5-0) after the sixth inning because of the problem, but an assistant popped the blister and Garza was allowed to continue.

Garza (5-foot-10, 155 pounds) shut down Chaminade (3-6) on 96 pitches and struck out the side in the first and sixth innings. More importantly, he walked only two. Entering the game, Garza had 22 walks in 21 innings.

Of the four batters who reached base, two were thrown out attempting to steal and one was picked off by the pitcher. Garza faced one batter over the minimum and no baserunner advanced past second.

Garza is the second Notre Dame pitcher to throw a no-hitter in as many years. Senior right-hander Cary Wichmann turned the trick last spring.

Garza has 40 strikeouts in 28 innings and has an earned-run average of 0.75.

QUOTEBOOK

Think Alemany softball Coach Dudley Rooney likes the idea of having freshman right-hander Sophie Contreraz around for the next 3 1/2 seasons?

Said Rooney after Contreraz (2-0) threw a two-hitter, struck out six and walked none in a 7-0 victory over Louisville on Monday: “She’s a freshman, she’s 5-foot-8 and she’s mine all mine.”

TRIVIA TIME

Name the San Fernando Valley senior who already has been named a Southern Section divisional player of the year in football and basketball. (Answer below).

GET OUT OF THE WAY

Doug Distaso’s eyebrows nearly raised the bill of his batting helmet Friday when Hart Coach Bud Murray signaled for him to steal home against Schurr.

“I’d never tried to steal home before,” said Distaso, who has 10 stolen bases in 11 attempts this season. “It’s kind of hard to steal home.”

Especially when the batter--in this case, Ted Kiester--misses the sign.

Charging from third base and shouting “Me! Me! Me!,” Distaso nearly received a face full of aluminum before Kiester, a left-handed batter, spotted Distaso and squared to bunt.

Distaso slid feet first and was safe.

“Later, he asked me, ‘What am I supposed to do on that?’ ” Distaso said.

WAVE OF THE FUTURE

Jake Flesher’s 3.7 grade-point average and his role as Moorpark’s student president undoubtedly figured in his being accepted to Pepperdine in the fall.

However, Flesher’s role as Moorpark’s catcher has done nothing to help pay the steep tuition. He has not been offered a baseball scholarship.

Nonetheless, Flesher said he is determined to get behind the plate for the Waves.

“That’s the bottom line,” Flesher said. “I want to play ball for them really bad.”

Flesher, a three-year starter, is batting .385 this season.

TRIVIA ANSWER

Faith Baptist’s Alex Estrada was selected the Southern Section eight-man football player of the year after the Contenders won the division title in December and last week repeated the trick in Division V basketball.

Can he pull a trifecta? Odds are slim since Faith Baptist plays baseball in the 1-A Division--which includes the likes of two-time defending division champion Montclair Prep--but Estrada has posted impressive numbers in that sport as well.

As a junior center fielder last spring, Estrada batted .521 with seven home runs, 32 runs batted in and 41 stolen bases.

RAVE REVIEWS

At least eight professional scouts watched Channel Islands’ 6-5 win over Royal in a Marmonte League game last week, charting every move of Royal shortstop Dave Landaker and Channel Islands pitcher Angel Aragon.

Aragon, a senior right-hander who improved to 5-0, consistently hit 83 m.p.h. on radar guns. But Landaker might have stolen the show with three hits in three at-bats against Aragon. Landaker doubled and stole a base.

“We didn’t get him out all day,” grumbled Channel Islands Coach Don Cardinal. “But not many people are going to get him out.”

In seven games, Landaker is hitting .667 (14 for 21) with five doubles and a home run.

FARRIS WHEELS

Junior Tim Farris has made Newbury Park’s search for a dependable No. 2 starter a short one.

Farris, a right-hander who was on the junior varsity last season, is 3-0 with an 0.69 ERA. Farris threw a three-hit shutout in his first start, a 5-0 win over Santiago in the Loara tournament. Last Tuesday, Farris wheeled and delivered a two-hit shutout in a 4-0 win over Agoura.

“He doesn’t throw hard but he seems to get people out,” Fabricius said. “When you look at him you don’t say, ‘Jeez, he’s a flame-thrower.’ But he keeps people off balance and we’ve done a good job of fielding.”

In 20 1/3 innings, Farris has allowed only two earned runs and has struck out 13. Along with senior left-hander Bryant Fick (2-1, 1.91), who twice has carried no-hitters into the sixth inning this season, Farris has helped put Newbury Park (5-3, 2-0) in contention for a Southern Section 5-A Division playoff berth.

“Jason Patterson and Jeff Hook were kind of vying for that No. 2 spot,” Fabricius said. “But Tim has stepped right in there.”

BREAKING AWAY

So what if Buena is 6-1 and sitting atop the Channel League standings with a 2-0 record? So what if last Tuesday the Bulldogs pinned a 7-2 loss on Hueneme--a team ranked third in the preseason Southern Section 3-A poll?

None of this has convinced Coach Stan Hedegard, who says he has trouble believing his team is worthy.

“I really don’t think we’re that good,” Hedegard said. “Sometimes you have a good team that doesn’t play up to its expectations, and other times you have an average team that gets some breaks. Right now things are breaking our way.”

CHANNEL DREDGED?

If, indeed, Hedegard is not exaggerating--and Buena actually lacks talent--perhaps it is a telling sign that a team doesn’t need a lot of talent to win a Channel League game.

The league has boasted players such as former Rio Mesa standout Dmitri Young, who was the state’s top player in his class in each of the past four seasons according to Cal-Hi Sports and was drafted No. 4 overall by the St. Louis Cardinals last June. But several coaches and professional scouts feel there is a lack of talent in the league.

“There’s just that not much (talent) out there any more,” said one scout who requested anonymity to protect his organization’s interests.

LENDING AN EAR

Apparently, the sign of a successful boys’ basketball season at Newbury Park is an earring worn by Coach Greg Ropes.

Ropes agreed to sport an earring if the Panthers finished among the top three teams in the Marmonte League or reached the playoff quarterfinals.

The Panthers finished fourth in the league yet managed to reach the quarterfinals for only the fourth time in the school’s 25-year history. So Ropes kept his end of the deal and went to a mall to have an ear pierced before last Thursday’s team banquet.

“I found the smallest thing I could find to put in there,” Ropes, 44, said. “(Senior forward) Jeff Hook’s mother said she had an earring with a basketball dangling from it, and I said ‘No, thank you.’ ”

Vince Kowalick and staff writers Steve Elling, T.C. Porter and Jeff Riley contributed to this notebook.