Frosh Phenoms a Dwindling Breed

One by one, they have either fallen out of favor or below the .300 level. The crop of what was supposed to be productive freshman starters in the region has dwindled to . . . two?

Several freshman starters were expected to make major contributions at the large-school level but, according to a recent spot check, only two are batting better than .300 and none have an earned-run average of less than 3.50.

The promising group included Kevin Lohman of Chaminade High, Matt Gershon of Agoura, Matt Buttell of Camarillo, Luis Sanchez of Hart, Charlie Boch of Rio Mesa, Chris Paxton of Palmdale, Jim Landress of Notre Dame, and Tim Baron and Bill Sperry of Thousand Oaks.

Of the aforementioned, many still are playing but only Landress and Paxton have blossomed.

Landress, an outfielder and a full-time starter, is batting .310 with 12 runs batted in and six stolen bases. His batting average is fourth highest on the team, and he leads in doubles with four and is tied for second in RBIs.

Paxton is batting .305 with eight doubles and 13 RBIs.

Baserunning: L.A. Lutheran’s Kevin Brown has 61 stolen bases. The Southern Section single-season record is 64 (set in 1985 by Mike Rust of Western Christian), a mark Brown has been focusing on for weeks.

“When I had 40 at midseason I figured it was in reach,” said Brown, who figures to play at least three more games. Next year, he will join his brother Darren on the St. Mary’s football team. He has not decided if he will play baseball.

Batting: Montclair Prep junior second baseman Brad Fullmer leads area players in all three triple-crown categories: batting average (.583), home runs (10) and runs batted in (40). . . . Crespi leadoff batter Joe Ruggiero had a string of nine consecutive hits broken Saturday against St. Bernard. After he singled in the first inning, Ruggiero struck out in his next three at-bats.

Sophomore Josh Morton, in his first season for Calabasas, has hit safely in each of the Coyotes’ 19 games. . . . Shortstop John Aguilar leads Hart in almost every offensive category, including batting average (.464), home runs (eight), RBIs (32), hits (32), runs (27), triples (four) and walks (15). Aguilar’s eighth home run May 5 set a school single-season record.

Freddie Edwards of Antelope Valley had a 10-game hitting streak snapped last week. Edwards is batting .246 (17 for 69). . . . Teammate Peter Holt has raised his average from .233 on April 27 to .305 (18 for 59). Holt was eight for 16 during that stretch. . . . Antelope Valley’s Ryan Branch is batting .279 but has 15 walks and a .546 on-base percentage.

Hoover’s Nate Dishington hit three home runs, one in each game last week, to raise his season total to four. Dishington, a junior first baseman, was five for 10 with six RBIs last week and is batting .333 (20 for 60). . . . St. Francis pitcher Jaason Pruett has a home run and single in two at-bats this season.

Pitching: Hueneme’s baseball program has celebrated four no-hitters this season. Juan Tostado and Frank Adame have turned the trick for the varsity and freshman Chris Gundrum has thrown two no-hitters--including a perfect game--for the junior varsity.

Miscellaneous: Oak Park shortstop Eric Pryor has struck out only twice in 50 at-bats and has made only two errors in 73 chances.

Softball: Glendale is the only team to have scored more than one run against Crescenta Valley (16-4). The Falcons, who have given up only nine runs, have dropped three 1-0 decisions, and lost to Glendale, 2-0.

Track and field: Nada Kawar’s winning effort of 45 feet 9 1/2 inches in the girls’ shotput in the Pacific League meet was not only a personal best by more than 3 1/2 feet for the Crescenta Valley junior, it was the farthest put by a girl in the region since 1981 when Lorraine Costanzo of Saugus hit a region best of 46-0 1/2.

Camarillo sophomore Jeremy Fischer moved to third on the all-time Ventura County list when he cleared 6-11 1/2 in the high jump in the Marmonte League finals. Fischer trails Kenny Burke, who cleared 7-2 for Westlake in 1984, and Gary Lawrence, who leaped 7-0 1/2 for Thousand Oaks in 1977.

The Marmonte, long regarded as one of the nation’s most talent-laden leagues when it comes to distance running, enhanced its reputation in the league finals. The results of the boys’ 800 meters and the girls’ 1,600 were especially impressive; six runners timed 1 minute 57 seconds or faster in the former, and four ran under 5:01 in the latter. Although Bill Neff of Royal (1:56.7 in the 800) and Kay Nekota of Agoura (5:00.98 in the 1,600) ran times that would win titles in most leagues, they each finished fourth and did not advance to the Southern Section 3-A Division preliminaries Saturday.

The Agoura boys’ and girls’ teams clinched their first Marmonte League titles Friday. Of the 98 points scored by the Chargers in the meet in the boys’ individual events, 69 were accounted for by non-seniors. For the girls, non-seniors scored 86 of the team’s 96 points. Sophomores and freshmen accounted for 74.

Freshman Amy Skieresz was the only double winner (1,600 and 3,200) for Agoura in the Marmonte meet, but sophomore Cathy Prater accounted for a team-high 24 points with second-place finishes in the 100-meter low hurdles (15.65), 300 lows (46.31) and triple jump (33-8 1/2).

Boys’ volleyball: Royal used a pair of record-breaking performances last week to defeat Loyola in a battle of unbeaten and top-ranked Southern Section teams. Setter Travis Ferguson had 90 assists, shattering his old single-match mark of 73 (achieved most recently in 1991). Outside hitter Brett Osterhoudt had 22 digs, bettering Karl Weschta’s 1991 school record of 16. Ferguson had 21 digs.

Statistics are current through Sunday.