NOTEBOOK / SEAN WATERS : Montclair Prep Seeks to Rejoin Delphic

After an 11-year hiatus, Montclair Prep will seek to rejoin the Delphic League during a meeting with league athletic directors today at 9:30 a.m. at Whitney High in Cerritos.

Montclair Prep last competed in the Delphic League during the 1981-82 school year. Two Delphic League coaches who remain from that period cited bad blood from those days in expressing their doubts about the Mounties returning.

“Their chances of returning to the Delphic League are not very strong,” said Chuck Ice, Crossroads athletic director and baseball coach. “Their teams are always competitive and their coaches that I’ve come in contact with have been very good and professional, but they do bring a lot of excess baggage.”

Montclair Prep Athletic Director Greg Reece is interested in the Mounties rejoining the league for all sports except football. Brentwood, Buckley, Campbell Hall, Crossroads, Faith Baptist and Whitney make up the Delphic League. Brentwood and Faith Baptist are the only teams that play football, and they compete at the eight-man level. Montclair Prep competed in the 11-man Alpha League last season.

“I talked with the Buckley athletic director, Howard Coale, and he said they’re looking for someone to compete across the board,” Reece said. “I’m going to try and get a feeling whether our school will fit in there or not.”

Pat Brown, Brentwood athletic director and football coach, was emphatic about not letting Montclair Prep back in the league.

“We have not had good relations with Montclair Prep, and we don’t schedule games against them unless it’s the playoffs--when we don’t have a choice.” Brown said. “It will be up for discussion, but we’re not hiding our feelings over here. As long as I’m here, I don’t think their chances (of joining the league) are very good. I think if they join the league my administration would fire me.”

Montclair Prep was voted out of the Alpha League May 6 by league members and will be reduced to free-lance status for the 1992-93 school year unless it can join another league. The Mounties were investigated in September, 1990, by the Southern Section for alleged football recruiting violations dating to 1985. Sanctions that banned the school from postseason playoffs were dropped when a key witness recanted his testimony.

“The coverage of Montclair Prep has been so chauvinistic because it centers around the football team,” said Reece, who has coached girls’ teams in basketball, volleyball and softball. “The girls’ teams have had good relationships with (Delphic League) schools.”

Montclair Prep won Southern Section championships in football in 1990 and baseball in 1990 and 1991.

Big comeback--Santa Monica High Coach Jose Lopez will lead his second team of the school year into the playoffs when the Viking baseball team competes in the Southern Section playoffs Friday at 3 p.m.

The Vikings won the Bay League with a 10-2 record. Lopez, who had not coached the baseball team since 1983, also guided the boys’ soccer team to the Southern Section 4-A Division quarterfinals.

Santa Monica (16-7) will play host to Channel Islands, the Marmonte League third-place team.

Third baseman Sheldon Philip-Guide led the Vikings in home runs (two), hits (20) and stolen bases (eight) during Bay League games. Pitcher-first baseman Mike Miller had a 10-1 record and was 6-1 with a 1.98 earned-run average in league play. He had 35 strikeouts and gave up only nine walks in his last 46 innings.

Other Viking top hitters in league play include Joel Padilla (.415, 18 runs batted in) and Paul Casillas (.500, 10 RBIs).

“We have become a disciplined team, which was not evident at the beginning of the year,” Lopez said.

Another banner year--Crossroads will play host to L.A. Baptist in the first round of the 1-A Division playoffs at 3:15 p.m. Tuesday at Clover Park.

The Roadrunners (16-7, 9-1 in league) beat L.A. Baptist, 8-2, in the second round of their own tournament.

Richard Condon, who had a 3-0 record and a .571 batting average, will be the starting pitcher and will bat cleanup.

The Roadrunners also had three other players bat over .400 in league play--first baseman Roland Feld (.433), catcher Craig Juda (.414) and pitcher-right fielder Seth Lawrence (.429).

Making the right pitch--The Crossroads softball team benefited from some impressive pitching this season, and much of the credit belongs to assistant Lisa Longaker, the former UCLA All-American.

Vernna Rocha, Linda Ripoll and Jessica Schulman gave up only 12 runs and 16 hits in 10 league games as the Roadrunners won the Delphic League with a 9-1 record. The three pitchers also struck out 81 batters and gave up only 25 walks.

The third-seeded Roadrunners (17-9) will play host to Avalon (7-3) Friday in the first round of the Southern Section 1-A playoffs.

“Lisa has brought a lot of stability to our whole pitching and catching staff at our practices,” Coach Tom Gray said. “She’s done a great job organizing our practice times and making sure they get their work done on a daily basis.”

Out of the playoffs--The St. Bernard baseball team missed the playoffs for the first time since Bob Yarnall began coaching the team in 1986.

The Vikings (14-11-1, 7-5 in Mission League) lost to Chaminade, 3-2, Friday in one of the biggest upsets of the year. The Eagles had lost 21 consecutive games before eliminating St. Bernard.

Viking shortstop Grant Hohman, pitcher Chris Steinbacher and utility player Robert Cox were All-Mission League first-team selections. Second baseman Paul Lopez was selected to the second team.

Steinbacher, who was 7-1 with a 3.00 ERA, will compete for UC Santa Barbara next season.

Signings--University guard Alana Collins, The Times’ Westside player of the year, signed a letter of intent Wednesday to play women’s basketball at Cal State Northridge.

The 5-foot-11 Collins averaged 23.2 points and 14.5 rebounds last season.