University Exam Is Next for San Pedro

When a group of coaches met recently to select 36 seniors to play in the South Bay All-Star Baseball Classic, there was little support for San Pedro High’s best players.

Catcher Jose Duarte, the Pacific League co-most valuable player, was not picked. Neither was Pirate shortstop Rino Marconi. Only pitcher Jamie Smith landed a spot on one of the all-star rosters, and he was one of the last at his position to be chosen.

When asked his opinion of San Pedro, one of the coaches who had seen the Pirates earlier in the season said, “I was not that impressed. They didn’t seem to have much talent.”

Maybe not, but guess who’s still playing after the rest of the South Bay has packed its gear away? That’s right, San Pedro.

Somehow, the team with no stars managed to win a league title and become one of only four area teams to win 20 games this season. The Pirates (20-4) will meet second-seeded University (24-3) in the City Section semifinals at 3 p.m. Monday at Jackie Robinson Stadium in West Los Angeles.

Coach Jerry Lovarov, 62, certainly has fielded more talented teams during his 32 seasons at San Pedro. A list of his former players reads like a Who’s Who of area greats: Garry Maddox, Alan Ashby, Brian Harper, to name a few.

But Lovarov says this season’s team is special for other reasons.

“It seems like every game somebody different comes in and takes charge,” he said. “Not having any really outstanding stars, it’s been an easy team to coach. They’re self-motivated. They know their task and they’re determined to have a good season.”

This week, the Pirates defeated Birmingham, 10-6, and Granada Hills, 10-4, in the first two rounds of the playoffs. As has been their trademark all year, the Pirates played for the big inning in both games, beating Birmingham with a four-run sixth inning and rallying for eight runs in the fifth against Granada Hills.

“Once they get going on a big inning, it seems like it steamrolls for them,” said Carson Coach Mike Kline, whose team lost two of three games to San Pedro in league play.

Lovarov says San Pedro needs to put big innings together because it lacks muscle in its batting order.

“We don’t hit for power like we have in the past, but we’ve been bunching our base hits,” he said. “The kids come through in important times.”

San Pedro’s leading batters are designated hitter Steve Ralph (.375), Marconi (.365), outfielders Mark Miller (.340) and Miguel Medina (.330), Duarte (.330) and second baseman Isaac Lope (.310).

Kline, the Carson coach, says San Pedro needs to be at its best to beat University. The Warriors, champions of the Western League, are expected to start senior right-hander Javier Mejia (11-1), who pitched a two-hitter in Tuesday’s playoff-opening victory over Carson, 4-0.

“Mejia is so good,” Kline said. “If the game is close, if it comes down to a squeeze (play) or bunt, I think University will win. But I don’t know. San Pedro plays well together. Sometimes that will overcome a lot of talent, and Mejia has a lot of talent.”

Westchester Coach Ron Kasparian, whose team finished second to University in league play, said he told Lovarov that Mejia is the player that San Pedro has to be most concerned about.

“If you can hit Javier, you can beat (University),” Kasparian said. “But I don’t think anybody has hit him.

“He’s an outstanding competitor. He has a great fastball and a great curveball. When he smells victory, he gets tough. I wish I had him. He could be the best pitcher in the City (Section).”

Lovarov says his pitchers, perhaps because San Pedro has been involved in a number of high-scoring games, have been overlooked. He will start either senior right-hander Eligio Lopez (3-0), the team’s hardest thrower, or senior left-hander Smith (7-2) against University. Junior left-hander Larry Cannon (7-1), San Pedro’s most effective pitcher of late, will start the City final if the Pirates get past University.

A victory Monday would end a 30-year drought for San Pedro in the City Section baseball final. The last time the Pirates reached the final was in 1962 when they lost to Washington, 7-5, a team they had beaten earlier in the season.

How important is it for Lovarov to reach another final before he retires?

“Getting to the City final is really a goal for the kids,” he said. “I try to motivate them. For a coach, it’s one of the goals we always seek, but I’m more happy for the kids than I am for myself.”

Lovarov said his only trip to the final is memorable for several reasons, not the least of which is that most of San Pedro’s players arrived at the game dressed in tuxedos.

“San Pedro’s prom was Friday night and we played Saturday morning at 11,” Lovarov said. “Most of the team showed up in tuxedos and dressed in the dugout. They were out all night.”

A team that was expected but failed to reach a baseball final this season was El Segundo. The top-seeded Eagles were upset by La Serna of Whittier, 5-4, Tuesday in the second round of the Southern Section 3-A Division playoffs.

El Segundo (27-3) was hurt by two errors in the second inning--a dropped fly ball in right field by David Scanlan and a rare throwing error by catcher Jeff Poor--that opened the door for three La Serna runs. The Eagles also had trouble catching up with the hard-throwing La Serna right-hander Jason LeBlanc, who pitched a five-hitter. The bottom five batters in El Segundo’s lineup combined for only one hit.

“I thought (LeBlanc) was very good,” El Segundo Coach John Stevenson said. “He’s probably the best we’ve faced this year.”

But LeBlanc wasn’t good enough to silence the Eagles.

After coming back from 4-0 deficit, El Segundo was in position to tie the score in the bottom of the seventh inning. The Eagles had runners on first and second with two outs after Jim Zambarelli walked on four pitches by LeBlanc, who appeared to be struggling with his control.

That brought up No. 2 batter Ben Anderson, who quickly got himself in trouble by swinging at a high fastball and fouling off the second pitch. Anderson worked the count to 2-2, but LeBlanc ended the game with a curveball that had Anderson looking.

Considering that El Segundo’s two best batters--Chris Feeny and Poor--were up next and LeBlanc had just issued a walk on four pitches, wouldn’t it have been better for Anderson to take a strike before he was allowed to swing?

“I definitely thought about it,” Stevenson said. “The trouble with that is you’re in a position to tie the game and maybe win it. Anderson has had a good year for us. He can hit. If I make him take and he gets behind in the count, then he’s really handicapped.

“If the count had gone to 1-0 or 2-0, then I would have had him take to get to Feeny. . . . But in that situation, I didn’t want Anderson to get behind in the count.”

Stevenson said it was a disappointing way for an excellent season to end. All three of El Segundo’s losses were by one run.

“I think everybody was a bit stunned,” he said. “I was too stunned myself to see how other people were stunned.”

Peninsula’s baseball season came to an end Friday on an error that resulted from a freak injury.

With the Panthers holding a 3-2 lead against host Bishop Amat in the bottom of the sixth inning, first baseman Tim Akins fielded a bunt. But Akins’ throw to second base bounced into center field, allowing two runs to score and Bishop Amat to pull out a 4-3 victory in the Southern Section 5-A Division semifinals.

Peninsula co-coach Garry Poe said Akins separated his left shoulder on the play.

“He threw his shoulder out of the socket,” Poe said. “He must have thrown that thing so hard. I’ve never seen anything like it.”

Peninsula had taken the lead in the top of the sixth when Jason Brown’s line drive bounced over the left fielder’s head for an inside-the-park home run. But the Panthers’ good fortune turned bad in the bottom of the inning.

“It was a tough loss,” Poe said. “We were right there.”

Peninsula, the Bay League co-champion, finished 20-8.

The Morningside girls’ track team set up its defense of the State title by qualifying in six events Friday night at the Southern Section Masters Meet at Cerritos College.

The Lady Monarchs, who won the 2-A Division title last week, qualified Tai-Ne Gibson and Sanoma Nickson in the 100 meters, Gibson and Santisha Arnold in the 200, Jaronda White and Felicia Williams in the 400, Nickson in the 100 hurdles and the 400 and 1,600 relay teams.

Morningside will be challenged at the State meet, which will be held Friday and Saturday at Cerritos College, by Long Beach Poly and Thousand Oaks, which is led by sprint sensation Marion Jones.

The Morningside boys’ team qualified Edward Turner in the 400, along with their 400 and 1,600 relay teams.

Other South Bay qualifiers included Peninsula’s Brian Steip and Goss Lindsay in the boys’ 800 and 1,600, respectively, and Maya Muneno in the girls’ 3,200, Hawthorne’s Demond Smith in the 110 hurdles and 300 hurdles, and Bishop Montgomery’s Nicole Haynes in the long jump.

The Chadwick baseball team faced a tough pitcher Friday and was eliminated from the Southern Section Small Schools Division playoffs with a 2-1 semifinal loss to visiting Bethel Christian of Riverside.

Bethel Christian’s Daryle Ward, son of former major leaguer Gary Ward, struck out 12 in pitching a two-hitter and drove in the winning run with a double in the third inning. Ward pitched out of a bases-loaded jam in the sixth as he improved to 5-0.

Ward’s effort negated a fine pitching performance by Chadwick right-hander Mac McKinnie (8-2), who gave up three hits in pitching a complete game. The Dolphins finished 14-6.

South Bay’s Baseball Top 10

Rank, School, League Record 1 El Segundo (San Fernando) 27-3 2 San Pedro (Pacific) 20-4 3 Peninsula (Bay) 20-8 4 Westchester (Western) 19-8 5 Redondo (Ocean) 19-8 6 West Torrance (Pioneer) 20-8 7 Torrance (Pioneer) 16-10 8 Banning (Pacific) 15-9 9 Mary Star (Santa Fe) 16-6 10 St. Bernard (Mission) 14-11-1