NOTEBOOK / SEAN WATERS : Several Area Baseball Players to Get Opportunity to Turn Pro

The top baseball players from the area eagerly waited to hear whether they were picked when major league teams held their amateur draft last week.

The major league office does not release an official draft list until all players have been contacted, usually by July. Only the first-round selections were announced June 1, although some players confirmed their selection once they had been contacted by a representative of the club that drafted them.

Outfielder Michael Kern of Culver City was taken in the eighth round by the Kansas City Royals.

Outfielder Brian Richardson became the second player from St. Bernard High to be drafted by the Dodgers. Richardson, who batted .387 last season, was taken in the seventh round. Former Vikings first baseman Dan Melendez of Pepperdine was taken by the Dodgers with the 49th pick.

“I was surprised that I went that high,” Richardson said. “I’m looking forward to it; the Dodgers are my favorite team.”

Richardson said he plans to sign and probably will play third base for the Dodgers’ rookie team in the Florida Gulf Coast League.

Viking shortstop Grant Hohman became the first player from the region to be selected by an expansion club. He was selected by the Florida Marlins in the 15th round.

Hohman, who replaced Royce Clayton as the Vikings’ shortstop four years ago, said he might play for Harbor College rather than sign a professional contract.

Three Beverly Hills alumni were picked. Michael Moore of UCLA was selected with the 38th pick by the Dodgers. Shortstop Chris Chandler of Moorpark College was taken in the 26th round by the Toronto Blue Jays. Chandler signed a minor league contract and will report to the Blue Jays’ instructional team in Dunedin, Fla.

Robby Welles of Pierce College was drafted in the 17th round by the San Francisco Giants.

Chandler and Welles last played for the Normans in 1990. Moore graduated in 1989.

Westchester first baseman Tremayne Noles was drafted in the 32nd round by the Toronto Blue Jays. Noles, who batted .370, also has received a scholarship offer to play at Cal State Los Angeles and has been contacted by UCLA.

Pitcher Javier Mejia of University was drafted in the 39th round by the Detroit Tigers and met with club officials Friday night. Mejia, however, is expected to sign a letter of intent with USC.

City Section all-stars: Mejia was selected as the City Section player of the year by the Amateur Athletic Foundation/First Interstate Bank board of athletics.

Mejia was 11-1 with a 1.26 earned-run average, 82 strikeouts and 24 walks in 72 innings. Teammate Randal Harris, who batted .447, also was selected to the first team as an outfielder. University had a 24-4 record and reached the semifinals of the 4-A Division playoffs.

Also picked for the first team were third baseman Mike Hayes (Westchester), infielder Al Watson (Westchester), pitcher Dan Pena (Venice) and catcher Ruben Mercado (Venice).

Hamilton had two players selected to the 3-A team--second baseman Robbie Vasquez and outfielder Seth Cooper.

Ocean League all-stars: Michael Kern, who batted .408, is one of three seniors who will continue his sports career after graduating from Culver City High.

Centaur infielder Damien Reynolds will play football for the freshman team at Harvard. Reynolds had a 4.08 GPA.

Catcher Brian Cappell received a scholarship to play baseball at CS Los Angeles.

Chris Brennan, Dylan Sugar and Sani Bozunovich are expected to play baseball at area community colleges.

Kern was voted most outstanding player in the Ocean League. He was joined on the first team by teammates Reynolds and Brennan and Beverly Hills pitcher Dean Styne and outfielder John Beradino.

Second-team selections included Cappell, Sugar and Bozunovich and Beverly Hills infielder Matt Humiston and outfielder Doron Barness.

Add Normans: In addition to being an outstanding baseball and soccer player, Barness is a classical pianist and will be giving a recital Saturday evening at his Beverly Hills home.

Barness has been a guest pianist with the Santa Monica Symphony under the direction of Yehuda Gilad. Barness will attend Columbia in the fall and will play soccer and baseball.

Barness, who was elected to the school’s sports hall of fame Monday, will dedicate his recital to the teachers and coaches who “taught me, guided me and instilled in me the desire to improve, to succeed and to achieve,” he said.

Barness will perform works from Scarlatti, Debussy, Beethoven, Haydn and Grieg.

College track: David Bunevacz and Marty Beck were the top finishers among UCLA participants at the NCAA Track and Field Championships last week at Austin, Tex.

Bunevacz placed second in the javelin with a throw of 242 feet 11 inches.

Erik Smith finished 10th at 216-2.

Beck, who has been slowed because of leg injuries, ran 49.80 seconds to finish second in the 400-meter hurdles, a hundredth of a second behind Dan Steele of East Illinois.

Charles Rogers finished seventh in the triple jump at 53-7.

In the shotput, John Godina placed seventh at 60-8.

UCLA’s men’s 1,600-meter relay team placed sixth at 3:04.71.

Dawn Dumble took fourth in the shotput (52-3 1/4) and Jennifer Whelchel was ninth (48-8). Dumble also was fourth in the discus (171-5).

Roshanda Glenn was ninth in the triple jump at 42-0 1/2.

High school track: Glory Dolphin of Santa Monica, Robin Snowbeck of University and Jesse Stern of Harvard-Westlake were the top area finishers in the State Meet Saturday at Cerritos College.

Dolphin placed third in the triple jump with a leap of 39-2 1/4.

Snowbeck ran 5:00.2 in the 3,200 meters and finished fourth. Last season, she placed sixth.

Stern finished fourth in the pole vault at 15-2.