KEEPING TABS

The most talked-about topic around Dedeaux Field this spring is how USC catcher Casey Burrill has come back from reconstructive shoulder surgery to bat .463 with 10 home runs and 32 runs batted in.

But if you ask Burrill, the late blossoming of Ray Gardocki, teammate, best friend and fellow member of Hart High’s class of 1989, is a more piquant story. Destiny for Gardocki, a 6-foot-1, 210-pound first baseman, appeared to be four years of shagging balls and carrying warm-up jackets for Trojan teammates. A senior, Gardocki entered this season with 10 at-bats, a .200 average, one RBI and four strikeouts--in his career.

But because of an “attitude adjustment” during fall workouts, Gardocki has not only won a job as a regular, he entered the week with a .354 batting average against some of the best pitching in Division I.

Gardocki’s average is second only to Burrill’s.

“The man is an absolute genius,” Burrill said of Gardocki, a premed student with a cumulative grade-point average of 3.77. “And now to see how he’s hitting the ball, it’s a thrill. He’s the surprise of the team.”

Gardocki already has succeeded his loftiest preseason goal of making the traveling squad, but his performance comes as no surprise. In 16 starts, he has 48 at-bats, a home run, a .479 slugging average and a .400 on-base percentage.

“Instead of trying to hit the ball to Vermont (Avenue) from home plate at USC, I decided just to hit the ball,” said Gardocki, 22, a right-handed batter who usually faces left-handed pitching. “I concentrated on putting the sweet part of the bat on the ball.

“It’s easy to hit the ball hard that way. It’s something I always knew how to do. I just didn’t do it. I was trying to do too much.”

Such as hitting 10 home runs with the 10 at-bats Coach Mike Gillespie had given him to that point. His attitude adjustment consisted of taking the opposite approach: relax and aim low.

“I set low goals that I knew I could reach and build upon,” Gardocki said. “First it was to play in a fall game. Then it was get a hit.

“The season rolled around, and on opening day I was in the starting lineup. Every now and then I find myself pressing and I say, ‘Just go out there and have fun.’

“Come June, I’m looking to play in a Sunday softball league. It would be a dream to be drafted and play pro ball. But I’m too slow. You can clock me to first base with a sundial.”

Gardocki will graduate in May and move on to graduate school. His long-term goal is to become an orthopedist, a practice he figures will keep him close to baseball.

“I’ll be able to fix guys who are broken,” he said, “and get free tickets.”

Quantum leaper: According to Cal State Bakersfield basketball Coach Pat Douglass, no Roadrunner rose to the occasion like guard Reggie Phillips, who brought great leaping ability but an otherwise unpolished game when he transferred from Ventura College last fall.

But in the course of a 33-0 season that culminated last week with an NCAA Division II championship for Bakersfield, Phillips became a penetrator, outside shooter and top defender. He capped the season with 23 points in 21 minutes in an 85-72 victory over Wayne State (Mich.), hitting eight of 12 shots from the field and seven of eight from the free-throw line.

“You present him with a challenge, he’ll find a way to perform and win,” Douglass said. “He’s the attraction that people come to see in our program--and we have a lot of exciting players. No one plays above the rim at 5-10 like Reggie.”

Checking the fax: In basketball, San Francisco guard Tami Adkins (Santa Clara High) was named first-team All-West Coast Conference and set a conference record for steals with 270 in her career. Pepperdine junior Dana Jones (North Hollywood) was named men’s WCC player of the year after leading the team in field-goal percentage (62%) and rebounding (9.1 a game). . . . Quincy (Ill.) College junior forward Reggie Bell (College of the Canyons) was named first-team All-Great Lakes Region in NCAA Division II after he averaged 18.1 points and 9.6 rebounds. He had 38 steals and 31 blocks.

In baseball, pitcher Dan Chergey (Thousand Oaks) became Cal Poly San Luis Obispo’s all-time leader in innings (385 2/3), replacing Bruce Freeberg (359 2/3, 1974-77), and victories (26), overtaking Mike Krukow (1971-73), last Saturday when he went the distance in the Mustangs’ 12-1 victory over Cal State Dominguez Hills. . . . John Swanson (Rio Mesa) leads Cal State Long Beach in batting average (.406) and on-base percentage (.500). He has 19 RBIs in 69 at-bats and nine stolen bases in 12 attempts.