Baseball Now Gets Uniform Coverage

The safest place in town to watch a baseball game has to be El Camino Real High.

The fathers of three ballplayers are law-enforcement officers, and from three different branches, no less.

Right-hander Kevin Szymanski’s dad, Jerry, is with the Los Angeles Police Department. Outfielder Justin Martin’s father, David, is a helicopter pilot with the L.A. County Sheriff’s Department. Designated hitter John Novak’s father, John, , is a motorcycle officer with the California Highway Patrol.

Coach Mike Maio must feel as though he has three full-time bodyguards. Then again, perhaps not.

“I’m safe as long as each kid is playing, I guess,” Maio cracked.

NORTHWEST VALLEY CONFERENCE

BASEBALL

Kennedy outfielder Rick Nadeau has homered in each of the past three games, all victories, and has raised his average to .594 (19 for 32). He has seven doubles and three homers and has driven in 17 runs, all team highs.

FOOTHILL LEAGUE

BASEBALL

Bobby Cowan needed rest, or so he thought.

After leading the Saugus football team to a 7-2-1 record--one of the best in school history--and breaking nearly every school passing mark, the senior quarterback decided to give his right arm a well-deserved break. After all, he had just thrown for 2,203 yards and 26 touchdowns, completing 117 of 236 passes (49.6%).

So Cowan, also one of the top pitchers in the area, took a month off after the football season to rejuvenate his arm. No throwing or heavy lifting--only relaxation. He now wonders if he made the right decision.

More than a month into the baseball season, Cowan is struggling. His record is 1-2 after losing to Hart, Saugus’ Santa Clarita Valley archrival, 7-5, in the Centurions’ Foothill League opener on Tuesday. His earned-run average is 3.62.

Cowan was 12-2 with a 1.69 ERA last season.

“I thought I’d be in my rhythm by now but I guess I’m not,” Cowan said. “I think the time I took off after football has made me a little rusty.”

The Centurions need Cowan to rebound to fulfill their hopes of winning the league championship. Saugus and Hart entered the season as title favorites, but things are not shaping up that way so far. The Indians (2-0) already have a two-game league lead over Saugus.

“He just needs to get a little more focused and keep throwing,” Saugus Coach Doug Worley said. “Bobby will be all right.”

TRI-VALLEY LEAGUE

SOFTBALL

La Reina ace pitcher Michelle St. Pierre, a two-time defending Southern Section 1-A Division softball player of the year, suffered a ruptured disk in her lower back and is taking a break from pitching.

After the injury was detected during tests on Wednesday, St. Pierre was instructed by doctors to rest--flat on her back in bed--for a minimum of two weeks, according to Rick St. Pierre, Michelle’s father.

It will be perhaps the longest break from pitching St. Pierre has taken since she started eight years ago.

St. Pierre thinks she injured her back about three weeks ago in a Simi Valley tournament game against Lompoc while diving back to third base after a failed suicide squeeze.

“It’s just slowly gotten worse,” Rick St. Pierre said.

St. Pierre, who signed a letter of intent to play softball next year at Ohio State, guided the Regents to section titles in each of the past two seasons. A third consecutive title would set a Section record.

MARMONTE LEAGUE

BOYS’ VOLLEYBALL

Soon after his 100th victory, Royal High Coach Bob Ferguson tried to remember the last time the Highlanders lost.

“Two years ago or something,” Ferguson said.

Actually, Royal lost to Harvard-Westlake in the 1991 Southern Section 3-A Division championship. But losses have been almost unheard-of at Royal. In the team’s sixth year, the Highlanders are 100-6, the 100th victory coming Tuesday against Camarillo.

Royal (6-0, 5-0) has won every league match it has played--53 in all. The Highlanders were members of the Frontier League for the first two years and the Marmonte League since. They also have won Southern Section titles in three of the last four years.

“I’d like to take all the credit,” Ferguson said, laughing. “But I don’t think that’s true. This program has blossomed. The best athletes in the school go out for volleyball.”

Royal’s dominance doesn’t figure to end soon. Ferguson’s wife, Sandy, coaches an equally successful junior varsity. She is 75-9 in her tenure, including 6-0 this season.

“It’s been like a factory,” Ferguson said. “We’ve got three kids that are 6-foot-5 on the JV. Sandy’s great at developing the fundamentals, so when I get them (the players) I can move them to another level.”

Kennedy Cosgrove and staff writers Steve Elling, Paige A. Leech and Jason R. Reid contributed to this notebook.