PREPS / KIRBY LEE : Brucker Still Loves Baseball, but Prospers at Softball

Hardly a day passes when Victoria Brucker isn’t reminded of the summer of 1989.

Brucker became the first girl on a U.S. team to play in the Little League World Series as a member of the San Pedro Eastview All-Star team.

She also made history as the first girl to ever start as a pitcher, get a hit or score a run in the series.

Upon her return from Williamsport, Pa., the team was presented with baseballs signed by the Dodgers.

The team became the first inductee into the Circle of Excellence for Little League players, part of the Sportswalk on Beacon Street in San Pedro. The Sportswalk was started 15 years ago to honor prominent athletes. A bronze plaque honoring the team was also placed at Daniels Field.

In the fall, Brucker traveled a banquet circuit and made appearances on television talk shows.

The hoopla never really stopped for Brucker, 16, now a junior shortstop on the San Pedro High softball team.

“People still remember,” Brucker said. “They come up to me and say ‘Weren’t you the girl. . .,’ I went to the doctor’s office and someone told me ‘Yeah, I went to the game.’ I’m surprised that they know.”

Brucker also played on the Eastview Senior League all-team as a 13-year-old, but it proved to be a difficult transition.

Home runs didn’t come as frequently because she was playing on fields with 300-foot fences instead of 200-foot fences. Her throws weren’t as sharp with the bases moved 30 feet further to 90 feet apart.

Brucker also came to another realization.

“Back then, I felt no disadvantage playing with the boys,” she said. “It’s not like that any more. The guys are taller and stronger, especially in high school.”

Tim Harper, a teammate of Brucker on the Eastview Little League team, is the starting second baseman at San Pedro. Gary Sloan and Joe Sulentor are playing at Mary Star and five other former Eastview players are on the San Pedro junior varsity.

“She helped us and was like one of the guys,” Harper said.

The 5-foot-3 3/4, 150-pound Brucker is 15 pounds heavier than in her Little League days. Her height has not changed. Despite an offer to play on the San Pedro junior varsity baseball team, Brucker chose softball because she hopes to eventually play the sport at a Division I school.

“Friends and coaches were telling me that I was going to have to switch sooner or later,” Brucker said. “Softball is my future, but baseball will always be my first love.”

Brucker was also a welcome addition for San Pedro Coach Tony Dobra. The Pirates defeated Pacific League rival Banning to win the 3-A title in 1992 after losing the championship game the previous two seasons.

“Everybody on the team knows the story and everything about her, but she fits in well,” senior third baseman Amie Roberts said. “They have a lot of respect, but it’s never really mentioned.”

Brucker’s play on the softball team, though, is.

She batted .355 last season, earning All-City first-team honors. She is batting .385 through 12 games this season.

“You have to have that winning spirit no matter what sport you play and always want to win,” Brucker said. “My name means victorious spirit and I think it fits me perfectly.”

Brucker gave a good demonstration in the Sylmar tournament on Saturday. She scored five runs and went six for eight, including two home runs and a triple, to help San Pedro (10-2) defeat Quartz Hill, 7-2, and Sylmar, 6-0.

Lisa Hebert and Diana Barile had four hits each as the Pirates pounded out 23 hits in the two victories. The Pirates will play San Fernando in the championship game on Thursday at a site to be determined.

“Everybody is out for us, but I think this year’s team might be even better than last year,” Dobra said.

Brucker is one of three returning All-City selections for San Pedro, along with junior pitcher Petrina Martinez and senior center fielder Diane Marshall.

Petrina (4-1), who has a 0.42 earned-run average, pitched a no-hitter and struck out 14 in San Pedro’s 8-0 victory over Crenshaw in a Southern Pacific Conference game on Wednesday.

Roberts, left fielder Michael Ahumada, and sophomore pitcher Nicole DeLuca (4-0, 0.35 ERA) are all batting above. 400.

Rain Man--It was raining and tennis practice was canceled.

A game of mud football seemed like the next best thing to Peninsula High’s Loren Peters.

The January game was fun while it lasted, but has resulted in less than a banner season for the Panthers’ No. 1 singles’ player.

Peters, the defending Southern Section singles’ champion, fractured his right thumb on his racquet hand after colliding with another player.

“I had a great time, but it wasn’t the smart thing to do,” Peters said. “It was such a freak thing, I still don’t really know how I did it. I even played a little longer and didn’t even know it was broken.”

His hand was placed in a cast and the senior was sidelined for nearly two months. The injury kept the UCLA-bound senior out of the Panthers’ first match against Calabasas.

Peters improved to 21-3 in Peninsula’s 14-4 victory over Redondo in an Ocean League match Thursday.

Not a bad record by most players’ standards, but it’s a disappointing start for Peters, who finished 63-3 and won his final 17 sets in individual postseason play in 1992.

“It’s frustrating,” Peters said. “My game a little rusty and I still can’t do some of the things that I could before I broke my thumb. Last year was a better year, I still need a little more practice.”

Peters, however, wasn’t exactly in top shape early in 1992. He was sidelined because of a sprained ankle after stepping on a tennis ball during a preseason practice.

“Something about the beginning of the year, I always seem to get hurt,” Peters said. “It was a more painful injury but it took less time to heal.”

The 5-11, 168-pound Peters started the season by winning his first 15 sets before losing three consecutive matches, two against University and another against Santa Monica on Tuesday.

“He is still fighting back from the injury,” Peninsula co-coach Tom Cox said. “He’s no where close to the shape he will be in by the time Southern Section playoffs roll around.”

Despite Peters’ difficulties, Peninsula, ranked second in the preseason Southern Section Division I poll, has hardly missed a beat.

The Panthers are 10-0 and 2-0 in Ocean League play. Peninsula swept doubles matches in its 15-3 victory over Santa Monica and in a 16-2 nonleague win over San Clemente on Wednesday.

Peninsula has won 33 of 34 matches over the past two seasons. The Panthers finished 23-1 last season, losing only to 10-time Southern Section champion Santa Barbara, 13-5, in the 4-A final.

“I think we’ll meet them in the final and I think it will be a little closer this year,” Peters said about top-ranked Santa Barbara, which entered the season with a 111-match winning streak. “If everybody plays well, I think we might be able to pull it off.”

If not this year, Peninsula, a team with only three seniors, should have even a better chance next season.

The Panthers’ Nos. 2 and 3 singles players, junior Kyle Spencer and sophomore Dennis Chang, are 16-2 and 17-4. Last season the players combined to advance to the Southern Section individual doubles’ quarterfinals.

Peninsula’s No. 1 doubles team of Dean Ho and Jimmy Kim (12-0) are sophomores. The No. 2 team of Matt Kravitz and sophomore Scott Reeves are 19-2.

Best of both worlds--Peters attended Rolling Hills as a freshman and Miraleste as a sophomore before the schools merged with Palos Verdes to form Peninsula in 1991.

Getting acquainted with the Peninsula co-coaches Jim Hansen and Cox was never really a problem. Peters played for Cox at Rolling Hills as a freshman and for Hansen at Miraleste as a sophomore.

“It was even better having both of them,” Peters said.

Batter(s) up--George Angelos of San Pedro came into the game as a pinch runner in the fourth inning against Dorsey on Wednesday.

He wound up batting three times before the inning was through.

It was that kind of game for the visiting Pirates in a 35-4 victory in a Southern Pacific Conference game at Jackie Robinson Stadium.

Leading, 2-0, entering the fourth, the City 4-A champions sent 27 players to the plate, scoring 22 runs. San Pedro had eight hits and was the recipient of 12 walks off three pitchers.

San Pedro’s 22-run inning is fourth on the all-time state rankings and seventh on national list. City records for most runs in an inning or game were not available.

South Middlesboro, Ky. set the national record of 36 runs in an inning in 1984. San Diego Parker set state records for most runs in an inning (27) and game in a 53-0 victory over Calvin Christian in 1985. The national record for most runs in a game is 109 set by Atlantic, Iowa in a shutout of Griswold in 1928.

San Pedro’s 35 runs is the most by a South Bay school since El Segundo scored 42 against Serra in 1990.

“It’s just one of those things that can happen,” San Pedro Coach Jerry Lovarov said.

The Pirates scored four more runs in the fifth and seven more in the sixth before the four-hour game was halted by agreement between the teams.

San Pedro finished with 21 hits and had 21 walks from four Dorsey pitchers.

“They only used four pitchers but they kept bringing the same ones back in,” Lovarov said.

Rob Lukin drove in six runs and was five for five, including two triples and a double. Dan O’Neil and Bryan Castaneda drove in five runs each and Larry Cannon had four.

San Pedro defeated Westchester, 6-3, in a nonconference game on Saturday. Anthony Ruggiero and A.J. Brucelas drove in two runs each and Joe DeLiva had three hits for San Pedro (6-5).

The Pirates will try to avenge their only loss in five conference games against Crenshaw, the 3-A runner-up, Tuesday at Daniels Field in a makeup game.

Sprint King--Porchia King of Hawthorne is among several area athletes who will compete in the invitational division of the 26th Arcadia-Footlocker invitational April 16 at Arcadia High.

The meet has produced seven national records over the past 15 years. Thirteen national seasonal bests and 23 state-leading marks were set at the 1992 meet.

King was selected as athlete of the meet at the Pasadena Games at Occidental College March 27 after winning the 200 and 400 meters in 25.19 and 57.43 seconds.

She will face Marion Jones of Thousand Oaks, the all-time high school record-holder at 22.58, in the 200 along with Morningside’s Tai-Ne Gibson, the Southern Section 2-A 100 and 200-meter champion.

Jaronda White of Morningside, fifth in the 1992 state meet at 400 meters, will compete in her specialty and Kamara Mayberry of St. Bernard is entered in the 800.

The Hawthorne and Morningside girls and boys teams will compete in the 1,600 relay. The Morningside girls and boys, along with the Inglewood boys, are entered in the 400 relay.

Edward Turner of Morningside will compete in the 200. Turner will also meet Leandrew Childs of Inglewood in the long jump.

Morris Giddens of Gardena, the City 3,200-meter champion, will run in the mile and on the Mohicans’ distance medley relay team.

Other South Bay entrants include Brandon Crockett of Inglewood in the 100 and the Peninsula girls in the distance medley relay.