Lions Try to Hold Position in WCC Race

The Loyola Marymount baseball team will try to hold on to third place in the West Coast Conference when it plays host to last-place University of San Francisco for a three-game series today and Saturday in Westchester.

The teams will play a game at 2:30 p.m. today and a doubleheader at noon Saturday.

Loyola is 20-26 and 11-10 in the conference and San Francisco is 6-36 and 3-21. Loyola won two of three games when the teams met in early March in San Francisco.

San Francisco has lost five games in a row and is 1-10 in road conference games. Loyola has won two games in a row, including a 14-7 nonconference victory Tuesday over Cal State Dominguez Hills.

The Lions have been led by sophomore center fielder Mike Peters, who is batting .344, and junior first baseman Anthony Napolitano, who is batting .315. Another standout has been sophomore designated hitter Jesse Ibarra, who is batting .283 and leads the conference with 12 home runs and 42 runs batted in.

Loyola’s top starting pitchers have been junior Shane Bowers, who is 5-6 with a 4.05 earned-run average, and freshman Ryan Graves, who is 5-3 with a 4.37 ERA.

Eight former El Camino College athletes and officials will be inducted into the school’s athletic hall of fame during a banquet at 6 p.m. Thursday at Los Verdes Golf Club in Rancho Palos Verdes.

The list includes longtime El Segundo baseball Coach John Stevenson, who has the most wins in state prep baseball history; Pepperdine women’s volleyball Coach Nina Matthies, who represented the United States in the 1972 Pan American Games when she was a student at El Camino, and Dainard Paulson, who played for the New York Jets from 1961-66 and was an All-Pro selection in 1964 and 1965.

Others who will be inducted are Alfredo Rosas, Jerrold Sheeley, Marty Acosta, George Stanich and Stuart E. Marsee.

The event director is Ray Southstone, a former physical education professor at El Camino.

Tickets are $35 and can be purchased at the school’s athletic department.

Information: (213) 715-3545.

The Greater Los Angeles Soccer League will play host to the Southern California National Soccer Championship finals starting at 10 a.m. Saturday at Daniels Field in San Pedro.

There will be five championships at stake, including Santa Barbara versus the L.A. Exiles for the national open cup at 4 p.m.

Other title matches will include South Bay rivals Guadalajara and Chivas in the women’s over 30 division at 10 a.m.; the L.A. Exiles No. 2 team vs. Dirty Dozen in the men’s over 30 division at noon; Riptide vs. Italia for the national amateur cup at 2 p.m., and Ajax of Manhattan Beach vs. S.C. Blues for the amateur cup for women at 6 p.m.

The five winners will represent Southern California in the Western Regionals on May 22-23 in Seattle and regional winners advance to the National Grand Finals on July 17 and 19 in Minneapolis.

Longtime PGA teaching professional Larry Gephart will conduct a free lecture for all ages entitled “Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Golf” from 6 to 7:30 p.m. Monday at the Centinela Hospital Fitness Institute.

Topics will include lowering the risk of injury through proper conditioning, correcting common golfing mistakes and playing with greater consistency.

Reservations: the Institute’s front desk, 6666 Green Valley Circle, in Culver City, or (310) 649-6700.

Torrance boys and girls can register for baseball and softball leagues from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. May 22 and June 5 at the Torrance Parks and Recreation Department office, 3031 Torrance Blvd.

There will be a 10-inch baseball league for boys in kindergarten through sixth grade and a softball program for girls in kindergarten through eighth grade.

Cost is $37.50. Information: (310) 618-2930.

The Torrance Volleyball Club will have tryouts for its 1993 United States Volleyball Assn. season for boys in grades 7 through 12 from 3:30 to 6:30 p.m. Sunday at the Torrance High gym.

Cost is $5. Information: Tim Ittner at (310) 429-0905 or Lawrence Hom at (213) 770-6607.