REGIONAL DIGEST : Taft Catcher Kleiner Signs Letter to Play for Nevada Las Vegas

Taft High senior Stacy Kleiner, a returning All-City Section 4-A Division catcher, on Monday signed a national letter of intent to play baseball next season at Nevada Las Vegas.

Kleiner is batting .439 with seven doubles and 14 stolen bases and has scored 30 runs. All are team highs.

Kleiner is the second Taft player to commit to UNLV in the past week--joining right-hander Brandon Witkow--and the fourth to earn a Division I scholarship. Pitcher Justin Siegel (North Carolina State) and infielder Gabe Kapler (Cal State Fullerton) signed letters of intent last fall.

Kleiner, who plays several positions and pitches, also had drawn interest from University of the Pacific and Cal State Northridge.

Baseball

Canyons, Mission and Pierce colleges were among the 16 teams seeded Monday for the first round of the Southern California junior college regional playoffs Saturday and Sunday.

The regional is divided into two brackets, with eight teams each. There are four matchups in each bracket, with the teams playing a best-of-three series at the home of the higher-seeded team. The first game will be Saturday at noon and the second, Sunday at 11 a.m. A third game, if necessary, will follow about 30 minutes after game 2.

The four survivors in each bracket will advance to the second round May 21-23. The teams will remain within their brackets and play the two double-elimination tournaments at the home of the highest-seeded team still alive in each bracket. The two bracket winners qualify for the four-team state championships May 29-31 at Sacramento City College.

Canyons, the Western State Conference champion, is seeded No. 2 and heads the lower bracket. The Cougars (29-8) will play host to No. 15 Long Beach City College (19-18).

Pierce, the WSC runner-up, is in the same bracket. The Brahmas (22-15) are seeded No. 14 and travel to No. 3 L.A. Harbor (28-10), the South Coast Conference champion. Pierce tied with Valley for second place in the WSC but received the automatic playoff berth because it swept the Monarchs in their three conference games. Valley failed to get an at-large berth.

Mission, which finished second to East Los Angeles in the Southern California Athletic Conference, is seeded No. 13 and will play in the upper bracket. The Free Spirit (25-13) will be at No. 4 Chaffey (30-10), the Foothill Conference runner-up.

Rancho Santiago (32-8), the Orange Empire Conference winner, is seeded No. 1.

Golf

Jason Semelsberger shot a one-under-par 70 to lead Hart High to a first-place finish in the Southern Section Western Regional team tournament at La Royal Vista Golf Course in Walnut. Hart shot a 375.

Alemany (403) and Loyola (404) finished second and third, also qualifying for the section finals, which will be held next Monday at Sandpiper Golf Course in Goleta.

As expected, Westlake won the Northern Regional with a 389 at Santa Maria Country Club in Santa Maria. Channel League powers Buena (397) and San Marcos (402) also qualified for the finals.