Nadeau’s Jump Offers Fischer New Challenge

Will Camarillo’s Jeremy Fischer be up for the challenge?

Fischer had held the state’s top high jump mark of 7 feet 2 inches for ’93 until Monroe senior Jeff Nadeau (7-2 1/4) surpassed that height Thursday.

“I’m glad he did it,” Camarillo Coach Dennis Riedmiller said of Nadeau. “(Fischer) needs the challenge. He needs to be pushed.”

Fischer was amazed at the manner in which Nadeau reached his mark. Nadeau made a draining 27 jumps at 13 different heights before topping out at 7-2.

“That’s a lot of jumps, a lot of work for a high jumper,” said Fischer, a junior. “I’m surprised he had anything left (at the top heights).”

The pair could meet in the state finals June 5 at Cerritos College. Last year, Fischer tied for fourth (6-9) and Nadeau placed eighth (6-8) in the meet.

FRONTIER LEAGUE

BASEBALL

One pitch.

That’s what decided the league championship last Tuesday.

Calabasas standout junior Josh Morton hit a two-run homer off Moorpark’s Richard Hernandez in the bottom of the seventh inning to give the Coyotes a 4-3 win and the school’s first baseball title.

“It was amazing. . . . I had an explosion of feelings,” Morton said. “It was a fastball and I hit it and it went over the fence.”

Said Calabasas co-Coach Rick Nathanson: “You couldn’t write a better ending. It was incredible.”

The Coyotes end the regular season 14-5-1, 8-4 in league play. Moorpark (14-8, 8-4) and Calabasas share the league title, but the Coyotes enter the Southern Section Division IV playoffs as the league’s top-seeded team by virtue of having defeated the Musketeers two of three games.

The storybook ending was especially sweet for Morton, who also was the winning pitcher. He was struggling at the plate. His average dropped from .430 to .360 during the last few weeks.

However, Morton--selected sophomore of the year by Cal-Hi Sports last season--had no problems with everything on the line. “It was a great feeling,” he said. “It had been a while.” . . .

The beat continues at Nordhoff.

The Rangers failed to win a league game for the third consecutive season and are 0-36 in three years.

However, Nordhoff has made progress outside the Frontier. The Rangers were 3-1 in nonleague games this season after finishing 1-8 and 0-10 the past two seasons.

TRI-VALLEY LEAGUE

BASEBALL

No matter the league, Fillmore comes out on top.

The Flashes (15-4, 10-2) won their third straight league title last week. Fillmore won Frontier League championships in 1991 and ’92 and claimed the Tri-Valley title during their first season as a member.

GOLDEN LEAGUE

TRACK & FIELD

Ty Gaines of Palmdale and Cheaza Figueroa of Quartz Hill moved to second and third on the all-time regional list in the boys’ and girls’ triple jump in Saturday’s Southern Section Division I preliminaries at Trabuco Hills High.

Gaines’ 49-7 1/2 effort improved his personal best by nearly two feet, broke the Palmdale record of 49-6 set by Lawrence Miller in 1987, and moved him to No. 2 on the all-time regional list behind Russell White of Crespi (50-6 in ‘89).

Figueroa tacked a foot onto her personal best with a leap of 38-7 and trails only Margi Gilles of Burbank (39-2 3/4 in ‘88) and Sharon Manship of Thousand Oaks (39-0 in ‘87) on the all-time regional list.

PACIFIC LEAGUE

BASEBALL

When Crescenta Valley met Hoover last Thursday night, Glendale players were forced to root for archrival Hoover because the Dynamiters were battling the Falcons for the league’s third playoff berth.

Meantime, Arcadia players had to root for rival Crescenta Valley because the Apaches had a chance to earn a share of the league title if the Tornadoes lost.

What’s more, because the Hoover-Crescenta Valley game, which Hoover won, 7-3, was Thursday night and the Glendale and Arcadia were not playing until Friday, many players and fans from those teams were at Stengel Field, rooting for their foes.

MISSION LEAGUE

BASEBALL

Crespi right-hander Jeff Suppan didn’t quite break the state mark for consecutive scoreless innings, but he did join a list of luminaries. Suppan pitched 42 consecutive scoreless innings--a streak that included four straight shutouts--before he gave up a run in Crespi’s 16-4 victory over Alemany last week.

He is tied for fourth on the state list with David Wells, who pitched 42 scoreless innings at Point Loma High in 1982. Wells now pitches for the Detroit Tigers.

First is Jerry Jordan, who pitched 59 scoreless innings for Avenal High in 1970. Jordan never pitched in the majors.

Second is Denny Lemaster, who had 53 scoreless innings at Oxnard High in 1958. Lemaster pitched for four teams in his 11-year big league career. Third is former Baltimore Orioles standout Scott MacGregor, who tossed 52 straight scoreless innings at El Segundo in 1972. . . .

Who would have guessed it? The last team to beat Crespi was St. Bernard, which finished 1-13 in the Mission League. The Vikings beat the Celts, 5-4, in a St. Paul tournament game April 8.

The 14-game winning streak is the longest in Coach Scott Muckey’s seven seasons at Crespi. . . .

Harvard-Westlake’s Kevin O’Malley, the son of Dodger owner Peter O’Malley, finished the season batting .345 with three doubles, two triples and 17 runs batted in.

O’Malley has been contacted by coaches at Penn, where he will go to college, about catching for the Quakers, Harvard-Westlake Coach Jim Brink said.

Infielder Ted Werner, the son of San Diego Padres owner Tom Werner, batted .250 (nine for 36) for the Wolverines.

DEL REY LEAGUE

BASEBALL

It’s not exactly a rags-to-riches story, but it’s at least a rags-to-a-higher-tax-bracket story.

St. Francis started the season with eight consecutive losses and 11 defeats in its first 12 games. But the Golden Knights managed to go 6-3 the rest of the season, finishing 6-6 and in a three-way tie for the third playoff berth in the league.

Because St. Francis had a 3-1 record against the teams with which it was tied, St. John Bosco and Pius X, the Golden Knights slipped into the playoffs with a 7-14 record.

FREELANCE

BASEBALL

Sometimes coaches’ plans really do work. Montclair Prep Coach Walt Steele used last Saturday’s game against Hart as a playoff tuneup for his pitching staff.

He used, in order, left-handed finesse pitcher Jared Sandler, hard-throwing right-hander Jeff Shapiro, right-handed knuckleball pitcher Chris Ferebee and left-handed power pitcher Darrell Dent.

The result, an eight-strikeout, four-walk no-hitter.

CAMINO REAL LEAGUE

BASEBALL

They waited all season for a genuine highlight at St. Genevieve. It finally came when Jeremy Iaccino, Jose Sandoval and Ernie Gutierrez hit consecutive home runs in a loss to Cantwell Sacred Heart last week.

None cleared the fence because Cantwell’s home field has no fence. “It was an exciting three minutes of baseball there,” Valiant Coach Mike Wagner said.

Although most of Wagner’s first season, which St. Genevieve finished with a 3-16 record, was forgettable, Wagner has hope.

“It can only be better,” he said.

FOOTHILL LEAGUE

BASEBALL

Hart did it again.

The Indians won their second consecutive outright league championship. Hart ended the regular season 18-8, 8-4 in league play. Burroughs was one game behind (13-12, 7-5).

Hart will play host to the winner of the wild-card game between San Luis Obispo and Hueneme in the opening round of the Southern Section Division II playoffs on Friday. Burroughs will travel to Placentia to face Valencia.

Burroughs appeared to be the team poised to win the league title, entering the final week with a two-game lead over Hart. Two weeks ago, Burroughs defeated Hart, 4-3, in eight innings.

That victory gave Burroughs Coach Terry Scott confidence his team could win the school’s first baseball title.

“I really thought we had learned a lot about winning, that we had turned a corner,” Scott said. “We seemed to be doing the things we needed to be champions.”

Burroughs lost its final three league games. . . .

Will the real Burbank please step up?

The Bulldogs plodded through a mostly unspectacular campaign (9-11, 4-8), at times playing spectacularly.

In the final two weeks of the season, Burbank defeated Hart (1-0) and Burroughs (2-1) in pivotal games. The win against Burroughs on Friday gave Hart the league title outright. Burbank’s strong showing against the league’s elite followed a 20-0 loss at Canyon.

GOLF

Hart may have stumbled Monday in the Southern Section golf final with its 12th-place finish. Too bad the Indians couldn’t let the coach play.

Coach Dennis Ford recorded a hole in one May 8 at Vista Valencia Golf Course in Valencia when he knocked in a sand wedge from 100 yards on the par-three 14th. Was he excited? Hardly.

It was his 10th ace. “It was probably the worst one of the lot,” he said. “I went up there ready to chip.”

Lo and behold, when Ford reached the elevated green, the ball was in the cup.

DELPHIC LEAGUE

BASEBALL

Buckley played four games last week and clinched a playoff berth by beating Whitney, 13-7, Saturday in a league playoff game.

Taryll Jackson, son of Tito Jackson of the former Jackson 5, was the pacesetter.

Jackson (6-3), a senior right-hander, picked up two victories last week and did not allow an earned run in 10 innings.

Jackson was just as impressive with the bat, going 11 for 15 with 11 RBIs, eight runs and seven stolen bases.

Regional Baseball

Top 10 Selected by sportswriters of The Times

Lst. Rk Wk Team League Record 1 2 Crespi Mission 24-2 2 1 Simi Valley Marmonte 23-3 3 3 El Camino Real West Valley 20-2 4 4 Kennedy North Valley 23-3 5 5 Monroe Mid-Valley 18-4 6 7 Chatsworth West Valley 19-7 7 8 Newbury Park Marmonte 17-8 8 6 Notre Dame Mission 19-5 9 9 Hoover Pacific 18-5 10 NR Royal Marmonte 15-9

NR--Not ranked.