THE HIGH SCHOOLS / JEFF FLETCHER : Some Cuts to Clear the Bases

Remind me not to apply for a job that has any connection with the Burbank Unified School District trustees. . . .

The story about Jim Parque, Crescenta Valley’s 5-foot-8 left-handed pitcher, is that when he pitched as a freshman, he was so short the No. 1 on the back of his jersey was partially tucked into his pants. . . .

Want to meet a baseball scout? Be at Thousand Oaks High’s field A at 3 p.m. March 29. El Camino Real and Quartz Hill are scheduled to meet in the Thousand Oaks tournament, and that could mean a matchup of Conquistadore left-hander Randy Wolf and Rebel right-hander Roger Worley, perhaps the top two pitching prospects in the area. . . .

Don’t be fooled by Monroe right-hander Joel Zamudio’s 0-2 start. A scout who saw him pitch Tuesday said his fastball was consistently about 85 m.p.h.--on the slow gun. . . .

Don’t be fooled by Newbury Park right-hander Keith Smith’s 3-0 start either. Although he’s a great athlete, he probably doesn’t throw hard enough to warrant the size of bonus that it would take for professional baseball to pry him from his football scholarship at Arizona. . . .

Royal baseball Coach Dan Maye loves the fact that Simi Valley’s lineup is not as dangerous as last year’s for two reasons: Obviously, it makes the Pioneers more beatable. But besides that, Royal follows Simi Valley in Marmonte League scheduling. Last year many teams conceded victories to the Pioneers and saved their No. 1 starters for Royal, Maye said. . . .

Rio Mesa’s Sarah Nichals is one of the top freestyle distance swimmers in the nation. But she won’t be in he Southern Section championships in May. She’ll be in France with the junior national team. . . .

Want to get an idea of how high Camarillo track star Jeremy Fischer can jump? Next time you walk though a standard door, just imagine Fischer jumping over it. . . .

Now that Crescenta Valley shortstop Kirk Hagge has passed his Scholastic Aptitude Test, look for him to sign with Cal State Fullerton, Pacific, Pepperdine or Miami. Then look for him to be drafted. . . .

Catcher Dave Corleto, who lives in Encino, and infielder Dave Forst, who lives in Sherman Oaks, are two of the best high school baseball players you won’t read much about in the Valley because they play for Brentwood. . . .

Hueneme Coach Reg Welker, who is down to 11 varsity baseball players, has received only two responses from his plea for players in the school bulletin, and both of them turned out to be academically ineligible. . . .

Taft beat Fairfax, 55-1, in softball. A mercy rule in City Section softball would make too much sense, thus being totally out of character for the section. . . .

Channel Islands baseball Coach Al Tarazon, on taking his team to Arizona for a tournament: “It’s going to be the first time out of the state for some of these guys. Heck, first time out of the county.”. . .

You can bet Bell-Jeff baseball Coach Craig Sherwood, who works the graveyard shift in a market, wasn’t thrilled with his game scheduled for 8:30 a.m. Saturday in the L.A. Baptist tournament. Then he woke up to learn the game was rained out. . . .

Camarillo sophomore Tyson Montoya knows how to start off. In his first varsity at-bat after being recalled from the junior varsity, he drove in two runs with a two-out single. . . .

Although the Alemany boys’ basketball team (3-20) was one of the worst in the area, two of the area Southern Section statistical leaders came from that squad. Chris Engler led in rebounding with 13.5 per game and Jackie Chavez led in steals with 4.1. . . .

Canyon and Crescenta Valley were the only area high school basketball teams to have two players average 20 points. Canyon was led by Greg Minor (22.9) and Charles Woodard (20.6) and Crescenta Valley was led by Richard O’Neill (23.1) and Brock Jacobsen (21.0). . . .

One final high school basketball note: Crescenta Valley finished 19-11, but the teams it lost to had a combined record of 192-61, including Mater Dei (33-1), La Canada (21-3), Reseda (18-2), Long Beach Poly (26-7) and Pacifica (30-2), which lost in the state Division III championship game Saturday.