JUDGMENT VALIDATED: The Dodgers on Friday drafted...

JUDGMENT VALIDATED: The Dodgers on Friday drafted pitcher Randy Wolf of El Camino Real High School, and he celebrated by saving a 6-2 victory over Kennedy High (C12) in the semi-final round of competition for the City Section baseball crown. That set up a rematch for the championship with Chatsworth, which defeated Taft, 5-0.

STRUGGLING STREET: It was one of those good news/bad news days for merchants hoping the strip of Ventura Boulevard just west of Van Nuys Boulevard will spring back from quake damage to reclaim its reputation as the hippest shopping street in the Valley. Good news: The Gap and Banana Republic will reopen (B1). “A morale booster,” a merchant called it.. . . . The bad news: Adios Johnny Rockets and The Sharper Image.

BAT MEN: The College World Series doesn’t include any Valley teams, but one Valley business wins no matter who plays . . . Six of the eight competing schools use bats (above) made by Jas. D. Easton Inc. of Van Nuys. Easton’s business makes up half of the aluminum bat market worldwide.

SANTA CLARITA: Harold and Kathy Wiener were the toast of their Santa Clarita community, (B11) . . . Until they were accused of stealing $2.8 million using their Valencia escrow firm, Country Oaks Escrow Inc., which the couple started in 1981.

LEUKEMIA AID: Nine Los Angeles Spanish-language radio stations are promoting a 12-hour radiothon today to benefit the Leukemia Society of America (B17) . . . Humberto Hernandez, vice president and station manager for KMQA, La Maquina, says the Valley is an important target because it makes up about 50% of his station’s audience. “If one quarter of our people in the Valley--25% of our audience--makes pledges for this event, it would be a successful event,” Hernandez said.