Another Chance : Velazco Makes Pitch to Finish Career on High Note

Fortunately for senior Carlos Velazco, his career in a Sylmar High baseball uniform ends today, rather than June 1.

Velazco will put on the Spartan pin-stripes for the final time today at 3:30 p.m., when he pitches for the East team in the 18th annual Bernie Milligan high school all-star baseball game at Cal State Northridge.

He will probably walk off the mound today in better shape than June 1, the day he gave up 10 runs in 3 2/3 innings in the Spartans’ 17-4 playoff loss to Kennedy.

Sylmar Coach Gary Donatella pulled Velazco after five consecutive batters reached base in the fourth inning that day. It was only the second time in Velazco’s two-year career at Sylmar that he was replaced in the middle of an inning.

Velazco, 22-4 in two seasons, shook his head and shrugged his shoulders this week when asked to explain what went wrong with one of the area’s most dominant pitchers.

“The first couple days after that I had all these thoughts in my head,” Velazco said. “I thought, ‘Maybe I’m not as good as I thought I was.’ Maybe I was losing it. But then I got to thinking, that’s just baseball.

“That’s going to happen to you no matter who you are or how good you are.”

The 10 earned runs Velazco allowed against Kennedy were as many as he yielded his entire junior season, when he was 11-1 with an 0.95 earned-run average. He finished his senior year with an 11-3 record and 1.80 ERA, although it was 1.09 before the Kennedy game.

“I think he just might be the best pitcher I’ve coached, and I’ve coached some good ones,” said Donatella, who recently completed his sixth season at Sylmar.

And to think Donatella didn’t even remember Velazco after they were introduced the first time.

Velazco attended Hamilton High in West Los Angeles during his sophomore year, but his family then decided to move to Sylmar. A mutual friend of Velazco and Donatella introduced the two when he heard Velazco would be enrolling at Sylmar. They met at a Dodger game in the summer of 1992.

But Velazco did not show up at Sylmar in the fall of 1992 because of moving delays. When he did arrive, midway through the first semester, Velazco reintroduced himself to Donatella.

“I asked him if he remembered me from Dodger Stadium,” Velazco said, “and he said, ‘No. Not really.’ So I kind of reminded him.”

When Velazco first pitched for the Spartans, he was surprised to see the difference between high school baseball in the Valley and “over the hill.”

“I don’t know if it was just Hamilton or the whole city,” Velazco said, “but we didn’t take it real seriously down there.”

Velazco, who is nearly 6-feet tall and weighs a wispy 155 pounds, also said he could not throw his fastball past Valley hitters the way he had as a sophomore at Hamilton.

“Up here, I wasn’t (striking out) a lot of guys and I was wondering ‘What’s going on?’ ” Velazco said. “But later in the season, I realized I wasn’t a strikeout guy, so I just worked hitting spots and letting them hit the ball, and that seemed to work.

“When I’m feeling it, I hit spots really good. I can throw it wherever I want. I’m not like (El Camino Real’s) Randy Wolf or (Monroe’s) Joel Zamudio, who just overpower guys.”

Velazco will never be confused with those players, both of whom were selected in the major league draft earlier this month. Despite his statistics, Velazco was passed over in the draft because of his size and his modest 80 m.p.h. fastball.

Most colleges also passed on Velazco until midway through the season when Cal State Northridge Coach Bill Kernen became interested. Velazco impressed Kernen with his intensity and signed with the Matadors earlier this month.

“He seems like my kind of coach and I think I’m his kind of player,” Velazco said.

Velazco is not afraid to occasionally knock down batters with a high fastball.

“There are some guys who are just chatter, chatter, chatter and you’ve got to do that,” Velazco said. “I realize this is just high school, but this is where you start getting ready for college. I haven’t (intentionally knocked down batters) too many times, just once or twice.”

Velazco also let his whiskers--”beard” does not describe it--grow so he could look more menacing at the plate this season. Maybe it worked. He drove in 30 runs and hit .372 in his first season as a regular in the lineup. He also hit his first home run at any level.

“ Everyone hits a home run in Little League, except me,” said Velazco, who fiddled with a bat throughout a 30-minute interview.

But for Velazco, hitting doesn’t matter. He probably will never step in the batter’s box at Northridge. Kernen will be happy if Velazco can just pitch the way he did during his two years at Sylmar.

With the exception of June 1.