PRO BASEBALL / MIKE HISERMAN : For Loretta, a Gourmet Experience

Mark Loretta experienced his first taste of big-time professional baseball when he appeared in several spring training games at shortstop for the Milwaukee Brewers.

A second taste came last week.

Loretta, a former St. Francis High standout, played for a Texas League all-star squad in two games against all-stars from the Mexican League.

The first game was played in Monterrey, Mexico, before a crowd of 18,000. “You couldn’t hear yourself think,” said Loretta, a seventh-round draft choice last year from Northwestern. “(The crowd) didn’t shut up the whole time.”

Loretta played the first three innings of the opener and was hitless in two at-bats as the Texas Leaguers lost.

However, in the second game, he played nine innings and was two for four with a run scored and two stolen bases as the double-A team earned a split. After the game, he was named most valuable player in the series.

Loretta, who had a 15-game hitting streak that ended just before the all-star break, is batting .300.

His team, the El Paso Diablos, has been as hot as the weather in the Southwest. The Diablos lead the league by nine games and clinched the first-half championship more than a week ago.

“We’ve been playing well, but it’s a grind,” Loretta said. “It’s really hot and we’ve only had about three days off in a month.”

Milwaukee has been struck by a series of injuries to its infielders, but Loretta, no matter how successful, would be a longshot for a September major-league call-up. He is not on the club’s 40-man roster.

“I just want to progress a level a year,” Loretta said. “So far, I’ve been able to do a little better than that.”

Indeed, a lot better. Loretta last season started off in Helena, Mont., in the rookie Pioneer League.

He played only six games there, batting .321 with a home run and eight runs batted in. He quickly was promoted to Stockton of the Class-A California League, where he spent the rest of the season, batting .363 with four home runs, 31 RBIs and eight stolen bases.

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Tigertown training: It has been 17 months since Mitch Root played in a minor league baseball game, but the former Chatsworth High outfielder and shortstop is ready to jump-start his career with the Detroit Tigers.

Root, 20, was drafted by the Chicago Cubs in 1991 and batted .336 for the Cubs’ rookie team in Huntington, W.Va., in 1992. Last winter, however, after the second of two shoulder surgeries--a reconstructive operation--the club released him.

The Tigers signed Root three weeks ago, and he has been working out at the team’s Lakeland, Fla., training facility in preparation for an assignment to Class-A Jamestown, N.Y.

“He’s throwing the ball better right now than he has since his junior year in high school,” said Root’s father, Barry.

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Delighted Dodger: J.P. Roberge used to be a Dodger fan.

Now he’s a Dodger.

The former St. Francis High and USC infielder was an 18th-round draft choice by the Dodgers earlier this month. He signed and reported to rookie training camp in Vero Beach last week.

“It being the Dodgers, I couldn’t ask for anything more,” said Roberge, whose parents have Dodger season tickets. “They’ve always been my favorite team. I think I got drafted by the right team. They’ll get the most out of my skills and versatility.”

Roberge batted .332 with 11 home runs, 48 RBIs and 18 stolen bases as a junior this spring. He is expected to be assigned either to the Dodgers’ rookie league team in Great Falls, Mont., or their Class-A affiliate in Yakima, Wash.

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Short hops: Erik Hiljus, a fourth-round pick in 1991 by the New York Mets from Canyon High, recently returned to Class-A St. Lucie after serving a club-imposed two-week suspension.

Team officials would not divulge the reason for the suspension and Hiljus could not be reached for comment. The 6-foot-5, 225-pound right-hander has a record of 3-5 with a 3.97 ERA. In 70 1/3 innings, he has allowed 68 hits and 34 walks with 62 strikeouts.

Last season, Hiljus led the Mets’ farm system with 157 strikeouts in 146 innings for Class-A Capitol City, Fla. . . .

Craig Clayton, a former All-American utility player from Cal State Northridge, has been demoted from double-A Jacksonville to Riverside of the Class-A California League.

Clayton is in his first full professional season as a pitcher after impressing Seattle Mariner officials during the fall instructional league and again during spring training.

He started the season in Jacksonville, but pitched only 12 1/3 innings and was twice placed on the disabled list because of a sore arm before his assignment to Riverside early this week.

In 10 games for Jacksonville, Clayton allowed eight hits, six walks and five earned runs while striking out 13. He had one save. . . .

The struggle continues for Derek Wallace from Chatsworth, the Chicago Cubs’ top pick in 1992.

The 6-foot-3 right-hander has been demoted to the bullpen in double-A Orlando, Fla., after posting a 2-9 record and a 6.40 earned-run average as a starter.

Wallace has allowed 80 hits and 23 walks and has hit nine batters in 70 1/3 innings. . . .

Like Wallace, former Poly High standout Javier Delahoya has been banished to the bullpen after a slow start.

Delahoya, a right-hander, has a record of 0-6 and an ERA of 5.78 for the Florida Marlins’ double-A affiliate in Portland, Me.

After 10 starts, he has made five bullpen appearances. He has two saves. Delahoya was released last winter by the Dodgers after posting an 8-10 record for double-A San Antonio. . . .

Gregg Zaun, who was expected to push for a spot on the Baltimore Orioles’ roster, is having a tough time at triple-A Rochester, N.Y.

The former St. Francis High catcher, a nephew of former Oriole and Dodger catcher Rick Dempsey, is batting .188 with only 10 RBIs in 170 at-bats.

Zaun last season batted .306 in double-A and .256 in 21 games after being promoted to Rochester.