Sports

SATURDAY BLUES

Pointing out that three of his team’s four losses have occurred on Saturdays, Westchester baseball Coach Ron Kasparian commented: “We forget to wake up in time for the games.”

The Comets lost Saturday to North Torrance, 4-2, in the consolation bracket of the Redondo tournament. Westchester (9-4) also has Saturday losses to Torrance and Gardena.

North Torrance’s Alex Morales hit a two-run single to break a 2-2 tie and threw three innings in his first pitching appearance to help the Saxons win. Despite the loss, Kasparian was happy with his team’s performance, unlike with previous Saturday games.

“We came to play last Saturday,” Kasparian said. “But the other Saturdays, we stunk up the place. You can’t believe how ugly it was. We set back baseball two centuries.”

The Comets, however, continue to play well in the Coastal Conference, with three more victories last week. They are tied with Palisades and University with 6-0 records in the Western League.

Although conference games will determine whether his team makes the City Section playoffs, Kasparian wants his team to break the Saturday jinx. They have three remaining games to play on Saturdays, including this week against El Camino Real in the Birmingham tournament.

ONE-SIDED WINS

In a sport that is often determined by one run, the Venice softball team has outscored its opponents, 118-1, in four Coastal Conference games.

They whipped Manual Arts, 36-0, University, 22-1, Los Angeles, 40-0, and Fairfax, 20-0.

“The Metro League is terrible,” Venice Coach Debbie Dreier said. “The scores have become so bad that even the kids are starting to keep track.”

Dreier said she is not trying to run up the score. But the team’s opponents have not been helping the situation.

“No one is able to hit our pitching,” Dreier said. “And their fielding is awful. There are players who don’t know where to throw the ball.”

In a March 30 win over Fairfax, Shannon Brazee hit a triple and a home run, Shelly Alvarez had a home run and Hiromi Uto had a triple and drove in four runs. Pitcher Christina Gallegos pitched a two-hitter.

After the Gondoliers take a substantial lead, Dreier said she tries to keep the score down and her players’ interest up.

“We do a lot bunting,” she said. “I also have the kids bat left-handed, but even then they still hit the ball.”

Competition became stiffer this week. On Tuesday, the Gondoliers beat Palisades, 14-7, in their first Western League game. They play host to Westchester today at 2:30 p.m.

BIG BATTEE

Brandon Pernell was Mr. Impact two weeks ago, but St. Bernard has discovered another weapon to carry the team.

Dion (Big Blaster) Battee had three home runs and drove in 10 runs as the Vikings humbled Serra, 16-4, March 29 and whipped St. Paul, 14-5, Saturday.

Battee is batting .500 for the season with five home runs and 20 runs batted in. The Vikings have a .356 team batting average.

BASKETBALL STARS

Guards Duane Davis of Fairfax and Ben Sanders of Westchester were named to the all-state second team by Cal-Hi Sports Magazine.

Forward Paul Pierce of Inglewood was named the state’s most valuable player and was joined by Shomario Richard (Nogales), Frank Knight (Oakland Fremont), Schea Cotton (Mater Dei) and Jelani McCoy (San Diego St. Augustine) on the first team.

Joining Davis and Sanders on the second five were Doug Gottlieb (Tustin), Corey Benjamin (Fontana) and Tommy Prince (Domiguez).

Cal-Hi also picked state all-star teams by division and by class.

Davis and Sanders were among the 10 players selected to the Division I team.

Brentwood forward Teddy Miller was selected to the Division V team.

Westchester guard Danny Walker was one of 20 juniors selected to the underclassmen team.

Renee Robinson, who played point guard for Division I state champion Sacred Heart Prep, was selected the girls’ state player of the year.

Crossroads point guard Sherrise Smith was the only Westside girl honored. She was selected to the Division IV all-star team.

AVOIDING TROUBLE

Entering their Saturday match against Pepperdine, the top-seeded UCLA men’s volleyball team was conscious of the possibility for an upset.

The Waves’ surprising upset win over second-seeded Hawaii on March 28 heightened the Bruins’ awareness.

Turns out UCLA had nothing to worry about.

Behind the hitting of Jeff Nygaard, the Bruins handled the Waves in three games, 15-4, 15-6, 15-8, in a Mountain Pacific Sports Federation match before a season-high crowd of 1,450 fans at the Firestone Fieldhouse.

It was the Bruins’ 37th consecutive conference victory and 25th consecutive road victory dating to April 9, 1993.

Nygaard, who had a match high 20 kills, is a two-time All-American and the 1994 player of the year. He is the team’s leading blocker, but in this match he dominated offensively.

Senior outside hitter Greg Vernovage, who was the star in the Waves’ upset win over Hawaii, led his team with 17 kills but had 10 errors. Vernovage had 21 kills, and freshman middle blocker Chris Jacobson had a career-best 12 stuff blocks when the Waves upset Hawaii, 16-14, 15-9, 15-9.

UCLA (20-1) will play host to No. 8 Cal State Northridge (13-7) in the second game of the 19th annual UCLA Volleyball Classic Friday night at Pauley Pavilion.

The two-day tournament features four nationally ranked teams. USC, seeded 10th, plays No. 6 Long Beach State in the opening match at 5 p.m.

The consolation match is scheduled for 4:30 p.m. Saturday, followed by the championship game at 7:30.

The Bruins have won the last four tournament titles and 11 of the past 18.

CHANGING COURTS

Longtime collegiate tennis coach Glenn Bassett has relocated.

After guiding the UCLA program for 27 years, Bassett has been hired as the Pepperdine men’s coach. He replaces Allen Fox, who announced Monday that he will retire at the conclusion of the 1995 season. The Waves are ranked No. 3 nationally and had a 22-2 dual match record entering this week’s matches.

Bassett, 63, has served as a volunteer assistant coach at Pepperdine after leaving UCLA in 1993. He began coaching the Bruins in 1967 and guided the team to seven NCAA team championships and 13 Pacific 10 Conference titles.

In 1993, Bassett was named the Intercollegiate Tennis Assn. coach of the year and was inducted into the organization’s Hall of Fame in Athens, Ga.

GYMNASTICS AWARDS

UCLA sophomore Leah Homma was named the 1995 Pac-10 gymnast of the year and Bruin Coach Valorie Kondos earned co-coach of the year honors in a vote of conference coaches.

Homma is the third UCLA gymnast to be honored. The others were Jill Andrews (1988, 1990) and Tanya Service (1987, 1989).

Kondos shared his award with Arizona State’s John Spini.