He’s Ahead of Game at USF

Although Philip Mathews has a few months to wait before his first game as coach of the University of San Francisco men’s basketball team, he already has a winning record at Memorial Gym.

Mathews, the Ventura College coach for 10 seasons, was hired last week by the Dons and his home debut will be Nov. 24 against Bucknell in a nonconference game.

But he is 2-1 at Memorial because Ventura played there in the 1993 junior college State championships. The loss, however, was a big one. The Pirates fell to Columbia, 97-88, in the championship game.

Snow birds: Former Taft High baseball Coach Ray O’Connor always believed that aluminum bats would never be used in the professional ranks because they would be lethal weapons. He recently recalled the time Pete LaCock, the former Toreador and major leaguer who was not known for power, was taking batting practice at the school.

“When [the major leaguers] were on strike one time, Pete came out and was taking batting practice with an aluminum bat and hit a ball on top of the agricultural building. It had to be 540 feet,” O’Connor said.

Quotebook

“Unfortunately those dugout poles don’t move.”

--Panorama City American Legion Coach Scott Smith after Phillip Allsup was injured Sunday when he punched a dugout pole after a poor at-bat.

Things to Do

Drop the Earthquake Kids moniker this time around, but the Northridge Little League 13-year-old all-stars are still winning, having taken the District 40 championship. Eleven of 14 boys who won the U.S. championship in Williamsport, Pa., last summer are on the 13-year-old team, including pitchers Nathaniel Dunlap and Peter Tuber.

Northridge opens sectional play Saturday at 11 a.m. at Saticoy Little League in Ventura against Thousand Oaks, winner of last year’s 13-year-old World Series.

Conejo Valley opens Senior Division sectional play against Morro Bay on Saturday at 2:30 p.m. in Oxnard. Northridge faces Saticoy at 11 a.m.

Northridge also will represent District 40 in the 12-year-old Little League sectional at El Rio, opening against Lemoore at 2:30 p.m. El Rio faces Ventura Oak View at 11 a.m.

In 9-10-year-old sectional play in Thousand Oaks, Santa Maria faces Buttonwillow at 11 a.m., Woodland Hills Sunrise faces Saticoy at 2:30 p.m. and Thousand Oaks plays the winner of the Santa Maria-Buttonwillow game Sunday at 12:30 p.m.

Seven area players will play for California against Texas in the 44th annual Shrine All-Star football game at 7 p.m. Saturday at Cal State Fullerton. The seven are Kane Cullum (Crespi), Lawrence Larry (Littlerock), Mark Manskar (Canyon), Billy Miller (Westlake), DaShon Polk (Taft), Marvin Powell (Birmingham) and Chris Sailer (Notre Dame).

Compiled by Steve Henson. Contributing: Fernando Dominguez, Jeff Fletcher, Michael Lazarus.