It’s Academic. Hernandez Picks Moorpark College

Eleazar Hernandez, the fifth-place finisher in last year’s Foot Locker national cross-country championships for Camarillo High, will run for Moorpark College this fall, according to his high school coach.

Mike Smith, the Camarillo boys’ coach, said Tuesday that Hernandez already is working out with the Raider cross-country team.

Hernandez was the runner-up in the State Division I cross-country championships last fall and would have been heavily recruited by NCAA Division I schools. However, he failed to satisfy NCAA Division I academic requirements. He completed 11 core-curriculum classes, two short of the NCAA minimum.

Hernandez won the Southern Section Division I cross-country championship last fall. In track, he has a personal best of 9 minutes 5.15 seconds in the 3,200 meters and finished seventh in that event in the 1994 State track championships.

*

Karen Bockel of Germany, the 1992 state Division IV cross-country champion for Nordhoff High, has signed to run track and cross-country at the University of Arkansas.

Bockel, who attended Nordhoff during the 1992-93 school year as a foreign exchange student, was a finalist in the 1992 Kinney national cross-country championships and won Southern Section Division III track titles in the 1,600 and 3,200 meters in 1993.

She has personal bests of 4:29 in the 1,500, 9:35 in the 3,000 and 17:02 in the 5,000. She placed sixth in the 1994 German junior cross-country championships for runners 19 and under, and was the runner-up in the 1,500 in this year’s German junior track championships.

She will join an Arkansas cross-country team that has four of its top seven runners returning from last season, when the Razorbacks placed third in the NCAA championships.

“We’re real excited about getting her,” Razorback Coach Lance Harter said. “I was lucky enough to see her run when she was at Nordhoff, but I kind of forgot about her until earlier this year when [Agoura Coach Bill Duley] told me she was looking to return to the United States.”

Basketball

Jeff Davis, the boys’ coach at Burbank High for the past two seasons, has been hired as the school’s assistant principal and might be replaced as coach.

Davis, who last season guided the Bulldogs to a 17-9 record and their first Foothill League title in eight years, said that Burbank administrators hope to hire a “viable” replacement for him by the end of the week. If they fail to do so, however, he would be willing to continue coaching.

“I’ll do whatever they decide is best,” Davis said. “It’d be hard to leave right now because we’re going to have an incredible team next season. But on the other hand, not coaching would give me more time to spend with my family.”

Four starters--including sophomore point guard Juni Williams and senior swingman Matt Baker--and six lettermen are expected to return from last year’s team that was 10-2 in league play.

Softball

The California Waves, an Amateur Softball Assn. team that includes 11 local players, won the 18-and-under A division national championship Sunday in Rockford, Ill.

The Waves, who finished the 76-team tournament with a 13-1 record, emerged from the losers’ bracket, winning 11 consecutive games in three days. The team posted back-to-back victories over the Silver Lake (Kan.) Rockets to win the championship.

Jessie Davenport of Thousand Oaks was the winning pitcher in both games against Silver Lake, striking out eight in the Waves’ 3-2, 12-inning championship game victory.

Christine Arguijo of Newbury Park drove in the game-winning run in the championship game with a sacrifice fly.

The Orange County-based Bat Busters, led by four area players, won the ASA 16-and-under national championship over the weekend in Midland, Tex.

Kara Campbell of La Canada scored a run and drove home another in the Bat Busters’ 3-0 victory over the Westminister-based California Athletics in the championship game.

The Bat Busters, including Amanda Melton of Saugus, Jackie Bailey of Hart and Corrie Roberts of Harvard-Westlake, were undefeated in the 75-team, double-elimination tournament, outscoring seven opponents, 34-8.

Simi Valley defeated Charter Oak of Covina, 7-5, to win the ASA Western States Area 14-and-under championship Sunday in Visalia.

Simi Valley was 6-0 in the tournament, which included 27 teams from California, Oregon, Washington and Colorado.

Jenny Sadowski, who had three saves, and Stephanie Thomas, who threw one-hit and three-hit shutouts, were Simi Valley’s top pitchers.

Simi Valley’s offense, which outscored opponents, 48-18, was led by Thomas, Jenny Valadez and Melissa Cruz.

Sylmar residents Analisa Allen and Amanda De La Cerda helped the Orange County-based California Firecrackers win the ASA 12-and-under national championship in Broken Arrow, Ok.

De La Cerda pitched in the semifinal and final, the latter a 10-1 victory over the Sacramento Breeze. Seventy-four teams participated in the tournament, including the Mid-Valley Magic, which placed 15th.

Baseball

Steve Maitland of Notre Dame High had two hits and scored one run, and Tanner Trosper of Calabasas pitched 2 2/3 innings of scoreless relief as the California Angel’s 818-805 team defeated the Chicago White Sox’s Midwest team, 6-5, Tuesday in an opening-round game of the Area Code Games at Blair Field in Long Beach.

Trosper allowed two hits and struck out five for the victory.

Registration for Woodland Hills Sunrise Little League’s fall season is scheduled for 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Saturday at the baseball fields on the corner of Winnetka Avenue and Victory Boulevard.

Information: 883-3038.

Contributing: Paige A. Leech, John Ortega, Ethan Skolnick, Tris Wykes.