Milestone Is No Big Deal to Nelson

Bolsa Grande baseball Coach Vern Nelson was so indifferent about the prospect of winning his 200th game--which he picked up last Thursday against Costa Mesa in the semifinals of the Costa Mesa tournament--that he had forgotten to tell his team the milestone was approaching.

“I personally don’t keep those [kind of] stats,” said Nelson, whose record is 200-131-6, all at Bolsa Grande.

But the mark stands out for other reasons.

Nelson has never been big on baseball. He did not play it in high school or college, running track and playing football instead. When he came to Bolsa Grande in 1977, he thought he was applying for the varsity football job. He was offered varsity baseball instead.

“I didn’t want to coach baseball. I didn’t have the confidence,” Nelson said. But his team reached the section Division 3-A semifinals his first season. Nelson, who says “I had a lot of help that year,” decided to stay with it.

The job is harder now. Nelson said Bolsa Grande doesn’t attract the same number of highly skilled athletes it did 10-15 years ago. La Quinta has the dominant program; the last Garden Grove League title won by the Matadors was in 1984. Last season Bolsa Grande won eight games. The season before that, three.

The Matadors are off to a good start this season at 4-1-1. But don’t look for Nelson to approach many more milestone games.

“This is probably my last year,” said Nelson, who recently turned 65. “Of course I said two years ago it was my last year, so don’t put it in cement. But I stayed this year because I have good kids. Finishing second in the Costa Mesa tournament is an indication we’ll be better this year.”

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When Dave Demarest tried to tell people his La Quinta baseball team would have problems early, no one took him seriously. After all the Aztecs are two-time defending section Division III champions.

But Demarest might be right about the quality of his team, which is 2-3 after the first week of the season. Saturday’s 6-0 loss to Kennedy was, according to Demarest, the Aztecs’ second loss at home since 1992.

“We went back to Square 1 against Kennedy,” Demarest said. “We’re not swinging the bats, in part because these guys have not faced varsity pitching, and our pitching is inconsistent. We’re also not playing good defense. I can’t remember the last time we were shut out at home. We’ve got five more games before league starts to try and get better. And we’ve got to play a lot better.”

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Brethren Christian pole vaulter Steve Michels competed at the National Scholastic Track and Field Indoor Championships last weekend in Boston.

Michels, a senior, finished second to Russ Buller of Westlake, La. Buller, cleared 16 feet 7 1/4 inches. Michels, who has cleared 16-2 indoors this season, cleared 15-7.

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Fountain Valley’s Jennifer Ludwicki, the county’s third-leading scorer in girls’ basketball, has orally committed to Washington State.

Ludwicki, who averaged 21.4 points, made her commitment Sunday during her recruiting trip on the Pullman campus.

“They were 17-12 this year, and they’re not going to the tournament, but they’re young, and their young players are their good players,” Ludwicki said. “Plus, they’re graduating their small forward, and that’s the position I play. They don’t have another three, so I’m planning on starting.

“The team is on the upswing and I want to be a part of that.”

Ludwicki, a Times all-county player as a junior, chose Washington State over Fresno State and New Mexico. She cited the university’s communications program as another reason for her choice.

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The announced crowd at the Pond for Saturday’s Southern California boys Division I basketball final was well below that of the Southern Section final held a week earlier and has to have state officials wondering what next year will bring when the state championships move to Anaheim.

A total of 8,111 spectators were on hand for Los Angeles Crenshaw’s 78-67 victory over Mater Dei. By contrast, Mater Dei’s 57-47 victory over Glendora in the Southern Section Division I-A final March 2 drew 11,534.

Even the appeal of a Mater Dei doubleheader--the Monarch girls’ team beat Ventura Buena, 48-40--did little to attract additional fans.

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Roger Senne has been named baseball coach at Orange Lutheran, the school announced Monday. He replaces Jeff Pressman, who resigned for personal reasons.

Don Turnbull and staff writers Erik Hamilton, Martin Henderson and Paul McLeod contributed to this story.