Watson to Continue as Ventura Coach? It’s Not Elementary

Believe it or not, Virgil Watson is not assured of being the Ventura College men’s basketball coach next season despite guiding the Pirates to a 34-2 record and the state championship in March.

Watson held the post last season on an interim basis as an emergency hire after Phil Mathews resigned in July to take over as coach at the University of San Francisco. Watson is a former assistant to Mathews.

But because of labor regulations, Watson recently had to apply for the permanent job. The list of candidates reportedly includes some Division I assistants.

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Speaking of Ventura, the school’s double state championship this season in men’s and women’s basketball--a feat never before accomplished by a California junior college--has put the Pirates in the national limelight.

The Pirates will be recognized as men’s and women’s mythical national champions in next week’s issue of Student Sports magazine.

The magazine also has tabbed sophomore point guard Marina Torres-Reyes as the junior college women’s national player of the year. She led Ventura to a 35-0 record.

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It’s not a runaway, like last year, but Canyons is bidding for its second consecutive Western State Conference men’s golf title.

The Cougars, coached by Gary Peterson, are 28-6-1 after seven of 12 conference matches. Ventura is in second place with a 24-9-2 record.

By this time last season, the Cougars were 30-0 and had clinched first place. But that team had more experience. This one has four freshmen among the six players who compete regularly.

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Sophomore Javier Dorado is the Valley baseball team’s leadoff batter, second baseman and top utility man--off the field, that is.

Dorado, who can handle a wrench as well as a bat, takes care of the team’s plumbing problems.

He learned the trade after graduating from Monroe High in 1989 and before enrolling at Valley two years ago.

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If Len Mohney, Canyons’ baseball coach, carried a golf club to the field, he could easily pass for Craig Stadler in double-knits.

Mohney has Canyons playing well after a poor start.

When the Western State Conference season started Feb. 29, the Cougars were 3-8 and looking for someone to throw them a life jacket.

But they got hot and lead the WSC South Division with an 11-3 record, one game in front of Bakersfield. The Cougars had won eight consecutive games before losing to Oxnard last Saturday.

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Not only is Oxnard (11-2 in WSC play) in a race with Cuesta (12-2) for the North Division title, but the Condors might be one of the leaders among college teams in major-league blood-

lines.

Chad Snyder, an infielder and designated hitter, is the younger brother of former Dodger Cory Snyder. Outfielder Scott Foli’s uncle, Ernie, played shortstop for several teams, including the Angels, and is now third-base coach for the Kansas City Royals.

The Condors also have a pitcher named Brian Downing, but he is not related to the former Angel outfielder.

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Much like Canyons, the Pierce baseball team is catching fire after a slow start, but that’s nothing new for the Brahmas.

Pierce started 2-10 last season but finished 27-16 and won the WSC South with a 20-6 mark. The Brahmas advanced to the second round of the Southern California regionals.

The Brahmas dropped to 0-2 in WSC games this season but they have won six of their last seven to improve to 8-5 in the South Division, 2 1/2 games behind front-runner Canyons.

Going into a nonconference game Wednesday against Rio Hondo, the Brahmas were 17-9.

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Anyone ready for Monday night football in the Valley?

Jim Fenwick, the Valley football coach, hopes so. He is organizing a high school all-star game to be played at Valley on June 10 that will feature City Section and Southern Section players who were seniors last season.

But Fenwick says he has heard that some of the other junior college coaches in the region are not overjoyed by the idea because they think it gives the Monarchs an unfair recruiting advantage.

“I don’t know how much we’ll gain out of it because most of those kids are going to four-year schools,” said Fenwick, who is looking for sponsorship help. “We just wanted to bring back some kind of game to recognize the seniors.”