Smith Will Freshen Up His Lineup

Longtime Ventura High baseball Coach Dan Smith calls ‘em as he sees ‘em, and he doesn’t like what he sees these days: the Cougars in the lower half of the Channel League standings.

“We’re in Pitsville and we’re not used to being here,” said Smith, whose team is the defending league champion. “Everyone’s made mistakes, including me, but we’re where we are because of the seniors.

“Some can handle pressure and some can’t.”

With Ventura (5-8, 1-5 in league play) pretty much out of the league title and playoff hunts, Smith has called for a youth movement and said four freshmen likely will start the remaining games. Recently promoted to the varsity are the Branch brothers, both freshmen. Jon will catch and Jason will pitch.

“If things don’t get better I’ll go get some more [junior varsity players],” Smith said. “I’m not going to stand by and play the same people. You only get so many chances to perform and some guys are running out of chances.”

Track and Field Notes

Boys: Sophomore Miguel Fletcher of Alemany moved into some fast company Saturday when he ran yearly nation-leading times of 10.47 seconds in the 100 meters and 21.44 in the 200 in the Trabuco Hills Invitational. Fletcher’s 100 time moved him into second on the all-time region list and his 200 clocking moved him into a tie for eighth with Charles Lee of Cleveland (1995). Quincy Watts, the 1992 Olympic champion in the 400, set region records of 10.30 in the 100 and 20.50 in the 200 as a Taft junior in 1987. . . .

Andy VanOrden of St. Francis was an all-region second-team selection in both cross-country and soccer, but it appears the senior will focus on the latter sport at the collegiate level. VanOrden placed fourth in the 1995 Southern Section Division III cross-country championships and was also named to the All-Southern Section Division III soccer team after helping the Golden Knights to a section title last month. He and teammate Kevin Koeper, runner-up in the Division III cross-country championships, were expected to give St. Francis an imposing 1-2 punch in the distance races during track season, but VanOrden decided not to run so he could play club soccer. “He had such a good soccer season that I think he felt like, ‘Why don’t I see where this can take me if I concentrate on it?’ ” St. Francis cross-country Coach Tim Weir said. . . .

Troy Garner, the defending Southern Section Division III champion in the 400, has rejoined the Notre Dame track team less than two weeks after quitting because his “heart just wasn’t into track.” Garner, who is headed to USC on a football scholarship, ran a personal best of 48.65 to win the Division III title last year. He and teammate Chris Forde, who has run 49.57, give the Knights am excellent 400 tandem.

Girls: A year after setting five school records in the 1,600-meter relay, Palmdale is on a record binge in the 400-meter event, clocking 47.6 seconds in the Herb Wyre Invitational on March 16 and 47.07 in the Pasadena Games at Occidental College. The most recent time by Tranisha Holmes, Monique Nolan, Edniesha Curry and Kadrina Coffee moved Palmdale into a tie for fifth on the all-time region list. . . .

Also moving into the top 10 on the all-time region list at the Pasadena Games was Palmdale junior Carolina Geisseler, who cleared 9 feet 4 inches to finish third in the pole vault and move to sixth on the all-time list in the event, which is in its third year of competitive existence. . . .

When Frances Santin of Taft ran 44.81 to place second in the 300 low hurdles in the Pasadena Games, she became the fastest City Section performer from a San Fernando Valley school since 1986. That was a superb season for local City hurdlers. Van Nuys’ Kelley Peacock timed 42.79, Canoga Park’s Kim Petway clocked 44.51 and Monroe’s Jody Shanahan ran 44.68. . . .

Buena junior Meaghan Dunne broke the 2-minute 20-second barrier in the 800 for the first time when she ran 2:18.14 to finish second in one of two open heats at the Pasadena Games. Dunne has not made it through a cross-country or track season without getting sick. If she remains healthy, Bulldog Coach Steve Blum said, she could lower her times. “It looked like there was quite a bit more there,” he said. . . .

Stacy Hebert, Dunne’s senior teammate, ran a sluggish--for her--46.48 to place sixth in the 300 low hurdles in the Pasadena Games, but Blum said that playing in four soccer matches the previous Saturday took a toll on her legs. Although Hebert had won the 100 in 12.9 and the 300 lows in 47.2 in a Channel League meet against Rio Mesa and Dos Pueblos two days before the Pasadena Games, she finished well behind the leaders in the 1,600 with a time of 5:45. “I knew something was wrong then,” Blum said. “That’s when I found out about the soccer games.”

Contributing: John Ortega, Tris Wykes.