In This Episode of ‘Friends,’ JetHawk Pitching Pals Reunite

It was kind of a heartwarming reunion when pitcher Clint Gould was added to the JetHawks’ roster last week.

JetHawk left-hander Jeff Pearce and Gould were roommates in 1994 when the two played for the Thunder Bay Whiskey Jacks in Ontario, Canada in the independent Northern League. By sheer coincidence, both were signed by the Seattle Mariners before last season.

“[Gould] is probably my best friend in all of baseball,” Pearce said.

They were roommates in 1995 at Class-A Wisconsin. They were together again in Arizona this spring, until Gould was cut by the JetHawks and sent to the co-op Bakersfield Blaze.

The joke around the JetHawk organization was that “they would really have to stretch the umbilical cord” with Pearce and Gould playing for different teams.

Gould was sent from Bakersfield back to Wisconsin after a week. Then last week he got the call from Lancaster to replace Bob Worley, who was promoted to double A.

JetHawk Manager Dave Brundage saw Pearce at the pool of the team’s hotel in Lake Elsinore and said, “Hey, your brother’s coming.”

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Top secret: The batting helmets of Cal State Northridge baseball players are strewn with decals similar to those worn by football players. The decals of tiny skulls underneath bulbous baseballs resemble black and white Grateful Dead stickers, and they are awarded by coaches for specific hitting achievements.

The achievements, however, are confidential and Coach Mike Batesole sounds like a football coach, referring to a “game plan” that he doesn’t want to reveal.

“There are five categories of hitting we keep track of that are very different than what usually shows up in the box score,” he said. “But I don’t want to give away what those categories are.”

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Wild and crazy guys: Sports banquets can be boring affairs but that was not the case Monday when the Chatsworth High boys’ soccer team gathered to celebrate its season.

The Chancellors, who advanced to the City Section quarterfinals, entertained the gathering by presenting each other with gag gifts.

D.J. Butler, a burly fullback and the team clown, was given a sun dress. Team captain Danny Openden received a razor and shaving cream in honor of his hairy legs. Midfielder Mike Grofsky, who shaves his head, was given a comb and a pocket mirror.

But the most telling gifts were presented to standout striker Mike Preis, who was uncharacteristically hit with three ejections (red cards) last season for verbal confrontations with referees.

His presents?: A large slab of red tagboard and a bar of soap.

On the move: Derrick Higgins, the Cal State Northridge basketball team’s lightning-quick guard who missed last season because of a foot injury, said it was nice to hear newly hired Coach Bobby Braswell say the Matadors would be running next season.

But it wasn’t that big of a deal.

“I was going to run anyway,” Higgins said.

High expectations: The women’s pole vault was contested as a nonscoring event in the California-Nevada track and field championships last week because the event is still in its infancy at the collegiate level.

But Cal State Northridge Coach Don Strametz said he plans to vote for its inclusion as a scoring event in next year’s meet when the California-Nevada Coaches Assn. holds its annual meeting in December.

Strametz’s vote might seem somewhat selfish because Matador senior Pam Delano won the vault in the California-Nevada meet Sunday, but it makes sense because the girls’ vault was held as a scoring event in last year’s high school State championships.

“We’re actively recruiting three or four vaulters right now,” Strametz said.

Stats

Canyons outfielder Rick Nadeau, who entered Thursday’s game at Valley with 10 home runs in Western State Conference play, is the third Cougar to reach that mark. Andy Shaw hit 12 in 1993 and Roger Nix hit 10 in 1987.

Ryan Jones set a Cal State Northridge freshman record in the 110-meter high hurdles Sunday, clocking 14.48 seconds to finish fourth in the California-Nevada championships at UC Davis. Jones’ time sliced one one-hundredth of a second off the record set by Tyrone Jeffries in 1987.

Quotebook

“That’s a full day’s work for me.”

-- James Clifford of the JetHawks, after pinch-hitting in the eighth inning Wednesday night and driving the first pitch for a sacrifice fly and knocking in the go-ahead run in the JetHawks’ 8-7 victory.

Things to Do

The Pepperdine women’s tennis team is hosting the NCAA West Regional championships starting today and ending Sunday at the Ralphs-Straus Tennis Center.

Today’s quarterfinal matches in the single-elimination tournament pit second-seeded USC (13-8) against Fresno State (24-5) and third-seeded Arizona State (11-10) against San Diego State (15-12). Both matches are at 9 a.m.

The other two quarterfinals, both at 1 p.m., match top-seeded Pepperdine (16-7) against UC Santa Barbara (14-12) and fourth-seeded California (8-14) against San Diego (15-8).

The championship match is Sunday at noon. The tournament winner advances to the NCAA championships, May 18-26 at Florida State.

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Contributing: Fernando Dominguez, Rob Fernas, Jeff Fletcher, Steve Henson, John Ortega, Tris Wykes.