Little Guy Conn Plays a Big Game

Mike Conn has only one regret: He wishes his timing would have been better.

Conn played for City championship baseball teams at El Camino Real High in 1993 and ’94.

But when he graduates Thursday, he won’t be going out with another title. The Conquistadores’ 7-0 loss to eventual champion Kennedy in a 4-A Division semifinal game last month still weighs heavily on Conn’s mind. So does an uncertain future.

You just wouldn’t know it by the way Conn is hitting and playing first base for the Woodland Hills West American Legion team.

Conn is batting .483 and nine of his 14 hits have gone for extra bases.

“I’m taking it serious, but I’m trying to have fun at the same time,” Conn said. “I’m trying to polish up for college, I guess. I’d like to continue playing.”

Pound for pound, few players pack more of a punch. Conn, 5 feet 8 and 150 pounds, has three home runs, three triples, a slugging percentage of 1.069 and a team-high 12 runs batted in.

What he doesn’t have is an offer from a college or professional team to continue his career. He plans to walk on at UC Santa Barbara in the fall.

Conn is not surprised by his power.

“I knew it had to happen sooner or later,” he said. “[I wish I hit] like this in the semifinal game against Kennedy.”

At El Camino Real, Conn batted No. 2 in the lineup.

“My job was to hit the ball on the ground and move runners along,” he said. “Now I’m batting in the three spot and trying to hit the ball hard. I’m having fun.”

Said El Camino Real assistant Dave Siedelman: “He’s a heck of a ballplayer with a lot of potential. For a guy his size, he possesses a lot of power. But he can also slap the ball like Brett Butler. So it’s not a surprise. He’s a smart hitter.”

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Quartz Hill Coach Dave Fischenich said he will cancel or postpone a doubleheader against Palmdale scheduled for Saturday so his players can attend a memorial service for J.D. Smith.

Smith, a catcher for Quartz Hill in 1995, was killed last week in a car accident.

“He was the player everybody looked up to,” Fischenich said. “He was one of the best all-around players I’ve ever seen.”

Hours after learning of Smith’s death, Quartz Hill lost, 12-1, to Santa Clarita South. Pitcher Mark Madsen said members of the team were still in shock. He also said he will learn from his friend’s death, which occurred in an early morning, high-speed crash.

“I look at things differently now in terms of driving fast and recklessly,” he said. “It’s just not worth it.”

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Game uniforms for Las Virgenes East arrived last Friday--one day too late for the players and Coach Scott Drootin.

The previous night, Woodland Hills East Coach Doug Siembieda filed a protest to District 20 after losing to Las Virgenes, 16-6. It is against legion bylaws to field a team without numbered jerseys, Siembieda said.

“If I’ve got to play by the rules, [Drootin] should play by the rules,” Siembieda said. “If you don’t have to wear numbers, then you don’t have to know who they are. I could go down to CSUN and get a bunch of players.”

Las Virgenes needed new uniforms after splitting off from Agoura. Drootin said Siembieda was the first opposing coach to complain.

“Some of the kids had them,” Drootin said. “We had [the jerseys] on order.”

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Joey Hamer, who just completed eighth grade, is probably the youngest catcher on the Legion circuit. But with a .438 batting average and 12 RBIs, he certainly is pulling his weight for Newbury Park.

“He’s the best catcher I got,” said Bob Hamer, Joey’s father and an assistant coach. “But I expected him to hit .300.”

Joey is one of four Newbury Park players to hit a home run in his first Legion at bat this season. The others are Ryan Shipton, Ryan Ayers and Adam Smith.