Coach Calls an Audible, Takes Himself Out of the Play

A linebacker in his playing days, St. Bonaventure High football Coach Jon Mack recently has shown the ability to execute a crisp handoff.

Mack, who last year guided St. Bonaventure to an 8-4 record and the second round of the Southern Section Division IX playoffs, has placed the Seraphs’ offense in the hands of second-year assistant Tim Gutierrez.

Gutierrez was the 1989 Southern Section Division VIII player of the year as a quarterback at Santa Clara and started for two seasons at San Diego State. He coached the Seraph quarterbacks in 1995.

Last season, questionable play-calling by Mack at critical times factored into several of the Seraphs’ losses and left observers scratching their heads.

With Gutierrez at the offensive controls, Mack can maintain a broader focus during games and have more time to counsel players on the sidelines.

“Last year Tim was very involved but not quite to the point of being an offensive coordinator,” Mack said. “I tend to get stuck in a run, run, run mind-set and at times we called plays just to get first downs, not with an eye to thinking ahead.”

And the fandango means . . . : Dave Baldwin, Cal State Northridge football coach, is signaling the formations to his offense during practice, rather than sending in plays. The signals include a variety of interesting contortions.

“I feel like I’m doing the Macarena on the sideline,” Baldwin said.

If it ain’t broke, don’t toss it: Just about everything in the Northridge women’s soccer program is almost new, with one very old exception.

The Matadors opened their second season Thursday with two practices and at the end of the morning workout, Coach Brian Wiesner turned a battered brown clipboard over in his hands.

“I’ve had this since, let’s see . . . fifth grade,” he said, scanning the front of the board.

Sure enough, on a brittle strip of masking tape, scribbled over with ancient green marker strokes, is the inscription “BRIAN WIESNER, CLASS 5A, HOLY ANGELS SCHOOL.”

Wiesner, 37, said he hasn’t thrown out the board “because it hasn’t broken.”

“They don’t make ‘em like this anymore,” Wiesner said, brandishing the board. “Look, the spring’s still good. It’s a little warped, but so am I.”

Something to cheer about: Cheering and singing is nothing new in the game of girls’ softball. Most players do it throughout the game.

But when Southern California Stealth infielder Kelly Harris was still leading cheers--replete with jumping jacks and splits--after five games Sunday under a piercing Texas sun, opponents must have thought they were hallucinating.

The Stealth was on the field for 12 hours just to advance to the 14-and-under championship game against American Pastime, which played only twice.

“When the [American] Pastime looked over and saw our kids doing that, they must have thought it was over,” said Coach Don Harris, Kelly’s father. “We had just played five games and we’re over there yelling and doing cheers.”

The enthusiasm of Kelly Harris, a cheerleader at Louisville High, paid off: The Stealth pounded out 15 hits and trounced the American Pastime, 8-0, in just five innings to win the title.

Honors

Jon Tucker, a former Chatsworth High first baseman, was the Dodgers’ organizational player of the month for July. Tucker, at Great Falls in the rookie-level Pioneer League, batted .341 with seven home runs and 27 runs batted in. He has been organizational player of the week twice this season.

Statistics

Regina Jacobs, a 1981 graduate of what is now Campbell Hall High, has been on a roll on the European track circuit since finishing 10th in the women’s 1,500 meters in the Olympic Games in Atlanta.

Jacobs ran a career-best of 4 minutes 24.22 seconds to win the mile in the Monaco Grand Prix on Aug. 10 and followed that with a second-place finish of 4:22.20 in the Weltklasse Meet in Zurich, Switzerland, on Wednesday.

The latter time moved her to third on the all-time U.S. performer list behind Mary Slaney (4:16.71 in 1985) and Ruth Wysocki (4:21.78 in ‘84).

Things to Do

The champion of the Little League Western Regional will be crowned

tonight at the San Bernardino Little League complex.

Moorpark, Southern California champion, needed a victory Thursday night to advance to the title game against undefeated Pearl City, Hawaii. The championship game starts at 5:30 p.m. If Pearl City loses, another game will follow 30 minutes after the final out of the first game.

The winner of the Western Regional advances to the Little League World Series in Williamsport, Pa.

The Sprint Car Race Assn. is running a 30-lap feature at Ventura Raceway on Saturday.

Heat races start at 7 p.m. with the feature scheduled for 9:30 p.m.

The Silver Bullets, the nation’s only women’s professional baseball team, will play the Antelope Valley All-Stars at The Hangar in Lancaster Tuesday night at 7:15.

Catcher Missy Cress, a Royal High graduate who played for Moorpark College and Northridge, second baseman Michey McAnany and first baseman Tamara Ivie, both of whom played for Northridge, are members of the Silver Bullets.

Contributing: Jeff Fletcher, Paige A. Leech, John Ortega, Bryan Rodgers, Tris Wykes.