Suttle Set to Take Over Fillmore Football Team

Matt Suttle has been hired as Fillmore High football coach. Suttle, a Fillmore graduate, served as junior varsity coach and as a varsity assistant the past five years. He replaces Norm Andersen, a former UCLA and Iowa State assistant who resigned last month after compiling a 5-17 record in two seasons.

Moving on: Valley College football players Karalus Doyle, Julio Gramajo and La’Vell Thompson have committed to four-year colleges.

Doyle, a defensive back from Kennedy High, will attend Florida A&M.; Gramajo, a defensive lineman from Reseda High, and Thompson, a wide receiver from San Fernando, will attend Western New Mexico.

Fourteen Valley players from last season have committed to four-year schools.

BOXING

Next in line: Lance Whitaker of Granada Hills will fight Willie Phillips in an eight-round heavyweight bout May 1 at San Antonio. Whitaker, 15-0 with 13 knockouts, won his past two fights, both eight-rounders, by decision.

Whitaker, 26, who turned pro in July 1996, is scheduled to begin fighting 10-round bouts this summer.

SOFTBALL

Honored: A day after Cal State Northridge claimed sole possession of first place in the Big West Conference, a future Matador garnered the state’s top high school weekly award.

Elizabeth Pierce of Buchanan High in Fresno was named the Cal-Hi Sports athlete of the week for her performance last week against Clovis, previously ranked No. 6 in the state.

Pierce, who signed with Northridge in November, allowed two hits in nine innings and struck out nine. Her sacrifice fly in the ninth produced the game’s only run.

Buchanan (20-1), previously unranked in the state, moved into the No. 8 slot this week.

Zapata quits: Sophomore shortstop Sonia Zapata quit the Saugus High team on Monday, Coach Ron Hilton said. Second baseman Amanda Melton, who has committed to Michigan State, is expected to move to shortstop on Thursday, when the Centurions (8-4, 0-1 in league play) face Hart (10-2) in a key Foothill League game.

BASKETBALL

Two for the show: Amir Bar-Netzer of Taft High and Scott Long of Chaminade will play on Sunday in the Eddie Jones All-Star Classic at the Great Western Forum. Game time is 5:30 p.m.

BASEBALL

Special offer: It will not be

business as usual at the Lancaster Jethawks’ home game against the Stockton Ports on Monday.

The game will begin at 12:30 p.m., and anyone who presents a business card at the ticket window will gain two-for-the-price-of-one entry. All names on business cards will be entered into drawings for free lunches and JetHawks merchandise.

GYMNASTICS

He’s the winner: Jason Laughton, a 10-year-old Northridge resident and a member of Gymnastics Olympica USA in Van Nuys, scored 55.80 points to win the all-around competition in the 10-and-over division among Class 6 skill-level performers at the recent Southern California Gymnastics Championships.

Laughton won gold medals in the pommel horse and parallel bars individual competitions.

He and Gymnastics Olympica USA teammates Alex Novichenok, 9, and Paul Matthew Lasmarias, 9, will advance to a regional championship meet in Arizona on Saturday that will include gymnasts from California, Nevada, Arizona and Hawaii.