This Is the Year 1999 Is Going to Be

It’s time to dust off my crystal ball and take a peek at what 1999 has in store for area athletes, coaches and teams.

The images are becoming clear:

Defensive tackle Travis Johnson of Notre Dame High will spend more time talking on the phone with Bob Toledo of UCLA, Paul Hackett of USC and Lloyd Carr of Michigan than his own friends.

Gilbert Arenas of Grant will score 60 points in a basketball game.

Chatsworth will end a decade of frustration at Dodger Stadium by winning the City baseball championship.

Junior Jamie Shields of Hart will strike out 18 batters in a game and establish himself as the region’s best professional prospect since Jon Garland.

The baseball season will be known as the year of the pitcher thanks to the dominating performances of Shields, Ivan Hernandez of Sylmar, Jordan Olson of Crescenta Valley, Mike Kunes of Chatsworth and Chris Cordeiro of Thousand Oaks.

John Wall of Birmingham will kick a 58-yard field goal. Drew Thomas of Westlake will kick a 54-yard field goal. College football recruiters will be in hot pursuit of both.

Doug Magorien, volleyball coach at Taft, father of four young boys, will resign to open a day-care center.

Quarterback Kyle Boller of Hart will sign with Oregon and immediately be compared to former Duck quarterback Dan Fouts.

Tight end Mike Seidman of Westlake will sign with UCLA and join former tight end Gabe Crecion of Chaminade as a key contributor.

Golfer J.T. Kohut of Westlake will sign with USC, then win the Southern Section individual title.

Justin Fargas, former Notre Dame High running back, will lead the Big Ten Conference in rushing as a sophomore at Michigan.

John Elway, former Granada Hills quarterback, will end his football career after guiding the Denver Broncos to a Super Bowl victory over the Atlanta Falcons.

Richard Nelson of Alemany and Marcin Jagoda of Crespi, moonlighting as basketball players, will block each other’s shots, then get down to the serious business of playing volleyball.

Dick Dornan, Crespi basketball coach, will promise to grow a pony tail if his team wins the Southern Section Division IV-AA championship.

Freshman outfielder Woody Cliffords will hit better than .400 for Pepperdine.

The largest crowd to see a high school softball game in years will watch the much-anticipated pitchers’ duel between Stanford-bound senior Maureen LeCocq of Chaminade and freshman Elena Ferrero of Harvard-Westlake.

Catcher Tony Cicero of Cleveland will hit a grand slam, then celebrate by giving out free corn from Cicero Farms.

Outfielder Brian Horwitz of Crespi will lead the region in hitting.

Mike Falco and Brian Jacobsen of Agoura will hit so many home runs that coaches will start ordering them intentionally walked.

The talk of Cal State Northridge baseball will be the left side of the infield featuring sophomore third baseman Eric Horvat and freshman shortstop J.T. Stotts, both from Hart.

Free safety Michael Brignac of Westlake, ineligible last season, will emerge as a varsity football standout.

For the second consecutive year, Reseda will win the City boys’ soccer title, with Chatsworth taking the girls’ division.

The Alemany boys’ basketball team will pull off the improbable--going from winless in league play in 1998 to Division III-AA champion in 1999.

Trevin Lund of Notre Dame will clear 15 feet in the pole vault, then do a somersault.

Third baseman Conor Jackson of El Camino Real will break the school scoreboard with a home run that smashes the light bulbs.

Catcher Sara Hall of Calabasas will hit so many doubles in softball that opposing teams won’t bother to cover first base.

Thousand Oaks will win the Marmonte League baseball title with pitching and defense.

There will be dozens of coaching applicants at new Westlake Village Oaks Christian School, which is building a football stadium, lighted baseball and softball fields, a swimming pool and gymnasium.

For the first time in school history, Birmingham will host a baseball game under the lights.

Crespi will win the Mission League baseball title because no one can compete with the pitching of Tim Leveque, Michael Jackson and Marshall Plouffe.

Barry Zito, formerly of Pierce College, will be Pacific 10 Conference pitcher of the year at USC.

The most competitive basketball races will occur in the West Valley League. The boys’ finish will be: 1. Chatsworth, 2. Cleveland, 3. Kennedy, 4. Taft. The final girls’ finish will be: 1. El Camino Real, 2. Chatsworth, 3. Taft, 4. Kennedy.

The Simi Valley boys’ basketball team will be unbeaten in the Marmonte League.

Junior pitcher Josh Deneau of El Camino Real will be a surprise star in City Section baseball.

Jon Bringuier of Granada Hills will hit three home runs in a game.

Bill Scott, from Alemany, finally will be healthy and will hit .400 for UCLA.

Coach Lou Cvijanovich of Santa Clara will retire after 41 years when his team wins the state Division V basketball championship.

Coach Jeff Engilman of Sylmar will end retirement talk after his football assistants promise to buy him a rocking chair so he can relax in the P.E. office.

The Mission League basketball title will be decided Feb. 10, when Chaminade beats Alemany behind 34 points and 15 rebounds by 6-foot-9 Scott Borchart.

Pitcher Keith Evans, from Crespi, will fulfill his childhood dream by making his major league debut for the Montreal Expos.

Blaine Bussey of Taft will shatter Quincy Watts’ 10-year-old school record in the 400 meters en route to winning a state track title.

Ryan Hamill, former Chaminade catcher, will hit 30 home runs for Nevada Las Vegas.

Damaris Hinojosa of Moorpark will be Marmonte League player of the year in girls’ basketball.

Eric Sondheimer’s local column appears Wednesday and Sunday. He can be reached at (818) 772-3422.