Cal Lutheran Soaring After Survival Test

Gutsy pitching propelled the Cal Lutheran baseball team from the brink of elimination to the NCAA Division III World Series.

The Kingsmen need more of the same to win their first national championship after four appearances in the national tournament.

Cal Lutheran (28-13), which registered two victories over Southwestern on Saturday to emerge from the losers’ bracket and win the West Regional, will play Central Regional champion Aurora (Ill.) in a first-round game Saturday at Salem, Va.

Cal Lutheran is making its second appearance in the double-elimination national tournament in three seasons. In 1996, the Kingsmen finished second, losing to William Patterson, 6-5, in the final. Cal Lutheran also reached the national tournament in 1993.

If the Kingsmen need heroes, they need look no further than pitcher Adam Springston and outfielder-pitcher Brian Malchow, who led the way last weekend in the West Regional at Abilene, Texas.

Springston (8-2) recorded complete-game victories within 48 hours against Chapman and Southwestern while striking out a combined 10 batters. He is expected to start against Aurora.

Malchow, the regional’s most valuable player, recorded his first two saves of the season against McMurray and Southwestern, pitching four scoreless innings.

*

Saugus High will be well-represented at the NCAA softball College World Series this week.

Three of the eight teams competing have former Centurions on their rosters.

Sophomore Jeanine Giordano is the starting catcher for Washington, sister Nicole Giordano is a freshman outfielder for two-time defending champion Arizona and sophomore Jamie Gillies pitches for Michigan.

“It was nice having all of them at Saugus at the same time,” said Centurion Coach Ron Hilton, whose team won a Southern Section title in 1996. “There was a lot of talent here. I just tried not to screw anything up.”

Sophomore Chris Gill of Arizona State and freshman Jill Passafiume of Cal State Northridge, both from Saugus, were eliminated last weekend in the regionals.

*

When Julio Serratos of Glendale won the 3,000-meter steeplechase in the state junior college track and field championships at Citrus College on Saturday, it capped a noteworthy run of success in the event for Julio and his brother Ramon.

Julio, who has signed a letter of intent with Adams State (Colo.), finished second in the steeplechase in the 1997 state championships. Ramon placed fifth in 1996 for Glendale and third in 1995 for College of the Canyons.

*

Valley will field a cross-country program for the first time in five years next fall and the women’s team already is being tabbed as a contender for the state title.

That’s because Marisol Barajas and Patricia Loera, who finished first and second in the 3,000 meters at Citrus on Saturday, will return for their sophomore cross-country seasons in the fall.

Barajas won the 1996 state cross-country title while competing for Mission, and Loera was sixth to help the Free Spirit to a second-place finish behind Mt. San Antonio.

Although Barajas and Loera were students at Valley during that time, they and several of their teammates were allowed to run for Mission because Valley dropped its cross-country program in 1994 because of financial constraints.

They didn’t run cross-country at the junior college level last fall because Mission axed its sports programs before the start of the 1997-98 school year.

*

Sophomore Brandi Prieto of Cal State Northridge won the women’s triple jump in the Big Sky Conference championships at Weber State on Saturday, giving her a four-for-four record in the event in conference finals.

Prieto won the triple jump in the 1997 Big Sky outdoor championships and is two-time defending indoor champion in the event.

*

Pepperdine finished third in the nation in home attendance for men’s volleyball, averaging 1,036 spectators per match.

Cal State Northridge finished 11th of 20 Division I teams, with an average home attendance of 433.

Hawaii led the nation with an average attendance of 7,115.

Attendance around the nation climbed to a record 472,163, up more than 22,000 from last season.

*

Freshman Tamra Freedman, who played softball at Montclair Prep, hit five home runs this season for Texas Arlington.

Staff writers Vince Kowalick and John Ortega, and correspondents Mike Bresnahan and Dave Desmond contributed to this notebook.