Valley / Ventura County Sports : BASEBALL / DAVE DESMOND : Several Major Awards for Area Minor Leaguers

The end of the minor league season is less than a week away for most.

Where has the century gone?

It’s once again time to hand out postseason awards to players from the Valley/Ventura County region.

* Rookie player of the year: Terrmel Sledge.

The former Kennedy High and Cal State Northridge outfielder is batting .337 for Seattle Mariners’ affiliate Everett in the short-season Northwest League.

* Rookie pitcher of the year: Barry Zito.

The former Pierce College left-hander has lived up to the expectations of a high first-round pick.

Zito, the ninth selection overall by the Oakland Athletics in June, is 5-0 and has struck out 83 batters in 57 innings with Class-A Visalia and double-A Midland.

* Hey, you could be my father award: Pitchers Jon Garland and John Secrist.

Last month, Garland, a Kennedy High product, became the youngest player in the double-A Southern League after the Chicago White Sox promoted him to Birmingham.

At roughly the same time, Secrist, of Westlake Village, became the oldest rookie of 1999, signing a contract with the independent St. Paul Saints. Secrist, 42, was released a week later.

* Wedding most likely to break into a game of over-the-line: Ryan Stromsborg’s.

The former Notre Dame High standout, a Toronto Blue Jay farmhand, will have major leaguers Aaron Boone, Geoff Jenkins and Gabe Alvarez and double-A pitcher Chris Garza as groomsmen and several other major leaguers in attendance at his November nuptials.

* Biggest trade involving a local: Kevin Appier to Oakland for Brad Rigby, Blake Stein and Jeff D’Amico.

Appier, a former Antelope Valley High and Antelope Valley College right-hander, is 3-2 since being acquired from the Kansas City Royals to bolster Oakland’s chances in the American League wild-card race.

* What I did on my summer vacation award: Adam Kennedy.

The former Cal State Northridge All-American had a busy season, playing for Memphis, the St. Louis Cradinals’ triple-A affiliate, and appearing in the joint Triple-A All-Star Game, the Futures Game for top prospects at Fenway Park and for the gold medal-winning Team USA in the Pan American Games.

Last week, he was promoted to the Cardinals, where he is batting .316 through five games.

* The Towering Blast Award: Josh Towers, formerly of Hueneme High and Oxnard College.

He enters the final week leading the double-A Eastern League with 172 innings and two shutouts, and is fifth with 11 victories.

But he has yielded a league-high 25 home runs. The only place to find a pitcher with more is in the homer-happy Pacific Coast League.

* Comeback player of the year: Too many to count.

Derek Wallace, formerly of Chatsworth High, recovered from an aneurysm in his arm and returned to the major leagues with the Kansas City Royals earlier this month.

Javier Delahoya, who pitched at Grant High, appears to have salvaged his career after disappearing for a while in the Mexican Leagues. He excelled at double-A Bowie, earning a promotion from the Baltimore Orioles to triple-A Rochester.

Robert Fick hit three home runs last year during a September call-up with the Detroit Tigers, but the former Newbury Park High and Cal State Northridge catcher was expected to miss the entire 1999 season after undergoing surgery on his left shoulder in May.

He returned earlier this month, is batting .417 at triple-a Toledo and should get another call-up.

* Most likely to wear street clothes in the dugout at the World Series: Jacob Cruz of the Cleveland Indians.

The former Channel Islands High standout tore a ligament in his right thumb three weeks ago, ending his season.

* Youth league most likely to seek alumni donations: Westhills.

Among others, the league has produced pitchers Wallace and Jeff Suppan of the Kansas City Royals, pitcher Randy Wolf of the Philadelphia Phillies and first baseman Ryan McGuire of the Montreal Expos. Each has played in the major leagues this year.

Sounds like a good place to start the fund-raising drive.

* Mr. Versatility award: Kevin Nykoluk.

The former Simi Valley High and Moorpark College player played first base, pitcher and catcher in the same game for Cardinals’ affiliate Peoria.

* Most intriguing all-star lineup: The California League-Carolina League All-Star game.

Mike Glendenning of Crespi High, Pierce and the San Francisco Giants organization played and Ryan Bleiberg of Simi Valley umpired.

Brendan Cowsill, a pitcher for Rancho Cucamonga from Crescenta Valley High, sang the national anthem along with his family musical group, the Cowsills.

* Best batting race: With three games left in the Independent Northern League season, Chris Vasquez, formerly of Hart and College of the Canyons, was batting .347 for Madison. Steve Hine of Fargo-Moorhead was at .348.

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* Manager Rick Burleson led the Lancaster JetHawks to the California League playoffs in 1997 and ‘98, his only two seasons.

Burleson was not retained by the Seattle Mariners, Lancaster’s parent club, and signed to take over the San Bernardino Stampede in the Dodger organization.

San Bernardino has qualified for the California League playoffs. The JetHawks (50-82) had the worst record in professional baseball at one point this summer and will not make the postseason.

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* League leaders entering final week:

Triple A--International League: Torey Lovullo (Montclair Prep) fifth with 96 RBIs for Scranton Wilkes-Barre (Phillies), Keith Evans (Crespi) second with 13 losses for Ottawa (Expos); Pacific Coast League: Mike Fyhrie (Valley Dodgers) first in ERA at 3.24 for Edmonton (Angels) and Andrew Lorraine (Hart) fourth at 3.71 for Iowa (Cubs).

Double A--Southern League: Rich Aude (Chatsworth) fourth with 84 RBIs, Kurt Airoso (Northridge) fourth with 82 runs.

Class A--California League: Jermaine Clark of the JetHawks second with 100 runs, Angel Aragon (Channel Islands) fifth with 16 saves for Rancho Cucamonga (Padres), Cowsill is second with four complete games.

Florida State: Andy Dominique (Alemany) fifth with 85 RBIs for Clearwater (Phillies).

Midwest: Jon Schaeffer (Harvard-Westlake) third in on-base percentage at .444, third with 90 runs and fifth in slugging at .520 for Quad City (Twins) and Ryan Hankins (Simi Valley) fourth with 89 runs for Burlington (White Sox).

Appalachian League: Covelli Crisp (Pierce) fifth with 24 stolen bases for Johnson City.

Northwest League: Danny Phillips (Chatsworth, Northridge) first with 31 extra-base hits and third with 18 doubles.

Arizona Rookie League: John Puccinelli (Notre Dame) fourth with 12 doubles for the Padres.