This Hitter Bears Watching

A smorgasbord of notes, quotes and opinions from across the San Fernando Valley and its surrounding communities:

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“Incoming!” is the warning cry at San Fernando High when Larry Brown steps into the batter’s box. Junior varsity players working out in right field with their backs to home plate start scattering to protect their body parts.

Brown, 6 feet 3, 225 pounds, is going to be the region’s most intriguing professional baseball prospect this season. Few scouts have even seen him play.

He’s never taken a swing in a high school game. He bats and throws left-handed, has a powerful arm and good speed. Football was his sport. He was the quarterback for Cleveland as a sophomore and junior, then at San Fernando last season.

He played youth baseball growing up, but academic ineligibility prevented him from playing high school baseball--until now.

“He keeps hitting bombs onto the street,” Coach Armando Gomez of San Fernando said.

Brown is already penciled in to start in right field and bat No. 3 in the Tigers’ lineup. He also will pitch.

During batting practice Wednesday, despite a stiff wind, he was hitting balls to the fence in right field and keeping JV players moving around to avoid getting hit.

“I’ve always liked baseball better than football,” Brown said.

How well Brown performs against live pitching will be his ultimate test. His size, strength and speed will force scouts to make frequent visits to San Fernando games this season. . . .

Rob Crabtree, former Cal State Northridge pitcher, was at Granada Hills Little League on Saturday, giving a clinic to young players. What a story he could tell of his experiences from 1998.

It started with the death of his mother in January. He briefly considered giving up baseball because he didn’t want to desert his father and brother. He was 26 and a Class-A pitcher for the San Francisco Giants.

“I knew the type of person my mom was, and that would be the worst thing not to fulfill my goals,” he said.

He decided to leave for spring training.

“The whole year was dedicated to my mom from the first inning I threw in spring training,” he said.

Crabtree started in Class-A San Jose, advanced to double-A Shreveport and finished with triple-A Phoenix. He ended up with a 1.75 earned-run average, the lowest ERA by a pitcher in the minor leagues. He was invited to play in the Arizona Fall League and was added to the Giants’ 40-man major league roster.

This winter, he has lived out of a bag, commuting from his father’s home in Anaheim to his girlfriend’s residence in Northridge. A 21st-round draft pick in 1996, Crabtree is close to reaching the majors as a middle reliever. But close isn’t good enough.

“I want to prove to people last year wasn’t a fluke,” he said.

His mother would be proud of his effort. . . .

Mark down Westlake as the favorite to win the Marmonte League football title next fall, and one big reason is Coach Jim Benkert plans to hire Troy Thomas, former Crespi defensive coordinator, to handle the Warriors’ defense. Thomas has been an assistant coach at Hawaii the last three years. He’ll be at Westlake in April. . . .

Diego Barba, a junior quarterback at Monroe, has transferred to Sylmar, another sign Coach Jeff Engilman won’t be retiring. . . .

Patrick Norton, a junior fullback at Hart, has already received a letter from Coach Bob Toledo of ULCA offering him a scholarship for 2000. Quarterback Zac Wasserman of Westlake has offers from Penn State and Arizona State. Defensive tackle Travis Johnson of Notre Dame can probably pick any school if his grades are good enough. . . .

Taft’s junior varsity basketball team finished 18-0. Its average margin of victory was almost 30 points. Freshman guard Mustafa Asghari, 6-2 sophomore Kingsley Anyanwu, 6-1 freshman Nima Javaherian and 5-11 freshman Collins Ezeuka should be varsity contributors next season. Coach Derrick Taylor, who has a 10-year record of 144-16 with the junior varsity, deserves to coach at the varsity level. . . .

Softball practice begins Monday for Southern Section teams. Coach Steve Harrington of Chaminade will welcome his players by putting them through a five-hour workout. . . .

Jerrohn Jordan, former Valencia center who is a 6-8 freshman at Valley College, is averaging 14.4 points and 5.7 rebounds in Western State Conference play. “He’s really developing into a force,” Coach Doug Michelson said. . . .

Any pitcher who shuts out El Camino Real in baseball this season deserves automatic All-City recognition. There won’t be a better hitting lineup from first through ninth. The Conquistadores pounded an outstanding Thousand Oaks pitching staff two weeks ago in a winter game. Top hitter Conor Jackson didn’t play because of a broken wrist suffered in a snowboarding accident. . . .

For those who aspire to be the next Chick Hearn, Chaminade is the place to try out their play-by-play skills. The school has an in-house television network and radio station. Brett Erlich, a junior varsity basketball player, helped his team wrap up the Mission League championship Wednesday, then did play-by-play on the varsity game with sophomore David Strumpf. No word if either announcer observed that Scott Borchart put an Alemany defender “in the popcorn machine.” . . .

How excited are California fans that quarterback Kyle Boller of Hart is headed to Berkeley? The student newspaper, the Daily Californian, speculated that Bear faithful believe Boller can be “Jesus in cleats.” That’s putting even greater pressure on Boller than comparing him to John Elway. . . .

Here’s the burning question of the day: Should all five starters at Simi Valley make first-team All-Marmonte League in boys’ basketball? The answer is yes. They’ve earned it. . . .

The City Section will play its championship baseball game June 10 at Dodger Stadium. For the first time, the Dodgers are going to charge the Los Angeles Unified School District for use of lights, which could cost between $7,000 and $10,000. Yes, the Dodgers are paying pitcher Kevin Brown $105 million over seven years, but you’d think they could afford to donate use of the lights for the City final. Peter O’Malley never charged for lights.

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