CENTURY LEAGUE

* Canyon: 20-6, 13-2 in 1998. Coach: Mike Najera (seventh year, 129-30). Prospects: Canyon has enjoyed a great run the last six years, winning four league titles (including last season) and two section titles. This season will be a test. Senior shortstop Jason Corapci (22 steals), junior catcher Chad Heisterman and senior first baseman Aram Keuilian were all-league picks. (Corapci shared the league MVP with teammate and county home-run leader Tommy Duarte.) But many on Canyon’s roster have limited experience. Najera might need a season to get Canyon back up to speed.

* El Modena: 8-16, 5-10 in 1998. Coach: Tom Kostic (fourth year, 18-55-1). Prospects: El Modena is ready to rise. Kostic stayed patient the last three years, waiting for his system to take hold. The Vanguards have six returning starters, among them two-time second-team all-league senior shortstop Tony Calderon (.410, 13 RBIs). There are experienced bench players, such as senior infielder Jermaine McIver (.326). And Kostic has a seasoned pitching staff, led by senior Rolando Guillen (2-3, one save, 1.64). El Modena has not been in the playoffs since 1991. Kostic and company have a good chance to end that streak.

* Foothill: 18-8, 11-4 in 1998. Coach: Vince Brown (fourth year, 53-23). Prospects: Brown has revived the Foothill program, winning the league in 1997 and finishing second last year. Despite only two returning starters--two-time all-league senior third baseman Jonathan Stephens and senior outfielder Eric Perugini--the Knights are after another league title. Brown is promoting an excellent junior varsity group, has two good junior pitchers in Billy Petersen (3-0) and Mike Castillo (3-1), and got a valuable transfer in Matt Meadows, an all-league utility player from Orange. Should Foothill prosper, Brown can turn his attention to winning a playoff game, which the Knights have not done the last two seasons.

* Orange: 10-16, 5-10 in 1998. Coach: Chris Esperanza (second year, 10-16). Prospects: About midway through this season, Esperanza could be talking about last year as the good old days, because this is the season rebuilding the program really begins. Esperanza has one returning starter in junior outfielder Rey Torres. So Esperanza will have to play a bunch of young, inexperienced players in the field and teach, teach, teach. The Panthers will need at least a season to learn how to compete.

* Santa Ana Valley: 10-16, 4-11 in 1998. Coach: Leon Smith (fifth year, 43-58). Prospects: Smith can empathize with Esperanza. The Falcons have also been a work in progress, and last season felt like a step backward after barely missing the playoffs in 1997. Three starters are back. Senior infielder Bryan Save (.385, four home runs) has some pop, junior outfielder Ruben Perales (.338) was a second-team all-league pick and junior catcher Miguel Guerrero (.296) is steady. Santa Ana Valley’s fortunes will get a boost if senior pitchers Lorenzo Chavez (2-2, 2.59, 38 strikeouts) and Ricardo Noriega (2-4, 3.12) have improved.

* Villa Park: 13-14, 7-8 in 1998. Coach: Tom Tereschuk (first year). Prospects: Tereschuk isn’t saying why he left Servite after five years and four Golden West League titles. But Villa Park is glad to have him. Tereschuk inherits five returning starters and, most important, three sturdy pitchers with whom to try to break Canyon and Foothill’s grip on the league championship. Senior Brian Kunisch and junior Jeff Tuttle were all-league players, and junior Brandon Averill was good enough to make the Santa Ana Elks all-tournament team. Tereschuk likes his everyday lineup and said, “We’ll go as far as our pitching takes us.” That could be places Villa Park didn’t get to last year.