Baratte Taking His Final Bow in Water Polo

This, that and the other from sports central. . . .

Unless host Ventura College (14-10) advances, the Western State Conference men’s water polo tournament today and Saturday might be Coach Larry Baratte’s farewell.

Baratte is resigning at season’s end, eight years after taking over the program and turning it into one of the state’s best.

No one can blame Baratte for stepping down. The endless hours he put into the program were stealing time from his family, keeping him from watching his three sons grow.

“I was beginning to resent it a little bit,” Baratte said.

It’ll be difficult to replace Baratte. The Pirates produced nine All-Americans and sent seven players to four-year schools during his watch.

The Pirates were 27-12 and finished fifth in the state championships in 1997, and Baratte proudly noted that the team had a 3.35 grade-point average, tops in the state.

Baratte is not going far from the water, though. He’ll remain as Ventura’s swimming coach. . . .

Ventura is seeded No. 1 in the WSC women’s water polo tournament, also today and Saturday at Ventura.

The Pirates (21-4-2), ranked No. 5 in the state, won the WSC regular-season title with a 6-0 record. Coach Scott Parrish’s team clinched the championship with a 1-0 victory at Citrus on Oct. 27.

Was that soccer on water?

Cuesta (18-7-1) was the WSC runner-up. After the tournament, the Cougars will have played eight games at Ventura. They played seven at home. . . .

First-year football Coach David Banuelos of Pierce is doing even more patchwork now that running back Joe Looney, formerly of Reseda High, has quit the team.

“Basically, what I gathered is he didn’t get enough carries,” Banuelos said.

Which didn’t make sense to Banuelos, since Looney led the Brahmas with 275 yards in 50 carries. Pierce has 836 yards in 225 carries, both among the lowest in the WSC.

“He’ll still be our leading rusher at the end of the season,” Banuelos said. . . .

The Brahmas (1-6, 0-4 in WSC play) no longer have Looney, but they have some, er, mature guys.

Eight Pierce players graduated from high school four or more years ago.

They include brothers Ethan, John and Josh Calhoun.

John, a freshman defensive tackle, graduated from Long Beach Poly in 1988. At 29, he’s the oldest player on the team. Josh, a free safety, graduated from Long Beach Poly in 1992. Ethan, a linebacker, graduated from Carson in 1998.

All had been out of football and working.

“Ethan came over and the other two decided they wanted to play, too,” Banuelos said. . . .

Anyone know why basketball teams need so many assistant coaches?

Valley’s 1999-2000 roster lists 15 players and five assistants to Coach Doug Michelson.

How many guys does it take to teach dribbling?. . . .

When all is said and done this season, sophomore Mike Frost could own most of Glendale’s season passing records.

Here are some, with Frost’s projected totals followed by the record holder in parentheses: 3,172 yards (2,396, Gordy Bohannan, 1978); 390 attempts (346, Clay Gallagher, 1970); 222 completions (181, Bohannan, 1978) and 27 touchdowns (22, Bohannan, 1978). . . .

No other WSC football team had a longer span between home games this season than Moorpark.

The Raiders return home Saturday against Valley, 35 days after their last home game, a 58-33 victory over Ventura on Oct. 2.

Compton will match Moorpark’s 35 days when it plays at home on Nov. 13 against Harbor. . . .

Who is the hardest hitter in WSC football?

Sophomore Travis Rogers of Ventura, the conference’s leading rusher, votes for Valley linebacker Damion Thompson, a former All-City player at Kennedy.

Thompson rang Rogers’ bell on one play in Ventura’s 24-21 victory over the Monarchs on Saturday.

“That guy, No. 6, he can hit,” Rogers said. . . .

It was a Moore family reunion at the women’s soccer playoff game between Chapman and host Cal Lutheran on Wednesday.

Twins Heather and Hannah Moore faced each other in Cal Lutheran’s 3-1 victory in a Division III West regional first-round matchup. Their parents, Joe and Christine, drove from Carlsbad for the game.

“I’m 35 minutes older,” said Hannah, a sophomore fullback for Chapman. “It’s weird because I’ve played with her all my life and I thought about coming [to Cal Lutheran] before I decided to go to Chapman.”

The Carlsbad graduates engaged in a battle for the ball in the second half near the sideline before Heather kicked it out of bounds off another Chapman player.

“It was exciting. It was fun,” said Heather, a sophomore fullback who walked away from the play with a wide grin.

After the game, Christine and Joe offered cinnamon rolls to both teams. They probably tasted a little sweeter to the Regals. . . .

Staff writer Lauren Peterson contributed to this notebook.