New Oiler Coach Keeps Ship Afloat

A month ago Ken Ostrowski was in charge of pitchers and catchers at Huntington Beach. Now he’s leading the charge after longtime Oiler Coach Mike Dodd resigned two games into the Sunset League schedule to coach football at Marina.

So far, Ostrowski said, everything has gone well--except in the win column. Huntington Beach is 3-5, 2-5 in league since the coaching change.

“We’re transitioning nicely,” said Ostrowski, whose team is 7-10 and 2-7 for the season. “We’re not getting as many wins as we’d like, but so far things are going fine.”

To ensure a smooth transition, Ostrowski has conducted practices in the same manner as his predecessor and has made as few changes as possible. Assistant coaches Ron Piarynof and Si Petrow have been steadying forces.

“There hasn’t been a lot of wholesale changes from where we’ve been going the whole year,” Ostrowski said. “It’s really hard to change in the middle of the season. A lot of what makes a baseball team is determined in December, January and February.”

Ostrowski is not new to head coaching, having run Westminster’s program from 1986-90. He plans to meet with the Huntington Beach administration after spring break to determine if he will continue to coach the Oilers past this season.

LOOKING AHEAD

Fountain Valley, Esperanza and El Dorado look to notch big victories today through Friday in the National Classic. The championship game will be 7 p.m. Friday.

If you have an item or idea for the prep baseball report, you can fax us at (714) 966-5663 or e-mail us at ben.bolch@latimes.com