Urquidez Makes Royal Turnaround

Sometimes doing well at a young age promotes a false sense of security in athletes.

Just ask pitcher Jason Urquidez, a senior at Royal High who has learned the hard way that it takes more to succeed than simply taking the mound.

As a sophomore at Chaminade, he was among the best pitchers in the Mission League, going 7-4 with a 1.54 earned-run average. He was so confident he let his work habits slip and lost his hunger to succeed.

As a junior, he slumped to 3-2 with a 4.14 ERA. A shoulder injury affected his performance, but so did a poor attitude. He transferred to Royal for this season, prompting many to wonder if the real Urquidez would show up.

Urquidez has pitched a no-hitter and a one-hitter in his last two games, regaining the dominating form of his sophomore season. He has allowed no runs in 15 2/3 innings. Most important, he realizes what it takes to excel.

“I’ve gone through a big change in attitude,” he said. “The more hard work you put in, the better you get. That’s not something I understood when I was younger. It was almost second nature, ‘All right, I can do this anytime.’ Then I got a harsh reality check.”

Two weeks ago, Urquidez pitched a no-hitter against Ridgecrest Burroughs, which had eliminated Chaminade in the Southern Section Division IV playoffs last season.

Last week, he pitched a one-hitter against Loyola, another team he faced at Chaminade. He seems ready to become the ace for Royal (10-1), which has emerged as the Marmonte League title favorite.

“It took a lot of work to get over the shoulder injury,” Urquidez said. “I took a break, so my mechanics started to be lax. I haven’t missed one practice. I’m absolutely determined to be become as good as I can get.”

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Bobby Phillips of Kennedy pitched a no-hitter last Tuesday at Monroe. Only he didn’t find out until Saturday.

After the final out, it was considered a one-hitter. But Monroe Coach Fred Pudrith checked his scorebook and determined that the Vikings’ hit should have been a fielder’s choice.

Kennedy Coach Manny Alvarado gave the news to Phillips’ father, who relayed it to his son. Was there a celebration?

“My dad shook my hand,” Phillips said.

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Bill Susdorf, Hart’s senior outfielder and The Times’ Valley player of the year as a junior, refuses to rest on his laurels.

Susdorf is 13 for 26 with 10 runs batted in and has allowed no runs in seven innings pitched.

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Coach Jim Ozella of Hart made a gutsy move by inserting sophomore Chris Valaika into the lineup at shortstop and moving returning starter Matt Moore to third base.

All Valaika has done is bat .462 and make only two errors for the Indians (10-0).

“There’s a maturity in him you don’t see at the sophomore level,” Ozella said. “He believes he can do it. He can field, he can hit, he can execute.”

Moore has done well at third, batting .323 with two errors.