HIGH SCHOOL NOTEBOOK

Before right fielder Ichiro Suzuki of the Seattle Mariners became the latest Japanese import to play major league baseball, he awed a handful of Ventura High baseball players.

Jim Colborn, the Dodgers pitching coach who resides in Ventura, was the Mariners’ Pacific Rim scouting director for several years. Two years ago, former Ventura High pitcher Jon Bierly and current Ventura outfielder Matt Frick were treated to an impromtu preview when Colborn threw batting practice to Suzuki at Ventura.

“The guy was hitting rockets everywhere,” said Bierly, a Cal State Northridge freshman who is recovering from reconstructive elbow surgery. “Frick and I had never seen anything like it. Here’s Colborn snapping off these nasty curveballs and the guy was launching them.”

Suzuki was a career .353 hitter in Japan and won seven consecutive Pacific League batting titles before Colborn helped Seattle sign him. That’s not what Bierly remembers most about Suzuki.

“Pizza,” Bierly said. “The only word of English the guy knew.”