Late Additions Making Grade for Van Nuys

Earlier this season, few teams in the Valley Mission League feared playing Van Nuys High. The Wolves were a good opponent to fatten up batting averages.

Not anymore. The Wolves are 4-0 since the addition of four players who were academically ineligible, and they are making a late-season run to reach the City Invitational playoffs.

Last week, Van Nuys (7-15, 6-6 in league play) upset Sylmar and shut out Reseda behind the defensive play of shortstop Abel Pulido and sophomore second baseman Steve Brown. The Wolves made no errors in two games.

“We’re finally starting to play good defensively,” first-year Coach Jim Near said.

The pitching staff received a boost from hard-throwing Edgar De La Cueva, a 6-foot-2, 220-pound senior who would have been the team’s ace had he been eligible. He was the winning pitcher last week against Sylmar.

Another late-season addition, junior Gabriel Flores, already has four extra-base hits. Pulido has 20 stolen bases.

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Poly junior Eddie Baeza, a right-hander who’s 6-1 with 82 strikeouts in 54 1/3 innings and batting .425, has been declared academically ineligible and will miss the rest of the season.

The Parrots (17-6-1, 7-2 in the Sunset Six League) are suffering from Baeza’s absence. They lost to North Hollywood, 4-3, Thursday, dropping into a tie for first place with Grant.

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Viewpoint is close to wrapping up its seventh consecutive league championship and fourth in a row in the Liberty League under Coach Frank Pontello.

The Patriots (12-5, 9-1) can clinch the title with a victory today over Buckley.

Also impressive is that Viewpoint was honored at Edison Field for being the Southern Section’s top academic baseball team for schools with enrollments of 1,500 or fewer.

Viewpoint has been led by senior pitcher-shortstops Patrick Sheffield and Nick Fries. Sophomore second baseman Brian Strumpf has emerged as a dependable hitter.

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Highly regarded players Jason Kort of El Camino Real and Erik Johnson of Chaminade have ended season-long slumps.

Kort, an All-City first baseman who was batting below .200 for several weeks, hit two home runs last week against Birmingham and raised his average to .328.

Johnson, Chaminade’s leadoff hitter, went six for seven against St. Francis, including two home runs. He’s batting .333.

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The anticipated Valley Mission League title showdown between San Fernando and Kennedy will be played Monday night at 7 at Birmingham High. San Fernando will be the home team and charge admission--$2 for adults and $1 for students.

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Montclair Prep has a rising prospect in 6-4 first baseman Brian Trump. The junior is batting .532 with four home runs, 11 doubles and 25 runs batted in.

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Chad Boyd of El Camino Real is having quite a freshman season. The 15-year-old has moved into the cleanup spot and is batting .424 with 28 hits and 23 RBIs.