Loyola Runs at History

Sophomore distance runner Mark Matusak is not only receiving a valuable Jesuit education attending Los Angeles Loyola High, he’s also training to become a tour guide.

Soon, he could be hosting a special on the Travel Channel: “Exploring L.A. with the Running Cubs.”

While most people take in the sights and landmarks of downtown Los Angeles by walking, riding a bus, using the subway or driving a car, the Cubs lace up their track shoes and take off on 10-mile runs from the Loyola campus, which is located three miles west of downtown.

“We kind of get a history of L.A.,” Matusak said.

There was the fountain run, in which Loyola runners tried to count all the fountains they could see in a nine-mile jaunt.

“I counted 37,” Matusak said.

There was the run to USC, where they got to see what college life is like in between huffing and puffing.

“We always run into a couple of parties,” Matusak said. “Around spring break, it gets very interesting.”

There was the run to Staples Center on the lookout for celebrities. There was the 17-mile run to Venice Beach, followed by a swim and a paddle-boat workout. There was the run to the Hollywood sign. When the team trains at Griffith Park, Matusak looks out for rattlesnakes and missing hikers.

“It’s an adventure,” he said.

The team used to run through a cemetery across the street from Loyola, but that ended some 10 years ago when one runner interrupted a funeral with the bad quip, “Running will kill you.”

Last week at the Southern Section track and field championships, Loyola won the Division II title. In the fall, Loyola won the state Division I cross-country championship.

Matusak finished second to Phillip Reid of Oxnard Rio Mesa in the Division II 1,600 and 3,200. His 1,600 time is the second fastest in the state.

He’s going to be a Southern Section track champion one day, and he’ll be glad to offer tours of L.A., as long as you bring running shoes and can keep up with his steady pace.

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Los Angeles Fremont has its best baseball team in 10 years. The Pathfinders won the Coliseum League championship behind third-year Coach Tim DeGrasse, who was a standout pitcher in the 1980s at Sherman Oaks Notre Dame.

DeGrasse said the Pathfinders can compete in the City Championship division when senior pitcher Manuel Medina is on the mound. Medina was 6-2 with an 0.47 earned-run average. He’ll get his biggest test today when he takes on top-seeded Chatsworth in a playoff opener.

DeGrasse is moving to Saugus and could be coaching at a City school in the San Fernando Valley next season.

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Get ready for a high school version of Pedro Martinez vs. Roger Clemens today when Jason Corder of Mission Viejo Capistrano Valley opposes Santa Margarita’s Jared Hughes in a Division I quarterfinal pitchers’ duel at Santa Margarita.

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The days when college basketball coaches could swoop into town and take away Southern California’s best prep players are about to end. There’s a new coach at UCLA, Ben Howland, who has sent a clear message that he’s going to be a relentless recruiter.

Just ask Woodland Hills Taft Coach Derrick Taylor, whose standout junior point guard, Jordan Farmar, committed to the Bruins on Wednesday.

In one day, Taylor remembers receiving more than five phone calls from Howland.

“He’s an absolute bulldog,” Taylor said.

Bruin fans who want to get an early look at Farmar can see him on June 9 playing in a 6 p.m. summer league game against Los Angeles Fairfax at Fairfax.

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Today’s Division III quarterfinal baseball playoff game between North Hollywood Harvard-Westlake and visiting Covina Charter Oak appears to be a mismatch on paper.

Charter Oak is expected to use ace pitcher Chuck Tiffany, who could be an early choice in next week’s draft and throws fastballs better than 90 mph. Harvard-Westlake has Jason Glushon, who barely reaches 79 mph with the wind blowing his way.

But Harvard-Westlake shouldn’t be taken lightly. Glushon is the only pitcher to have beaten Trevor Plouffe of Encino Crespi this season. The team is making its first playoff appearance since 1992. Coach Tim Cunningham, in his third season, could be the Southern California coach of the year.

Eric Sondheimer can be reached at eric.sondheimer@latimes.com.