Century Might Get Its Big Turn Again

In the Century League, high school baseball season is time to start thinking about championships.

Sure, a league title would be nice, but teams in this league have higher aspirations. Teams now in the Century League have won section titles in six of the last eight years.

Only once during that stretch -- 1998 -- has a team from the league failed to reach the championship game.

Anaheim Canyon and Villa Park enter the season as the top two teams in the Southland, according to rankings by The Times.

Canyon returns seven starters from a team that lost to Thousand Oaks in the Division II championship game last season. Villa Park has eight starters returning from a team that reached the Division II semifinals last year.

Add perennial title contender Placentia El Dorado and a much-improved Orange El Modena, and this season’s title chase shapes up to be as competitive as ever.

“It’s got to be the toughest league in Southern California,” Canyon Coach Joe Hoggatt said.

Judging by last year’s results, he has an argument. Century League teams won a section-high eight playoff games in 2003. The Serra League was second with seven. No other Southland league, however, can match the championship-game success of Canyon, Villa Park and El Dorado.

Canyon won titles in 1996 and ’97. Villa Park won in 2000 and ’02. El Dorado, which joined the league last year, won titles in 1999 and 2001. It’s no accident, Villa Park outfielder Dane Ferguson said.

“You’re used to playing top-quality competition, so when you get to the playoffs, nothing surprises you,” he said. “It’s not like you waltz though the league and then all of a sudden you have to deal with a dogfight in the playoffs. In our league, you have a dogfight every game.”

This year, the main event figures to be between Canyon and Villa Park. The rivalry between the teams goes back decades simply because the schools are about 3 1/2 miles apart. Players from each team came up through the same leagues and still play on summer travel teams together. But when it comes to a high school game between the two, there is no love lost.

“It’s probably the top rivalry around,” Canyon infielder Garret Green said. “Off the field we’re friends, but on the field, when it’s Canyon and Villa Park, we’re enemies.”

Last year, Canyon got the better of the battle, winning three of four games against Villa Park, and taking the league title. Both teams have extra incentive this season. Canyon desperately wants another shot at the title game after blowing a 3-0 lead to Thousand Oaks last year.

Villa Park wants another shot at the title game after losing to Canyon in a Division II semifinal last year.

“I would say we have very high expectations for this team,” Villa Park Coach Scott Luke said. “We’re going to push ourselves every chance we get. In our league, the teams that don’t come to play day in and day out are going to be disappointed.”

Villa Park’s returning cast includes Mark Trumbo, one of the nation’s top pitching prospects. A year ago, the right-hander was 9-3 with three saves, a 1.41 earned-run average and 88 strikeouts in 83 1/3 innings. He was the 2002 Division II player of the year and an All-Southern Section selection last year.

Canyon counters with a deep pitching staff led by Nick Casanova, a 10-game winner and also an all-section pick last year. All-section catcher Chris Morinello adds pop. He batted .377 with 34 runs batted in last season.

Both team are loaded with talent and experience, making it difficult to pick a favorite.

“It’s going to be tough,” Hoggatt said. “Every game is going to be like a playoff game. Villa Park is going to be tough to beat with Trumbo on the hill, but I wouldn’t count our guys out of anything. We have the league title, so everyone is going to have to come through us to get it. They have to take it from us.”

With a winning tradition and a veteran coaching staff, El Dorado could be the sleeper. Shortstop Jeff Flaig, the Division II co-player of the year last year, graduated, but pitcher Zach Pettikas, who had victories over Canyon and Division I champion Huntington Beach Marina last year, is back.

“We have some big holes to fill,” El Dorado Coach Steve Gullotti said. “But I’ve always looked forward to challenges. This league is going to be like the playoffs every game out and what I like about our team is that we like to work and we love to play. This team has character. We’re not conceding anything to anyone. Crazier things have happened. Canyon and Villa Park have to play us too.”

Gullotti points to his 1989 team that had future major leaguers Phil Nevin and Matt Luke among nine players who earned Division I scholarships. That team lost the Empire League title to Loara.

“Sometimes you win a CIF championship and sometimes you finish in third place,” Gullotti said. “This is baseball, and more than in any other sport, anything can happen.”

Judging from recent history, one thing almost certain to happen is that a Century League team will play for the Division II title. In fact, this could be the year Canyon and Villa Park meet for the section title, something that has never happened.

“That would be insane,” Ferguson said. “I can’t even imagine how that would be.”

Green can, and has.

“The biggest win we ever had was against Villa Park in the semifinals,” he said. “The only thing that would be better would be beating them in the finals.”