Sigman Getting Up to Speed

Because of the radar gun, too much emphasis is placed on how hard pitchers throw instead of whether they can get batters out.

Sophomore right-hander Jordan Sigman of Los Angeles Loyola is the classic example of a pitcher who uses ball location instead of velocity to achieve success.

Sigman’s fastball has been clocked at a meager 78 mph, which is especially slow by major league standards.

But it hasn’t prevented him from being a surprise standout in the Mission League. He started this season with a streak of 27 2/3 scoreless innings. He went from a middle reliever to closer to Loyola’s No. 1 starting pitcher. With two weeks left in the regular season, he’s 5-1 with three saves and an 0.76 earned-run average.

“The guy can pitch,” said Rick Magnante, a scout for the Oakland Athletics.

Perhaps more pitchers should be relying on a 78-mph fastball if they could hit spots around the plate as well as Sigman.

“I know I don’t throw very hard, but whatever works,” he said. “I’m only a sophomore. I know, sooner or later, I’ll throw hard.”

Sigman, 6 feet 2 and 185 pounds, is a converted catcher in only his second full season of pitching, so his velocity should improve with age.

“He mixes three pitches and has command,” Loyola Coach Chris Beck said. “He’s a strike thrower.”

The problem Sigman encounters is that when his fastball stays up, he can get hit hard. Mark Sunga of Sherman Oaks Notre Dame sent one of Sigman’s pitches into the football bleachers beyond the left-field fence at Notre Dame. However, in the seventh inning, Sigman struck out Sunga to preserve a victory.

That’s the way Sigman pitches. Nothing fazes him. Batters will hit him, but he lets his fielders make plays.

“I never felt inexperienced,” he said. “It’s not that hard. Just throw it where Coach wants it. I really don’t know why they don’t hit me.”

Magnante said, “The key to pitching is to upset the hitter’s timing and be able to throw pitches with movement and speed for strikes.”

Sigman is doing just that.

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Brothers Danny and Kevin Muno, starters for Loyola’s baseball team, found a quick way to cut their 50-mile commute from Thousand Oaks to Los Angeles.

In September, their parents bought a 40-foot boat that’s moored at the harbor in Marina del Rey. Suddenly, their one-hour morning drive was cut to 20 minutes.

“It’s been a godsend for us,” their mother, Annie, said.

If Loyola wants to schedule a game against Avalon, the Munos would be happy to be the skippers in transporting the Cubs to Santa Catalina Island.

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Noah Vigil, a junior left-hander at Palmdale Highland, put together a streak of striking out 10 or more batters in three consecutive games, highlighted by a 15-strikeout performance against Quartz Hill. He has 68 strikeouts in 41 innings.

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Ben Howland, UCLA’s third-year basketball coach, is trying to make inroads into the Southland’s basketball community. He and his staff will hold three camps for boys’ basketball players in grades 5-12 June 4 at Diamond Bar, June 11 at Newbury Park and June 18 at Irvine Valley College. Cost is $75. Information: (310) 409-7728.

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It was the right decision by an overwhelming majority of Southern Section leagues to reject the CIF state football bowl proposal Thursday.

It’s still going to pass next week at the state federated council meeting, but the 51-21 vote by the state’s largest section is a warning that schools no longer are going to rubber stamp proposals for new events at a time of increasing travel costs unless they are completely paid for by the state.

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