Baseball: April 2008 Archives

It has taken a while, but Mike Moustakas, California's all-time HR leader while in high school at Chatsworth, hit his first professional home run Monday for single-A Burlington (Iowa), The No. 2 overall pick in the draft by the Royals, Moustakas is batting .214 with three RBIs (two Monday) in 42 at-bats.

gerry.gittelson@dailynews.com

Adam Landecker, a junior shorstop at Calabasas, has committed to a USC baseball scholarship, according to his father, Ron.

Landecker, an honor student, picked the Trojans over Stanford, Cal State Fullerton, Cal, Pepperdine, UC Santa Barbara, Long Beach State and Dartmouth.

gerry.gittelson@dailynews.com

Adam Landecker, a junior shorstop at Calabasas, has committed to a USC baseball scholarship, according to his father, Ron.

Landecker, an honor student, picked the Trojans over Stanford, Cal State Fullerton, Cal, Pepperdine, UC Santa Barbara, Long Beach State and Dartmouth.

gerry.gittelson@dailynews.com

... Christian Lopes, Valencia's freshman phenom, in Wednesday's Daily News.

gerry.gittelson#@dailynews.com

Former Chatsworth star Mike Moustakas, California's all-time home run hitter who was drafted No. 2 overall by the Royals, continues to struggle at single-A Burlington, Iowa. In 50 at-bats, the shortstop is batting .220 with no extra-base hits and one RBI. Moustakas, who signed for a reported $4 million bonus, has struck nine times and committed five errors.

DAILY NEWS TOP 10
1. Notre Dame (18-2)
2. Crespi (15-5)
3. Hart (13-5)
4. Chatsworth (14-6)
5. Valencia (13-5)
6. Simi Valley (14-6)
7. Thousand Oaks (13-9)
8. Saugus (13-6)
9. Cleveland (17-4-1)
10. Royal (15-6)

OTHERS: El Camino Real (15-7); Crescenta Valley (12-4); Loyola (11-10); Westlake (12-7); Newbury Park (13-7); Camarillo (13-5); Quartz Hill (13-5-2); Malibu (12-3).

DAILY NEWS TOP 10

1. Crespi (13-3)
2. Notre Dame (14-2)
3. Hart (12-5)
4. Chatsworth (13-4)
5. Valencia (11-4)
6. Westlake (11-4)
7. Saugus (12-4)
8. Thousand Oaks (10-8)
9. Simi Valley (12-5)
10. Cleveland (15-3-1)

OTHERS: El Camino Real (13-6); Newbury Park (13-6); Royal (13-6); Crescenta Valley (10-4); Camarillo (12-4); Quartz Hill (11-5-2); St. Francis (12-5); Malibu (11-2).

Division I
1. Valley Christian (San Jose) 17-2
2. Lutheran (Orange) 14-2
3. Los Alamitos 13-2
4. Poway 13-3
5. Serra (San Mateo) 14-4
6. Vista Murrieta (Murrieta) 12-4
7. Clovis East (Clovis) 17-2
8. Livermore 11-1
9. Tesoro (Las Flores) 12-4
10. Buhach Colony (Atwater) 14-3
11. Centennial (Bakersfield) 16-3
12. El Toro 14-3
13. Simi Valley 11-5
14. Stockdale (Bakersfield) 18-1
15. Westlake (Westlake Village) 11-4

Division II
1. Crespi (Encino) 12-3
2. Aptos 15-3
3. Yuba City 11-1
4. Bella Vista (Fair Oaks) 11-1
5. Grossmont (La Mesa) 13-3
6. Notre Dame (Sherman Oaks) 13-2
7. Woodland 11-1
8. South Hills (West Covina) 11-2
9. Alhambra 11-1
10. Pinole Valley (Pinole) 9-2-1
On the Bubble: Laguna Hills 13-3, Leigh (San Jose) 14-4-1, Oceanside 10-4, Paramount 13-4, Pleasant Valley (Chico) 14-3, Santa Cruz 14-5.

Division III
1. Cathedral Catholic (San Diego) 12-3
2. Patriot (Riverside) 17-1
3. Torrance 12-2
4. St. Mary's (Berkeley) 8-3
5. Sonoma Valley (Sonoma) 11-1
6. Sonora (La Habra) 14-3
7. Washington (Easton) 17-1
8. Bishop Amat (La Puente) 10-4
9. Northview (Covina) 14-3
10. Oakdale 12-2-3
On the Bubble: Bear River (Lake of the Pines) 11-5, McLane (Fresno) 13-4, Ramona 10-4, St. Paul (Santa Fe Springs) 12-6, Winters 10-3.

Division IV
1. Beaumont 11-3
2. San Marin (Novato) 13-2
3. Chowchilla 14-4
4. Coronado 12-4
5. Menlo School (Atherton) 13-4
6. Monrovia 11-5
7. R.L. Stevenson (Pebble Beach) 12-3
8. Capital Christian (Sacramento) 13-2
9. Central Catholic (Modesto) 10-4
10. St. Anthony (Long Beach) 12-2
On the Bubble: Bishop 6-1, Bret Harte (Altaville) 9-2, Christian (El Cajon) 11-4, Kingsburg 12-2, Montclair Prep (Van Nuys) 10-5-1, Poly (Pasadena) 10-3, San Jacinto 10-7.

Ryan Van Amburg is standout for St. Francis of Mountain View.
Division V
1. Fowler 14-5
2. Desert Christian (Lancaster) 13-0
3. St. Vincent (Petaluma) 10-1
4. Tri-City Christian (Vista) 13-2
5. Saddleback Valley Chr. (SJ Capistrano) 9-3
6. St. Bernard (Eureka) 7-2
7. Liberty (Madera Ranchos) 13-8
8. Redding Christian 10-2
9. Valley Christian (Roseville) 13-4
10. Animo Leadership (Inglewood) 8-3
On the Bubble: Bloomington Christian 9-4, Mariposa 10-5, Mission Prep (San Luis Obispo) 10-4-1, Sacred Heart Prep (Atherton) 7-7, San Diego Jewish Academy 8-5

Saugus, riding a six-game winning streak, faces West Ranch at 2 p.m. today -- all the way in Corona Del Mar in the Beach Pit Classic final.

Saugus defeated another Foothill League team, Canyon, in the semifinals Monday.

"i suggested just playing the game here," Saugus coach John Maggiora said. "The Foothill League has just kind of dominated this tournament."

gerry.gittelson@dailynews.com

It's still early -- 11 league games remaining, plus one nonleague game -- but El Camino Real (12-6, 2-2) could find itself in a hole with another West Valley League loss Wednesday at Taft (7-9, 2-2), which has scored upset league victories over Cleveland (14-3-1, 3-1) and Chatsworth (12-4, 3-1) over the past week and a half.

ECR, which has won five City titles through the years, lost twice to national power Chatsworth last week -- no shame in that, as the defending City champion Chancellors have won seven titles -- but the way the Conquistadores lost was not cool: two errors and a mental error in the bottom of the seventh to fall 1-0.

"Honestly, we didn't take advantage of opportunities, and that was pretty disappointing," ECR coach Vince Orlando said. "We were in a position to be successful."

gerry.gittelson@dailynews.com

Once among California’s most feared small-schools baseball programs while winning six Southern Section titles from 1978 to 1991, Montclair Prep of Panorama City has fallen on hard times during recent seasons – relatively speaking – but is hoping to make a comeback under new coach Rick Weber, even though several top underclassmen from last season have transferred, such as Matt Hirsch (Newbury Park) and Pedro Aldape (Notre Dame of Sherman Oaks).

A year ago, Weber, 44, was enjoying his young retirement after coaching for a total of 13 seasons at Birmingham of Lake Balboa, Buckley of Sherman Oaks and Bel-Air Prep of Los Angeles. Then the phone rang. It was longtime friend Ken Smith, Montclair Prep’s athletic director, who convinced Weber to be the Mounties’ new coach, replacing Matt Whisenant, who had been forced out.

So far, so good.

Montclair Prep, sitting in first place in the Olympic League, is 10-4-1, 3-0 and has a four-game unbeaten streak heading into Tuesday's league showdown against Campbell Hall

. “Some kids left, some transferred, but the kids who are here have really stepped up and done well,” Weber said. “It’s a great bunch. There is a lot of cohesiveness and team unity, and that can make up for a lot.”

gerry.gittelson@dailynews.com

Allegations of hazing and abuse within the Saugus High baseball program have been investigated but proved unsubstantiated, according to school officials, and no disciplinary measures will be taken, said school athletic director Kevin Miner.

Miner confirmed Friday he was aware of a widely-circulated anonymous letter detailing alleged misdeeds by head coach John Maggiora and assistants Doug Maggiora and George Lopata.

Several players quit before the season opener, another quit recently, and another recently was declared academically ineligible. But it’s not the coaches’ fault, Miner said.

“John Maggiora has a clean disciplinary record,” Miner said. “This is just a case of a disgruntled parent trying to stir things up but without the (nerves) to put his name on the letter. How credible is that? We talked to most of the kids on the team, and that was the end of it.”

Maggiora said: “I’d rather not comment on it because I haven’t seen the letter, but I’ve been told everything is OK. I’ve seen enough of these kinds of things through the years, and it’s almost always about playing-time issues. “I mean, I could see if we were 2-10 how a lot of people could be unhappy, but we’re 8-4 and we’ve won (four) in a row.”

gerry.gittelson@dailynews.com