Return of Cagers Bolsters Bel-Air, Crossroads Nines for Title Defense

For baseball coaches Rick Weber of Bel-Air Prep and Chuck Ice of Crossroads, the basketball season couldn’t end soon enough. Both have had a significant portion of their baseball teams masquerading as basketball players and doing a fine job at it.

David Wolfe, a 6-7 basketball center--and also one of Ice’s pitchers--led Crossroads with 25 points and 11 rebounds as it captured the CIF-Southern Section 1-A title, 70-61, over Whittier Christian.

It’s a good bet that the Crossroads baseball team will go as far. Ice’s Roadrunners were 1-A champions last year, crushing Woodcrest Christian, 18-2, for the crown. His team has won 23 straight Delphic League games over the last three years. They could stretch that streak with the return of Jon Drimmer, a senior shortstop who was a first-team all-league selection, and Cliff Hughes, a senior catcher and three-year letterman.

In Weber’s first year as Bel-Air coach, he probably feels like a father-to-be: He’s been waiting for the basketball team to deliver seven cagers who are also baseball players. His wait ended last week when Bel-Air lost to Whitney, 76-58, in the Small Schools Division final.

Weber delayed the start of league play by rescheduling games. With those seven players, Bel-Air can proceed to defend its Westside League title.

The Roadrunners are counting on sophomore pitchers Sean Lein, a 6-0, 165-pound left-hander, and Bill Terrazos, a 6-0, 175-pound right-hander, and the league’s most valuable player, Danny Gustafson, a senior shortstop and pitcher.

A look at Westside CIF teams:

Crossroads

Seven Roadrunners were lost to graduation from the team ranked No. 1 in the CIF and tops in the state by USA Today in the Small Schools Division last year.

Key graduation losses: pitcher Steve Furchner, who is now pitching for Azusa Pacific and was a CIF co-player of the year, and shortstop Doug Pitkin, who is playing for Cal Poly San Luis Obispo. Ice also lost the other half of the co-MVP in pitcher Noah Rosen, who posted an 11-0 record but has transferred to Choate, a New England prep school.

Shortstop Drimmer and catcher Hughes will be joined by junior third baseman Carl Distefano, an all-league selection as a freshman. Ice said Distefano should be one of the better hitters in the league. Ice sees a balanced league with Providence and Brentwood giving Crossroads a run for the title. “We’ll be competitive in league, but we’ll need experience, and we’re getting that in the preseason,� he said.

Bel-Air Prep

Bel-Air Prep returns eight players from last year’s Westside League championship team. The Bruins finished 8-0 in league and have won 15 league games during the last two years. Weber said he would be disappointed if his team doesn’t go undefeated in league this year.

Weber said sophomore pitchers Lein and Terrazos are the key to the Bruins. “They are super ballplayers, and if they work hard and develop, they could play pro ball,� Weber said.

Weber said he will rely on speed; his players cover a lot of ground in the outfield and infield and that should make his team strong on defense. Pitching could be the weak spot for the Bruins. Weber said it depends on how well Lein and Terrazos handle pressure.

Newbridge

Newbridge will try to rebound from a disappointing 3-7 record (2-6 in the Westside League) last year. Coach Bill Ruehl looks to second-team all-league Howie Horowitz and honorable-mention performers Franklin Taylor and Nick Adell for leadership on this young team.

First-team all-leaguer Shawn Needelman, a junior shortstop, heads a cast of three freshmen, one sophomore and two juniors. Ruehl said his underclassmen will give the team continuity.

Relief pitching and defense are areas Ruehl said his team needs to work on if it is to challenge Bel-Air Prep, which he sees as the league favorite. But he said that offense is a bright spot: “We don’t have a weak spot in our lineup.�

Ruehl thinks that his team is one of the top three in the league and that the Voyagers will go as far as pitching will take them.

Clearview

Clearview finished with a 3-7-1 record (1-6 in the Westside League) last year, and prospects don’t look much better.

Coach Brenda Sapp said her goal is to finish at .500. She has first-team all-league pitcher Ron Walden and pitcher-shortstop Fred Hohenfeld, a second-team all-league selection, but misses first-team all-league second baseman Brett Phillips, who batted .400 but has graduated.

Brentwood

Brentwood finished last in the Delphic League with a 1-7 record and was 10-13 overall.

First-year Coach Steve Jesson hopes to turn that around and thinks hard-throwing right-hander Mark Hamilton will be the key.

Jesson also is counting on sophomore reliever Arturo Alvarez, who will be turned into a starting pitcher for league play, to form a strong combination with Hamilton.

He thinks Providence will capture the league because it has many veterans. But he feels that Brentwood has a chance to finish second.

St. Monica

Coach Bill Krallif’s Mariners almost made the playoffs last year, finishing half a game out of the playoffs with a 9-5 record in the Camino Real League and 12-7 overall.

The Mariners will miss shortstop Hector Padilla, the league’s leading hitter (.511), and third baseman John Krallif (.423), both graduated.

The team boasts a bright returning cast led by senior center fielder George Padilla, no relation to Hector. “George is a very good ballplayer who knows the game and has a great arm,� Krallif said. “He might be a pro prospect.� Also back is senior second baseman Robert Rico.

Krallif said the strength is the pitching, headed by senior right-handers Brian Levassuer and Frank Tedeschi.

Krallif said the league will be balanced, but he sees St. Anthony taking the title.

“We’ll have another good year, and if we can beat St. Anthony, we’ll have a chance to be in the playoffs.

Beverly Hills

Last year Beverly Hills finished fifth in the Ocean League with a 5-10 record and was 12-13-1 overall, and according to Coach Bill Erickson, this season could be worse for the Normans.

“We’ll be hard-pressed to finish fifth the way we’re playing,� Erickson said. Beverly started poorly and has been making many errors.

Erickson said that if the Normans can get back on track and play up to their strengths of pitching and offense, they should be among the top three teams in the league.

Erickson looks to senior catcher David Barad, who was first-team all-league last year, and junior shortstop Billy Koch, a second-team selection, to get the Normans going.

Santa Monica

Santa Monica finished the season with an 18-8 record but was fourth in the Bay League at 5-7.

Coach Tony Diaz’s team had three players drafted by pros: Kelly Mann, who signed with the Chicago Cubs; John Peet, now at West Los Angeles College, and Chris Chavez, who is at Santa Monica College.

But Diaz still has top veterans, including senior center fielder Pat O’Hara, an honorable-mention all-league selection in baseball and an All-CIF quarterback in football; junior catcher Randy Bongard and pitcher Tom Peters who, Diaz said, has a major-league fastball and curve.

Diaz said pitching is looking strong now, and hitting was solid in the early part of the season.

Diaz said his team is inexperienced and making a lot of mistakes, but he expects it to improve and challenge Redondo Beach for the league title.

Culver City

Coach Dave Ruebsamen said he is pleased with the progress of his inexperienced team. Last year the Centaurs finished third with a 10-5 record in the Ocean League and 15-11 overall. Top veterans are senior shortstop Tim McDonnell, a second-team all-league selection; senior first baseman Billy Keep and senior catcher Rick Niles. They are expected to provide leadership.

Ruebsamen said he doesn’t think there is a dominant team in the league but Beverly Hills and West Torrance should be the favorites, based on their returning players and the strength of their junior varsity teams. He said that his strong-hitting team should be in the race and make the playoffs.

Daniel Murphy

Daniel Murphy was 1-11 and last in the Santa Fe league and 1-16-1 overall. Coach George Vranau said this season promises to be better.

A strong reason for the brighter outlook is the team’s showing against St. Anthony, the favorite to win the Real Camino League. Vranau said the Nobles lost, 5-3, but were on the verge of taking the lead when the game was called because of darkness.

Key players are senior right fielder David Montellano, senior shortstop Jaime Espinosa and sophomore pitcher Peter Vandenberg, who pitched a one-hitter this season against Salesian.

Windward

Windward, Liberty League co-champion with Oakwood, was 6-1-1 in league play and 15-6-1 overall. Windward is off to an 0-3 start, but Coach Ken Asher expects his team to turn it around.

“We’ve made some mental mistakes, and we’ve had some injuries,� Asher said.

Asher is relying on senior shortstop-pitcher Bentley Weber, a good hitter, and senior David Hill, a pitcher and right fielder, to pull the team out of its tailspin. Doug Olken, the senior catcher and captain last year, is out with torn ligaments in his right thumb but is expected back.

Asher likes the pitching. He said Weber and Hill are as good a one-two punch as there is in the league. “If we score four or five runs a game, we’ll win our share of games,� he said.

Yeshiva

Yeshiva, 3-4-1 in the Westside League and 3-6-1 overall last season, will depend on a good group of underclassmen to improve.

Coach Scott Rice is blending newcomers with returning starters, including senior center fielder David Gottlieb, senior third basemen David Harrison and senior catcher Jeff Izes.

Rice looks for Bel-Air Prep to win the league but that his underclassmen could play a prominent role in the race. “If they come through and shake the jitters, then we can give Bel-Air Prep a run for its money,� Rice said.