AMERICAN LEGION NOTEBOOK : DeGrasse Balks at MVP Label

It’s a good thing that Van Nuys-Notre Dame pitcher Tim DeGrasse doesn’t dote on awards, or he might have reason to be upset. After going 2-0 with a save and pitching 20 scoreless innings in the District 20 American Legion playoffs that ended last Sunday, the right-hander was arguably the most valuable player of the tournament.

He led Van Nuys-Notre Dame’s four-game sweep in the eight-team tournament and helped the team qualify for the Area 6 playoffs that open today at Moorpark College. Yet because District 20 has no most valuable player award for its championship, DeGrasse had to be content with the team’s success, which suited him just fine.

“The whole team deserved to win the MVP award, if there was one,” DeGrasse said. “Just because I’m on the mound when we won it doesn’t mean I’m the most valuable player.”

With his save and two shutouts, including a 2-0 victory over Glendale for the title, he figured in three of the four Van Nuys-Notre Dame wins--not bad for a guy who a year ago was spending most of his time on sand, not diamond dust.

“I was just going to the beach everyday,” DeGrasse said. Van Nuys-Notre Dame did not make the playoffs last year when he was pitching for them.

But this year Van Nuys-Notre Dame is the hottest Valley-area team in American Legion competition. It has won seven straight and 13 of its past 14, including regular-season and playoff games. And DeGrasse has rolled right along, too, compiling an 8-0 mark with 8 complete games in 8 starts.

Said DeGrasse, who will attend Valley College in the fall: “I’m really happy about the way things are going, but it doesn’t stop here.”

Indeed, all streaks are on the line at 1 p.m. today when Van Nuys-Notre Dame faces District 16 champion Westlake (12-3). In the other opening-round games of the six-team, double-elimination tournament at Moorpark College, District 16 runner-up Camarillo (11-4) plays District 20 runner-up Glendale (18-8) at 9:30 a.m. and District 24 champion Santa Monica takes on District 18 champion West Covina at 4:30 p.m.

DeGrasse, who graduated from Notre Dame High this year, will start for Van Nuys-Notre Dame. The 18-year-old, who was 6-0 with a 1.31 earned-run average in the regular season, is not lacking confidence.

“I think we can win the tournament,” he said. “No problem. If we just keep playing the way we have and keep the right attitude, it’ll be no problem. It’s all mental.”

“The key is, nobody tries to outdo anybody else. Everybody knows if they don’t produce someone else will pick up the slack for them.”

Third baseman Jeff Antoon is one player the team has come to rely on.

“He was our most important guy at the bat--with a circle around his name--for us,” Van Nuys-Notre Dame Coach Jody Breeden said.

Antoon went 7 for 17 in the tournament with two doubles and 10 runs batted in. It was his ninth-inning bases-loaded double that beat Glendale in the second round of the playoffs.

Antoon batted .396 in the regular season, but three of his teammates topped that mark--left fielder Chris Lohman (.459), center fielder Matt McElreath (.429) and shortstop and leadoff hitter Brian Woolley (.438.)

After DeGrasse, Breeden said he will start left-hander Joe Kane (4-2, 2.74 ERA in the regular season), followed by right-hander Mike Peterson (2-2, 2.18 ERA in the regular season).

Add playoffs: Westlake Coach Chuck Thompson will start right-hander Jon De Gennaro (1-0 in four Legion games this season) against Van Nuys-Notre Dame. De Gennaro, a 1986 graduate of Agoura High, pitched for Moorpark College last spring and was drafted by the Philadelphia Phillies in the June free agent draft.

De Gennaro has spent most of the summer pitching in a baseball league in St. Louis.

Thompson added that he would start Donnie Rea (5-0, 1.96 ERA) on Friday, and John Chiaramonte (5-1, 2.75 ERA) on Saturday, if Westlake makes it that far.

Leading the Westlake offense are third baseman Mike Maggiora (.457 batting average), catcher Jim Henderson (.425) and center fielder Ed Campanella (.404).

Westlake and Camarillo, as District 16 teams, did not have to play in a playoff to reach the Area 6 tournament. Instead, the top two teams from the District 16 regular season automatically advanced. As a result, heading into today’s game, Westlake has not played a regular season game since July 25.

Thompson’s concern with the inactivity is tempered by the fact that Westlake played practice games twice during the layoff, against Reseda last Saturday and Mission Junior College on Monday night.

“It’s not as good an advantage as the other guys have with the playoffs, but I do think it’s the second best,” Thompson said. “At least your facing other kids or players in those practice games. We get to go against live pitching and our pitchers get to face their batters.”

Playoffs last add: Camarillo hasn’t played since July 25, but Coach Rich Herrera doesn’t think the time off will take away from his team. To the contrary, he thinks it might help in the playoffs.

“The kids were getting so tired from the regular-season games,” Herrera said. “Plus, we’ve been able to practice every day with the time off.”

Right-hander Scott Bush (2-2, 4.36 ERA during the regular season) will start for Camarillo today against Glendale.

First baseman Ryan McMullen, son of former major leaguer Ken McMullen, leads the Camarillo offense. He is batting .400 in 30 at-bats and 23 walks in 15 regular-season games, giving him an on-base percentage of .660.

McMullen had three games where he walked three times and walked at least once in nine straight games. He had at least one walk in 12 of the 15 games.

Other leading hitters for Camarillo include left fielder Darren Romano (.333) and left fielder Jeremy Sumrow (.326).

Glendale (18-8) will start either Trey Pogue, a left-hander who was 5-2 with a 2.29 ERA in the regular season, or Kyle Bell a right-hander who was 4-0 with a 3.33 ERA. .

In Randy Cooper, Glendale may have the District 20 playoffs’ most prolific hitter. He finished the tournament with 2 home runs, 2 triples and 12 RBIs. He batted .375 during the regular season, an average topped among Glendale players by only Jerrick Aschenbrenner (.392).

Rules change: The six teams in the Area 6 playoffs will be playing under a slightly different set of rules from now on.

Designated-hitters for the pitcher or any other field player, designated-runners for any baserunner, and free substitution no longer will be allowed. As with the district playoffs, no pitcher can pitch more than 12 innings in a 72-hour period.