Baseball Team at Highland Hall Reaping Benefits of Foreign Aid

A high school baseball team with a transfer student or two is not unusual.

But what’s happening with the Highland Hall Hawks is out of the ordinary. It’s also out of this hemisphere.

Highland Hall, a Southern Section Small Schools Division team from Northridge, has a 12-man roster that features three players from faraway places.

The international corps comprises senior Takeshi Suesada, a returning All-Westside League shortstop who is an exchange student from Japan; Jakob Jensen, a freshman third baseman who is an exchange student from Denmark; and A. .J Rushton, a free-spirited reserve outfielder from Australia who is still having trouble getting cricket out of his blood.

Jensen, who Coach Dave Desmond says has the potential to be one of the school’s best players, and Suesada are consistent starters for Highland Hall (3-4). It is Rushton who is still finding his way around the diamond.

“We were on the bench during our first game,” Desmond said. “And in the middle of the game, A. J. turned to me and said, ‘Oh, I get it. Three swings and you’re out.’ ”

Desmond’s reaction?

“I just thought, ‘Oh, boy, we’ve got a long way to go.’ ”

Preventive measures: Scott Sharts’ quest for the Southern Section career home run record has given the Marmonte League favorable attention, but some league coaches are in no mood to cooperate with the Simi Valley slugger’s pursuit. Sharts has 23 home runs, two short of the record.

Newbury Park Coach Gary Fabricius is considering issuing Sharts nothing but intentional walks--even with the bases empty.

“He’s got all those games in Florida and Southern Section playoff games to break the record in,” Fabricius said. “Last year, my first year, I heard about this guy and I figured this is high school baseball and who’s heard of not challenging a guy. The first time up he hit a two-run home run.”

Add Sharts: Royal’s Mike McCurdy is the next coach to face the Sharts situation when the Highlanders play at Simi Valley today. McCurdy will start John Ward, who is 3-0 and eager to face Sharts, who won’t get any free passes from Royal.

“Ward has pitched the best for us and he’s pumped for the game,” McCurdy said. “We’re not thinking ball four at all. We want to go right at him. He’s a great hitter and if you throw a hitter’s strike, you better duck. But if we keep the ball down, mix some speed and locations, we can have some luck with him.”

Where it all began: Clay County High of Manchester, Ky., lost in the Kentucky state basketball final to Louisville Ballard on Saturday at Rupp Arena in Lexington. The Tigers had won 27 consecutive games, starting with a 95-91 victory over Simi Valley in the Beach Ball Classic in Myrtle Beach, S.C.

Richie Farmer, Clay County’s point guard, scored a record 51 points in the title game, 18 more than he had against the Pioneers.

Hard times: Sylmar’s softball team won the City 4-A championship last season. So far this year, however, the Spartans have taken a fall. A big fall.

Sylmar’s 2-3 record this season is not so bad, but one of the losses was a 16-8 defeat to Hart’s junior varsity . Despite that low point, the Spartans are not scrambling for the panic button--especially not first-year Coach Chuck Miller.

“We’re going to be turning things around real soon,” Miller said. “I’m not worried. We’ve got power, speed and defense.”

Sylmar has four returning starters, but all three outfielders are sophomores and second baseman Irene Aguilar has never played organized ball.

“We’ve got a new coach,” Miller said. “And they’re still getting used to my style of ball.”

Add softball: Notre Dame pitcher Becca Berline mowed down the opposition in the Glendale tournament, which the Knights won Saturday with a 13-1 win over Bell-Jeff.

Berline (7-2) had back-to-back, 13-strikeout, three-hit performances.

She defeated Burroughs, 1-0, in 10 innings. She also drove in the winning run with a single.

Berline won four tournament games and had 43 strikeouts and two walks.

Steven Fleischman and staff writers Tim Brown, Steve Elling, Vince Kowalick and John Lynch contributed to this notebook.