Slimak’s Problems Weren’t Limited to Baseball Field

Last week was definitely forgettable for Marty Slimak.

On April 26, the Cal Lutheran baseball coach had the family’s aging Chesapeake Bay retriever euthanized. The next night, the baseball team’s equipment shack was ransacked.

“They took our entire sound system that was worth about $4,000,” Slimak said. “It wasn’t even a year old. They destroyed a bunch of equipment. They damaged a pitching machine and even took our radar gun.”

The radar gun was worth about $1,300 and Slimak figures the thieves will try to sell it.

Then the Kingsmen (24-12) lost twice to Chapman and twice to Division I Cal State Northridge to finish the regular season with a five-game losing streak that might have cost them an invitation to the Division III West Regional on May 14-16. They’ll know for sure on Sunday.

Everything wasn’t a total drag because the family has a Labrador retriever puppy.

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What a difference a game makes.

Glendale College learned that harsh reality this week when the Southern California regional baseball pairings were announced.

Glendale (24-15) is bottom-seeded in the 16-team regional and faces top-seeded Saddleback (32-9) in a best-of-three series starting Friday in Mission Viejo.

The Vaqueros and late-charging Pierce (23-14) tied for first place in the Western State Conference South Division with 16-10 records, but the Brahmas won the season series, 3-2.

So Pierce, back in the playoffs after a one-year absence, was seeded No. 9 and matched against No. 8-seeded Harbor (27-14) in another series.

But, hey, at least Glendale gets to play on a nice field. The Saddleback facility was overhauled last year and is home to the minor league Mission Viejo Vigilantes.

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Who would have thunk it?

Wide receivers Maurice Bryant, who played at Valley in 1994-95, and Rodney Williams, who played at Pierce in 1994, recently signed as free agents, Bryant with the Tennessee Oilers and Williams with the Oakland Raiders.

Bryant, 6 feet and 190 pounds, attended Monroe High but didn’t play football. He had 49 receptions for University of Houston the last two seasons, including 39 for 483 yards and one touchdown last year.

Rob Phenicie, Cal State Northridge’s offensive coordinator and wide receivers coach at Valley from 1992-96, is delighted about Bryant’s success.

“He just kind of showed up over at Valley,” Phenicie said. “He went from not playing organized football to this. He overcame a lot just to get to the University of Houston. I’m so happy for him.”

Williams, 6-1 and 190 pounds, played football and baseball at Palmdale High, and was in the Kansas City Royals’ minor-league system for two years before enrolling at Pierce.

He had 41 receptions for 687 yards and six touchdowns for Pierce, and spent the past three seasons playing for Arizona, where he ranks fourth on the school’s career receptions list with 112 and fourth in yards with 1,538.

Although they have reserves Desmond Howard, Kenny Shedd and Olanda Truitt, the Raiders reportedly are looking for other alternatives on third down and in three-receiver formations.

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Trivia time: Bryant’s school, Monroe, produced a solid quarterback who shined at Stanford and later played in the NFL. Who was he?

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Former Simi Valley High and Moorpark College quarterback Jeremie Watkins has contacted Northridge about walking on with the Matadors.

“He’s supposed to meet with me,” said Ron Ponciano, Northridge’s first-year coach. “We’ve got the releases [from Arkansas State]. . . . He’s got a desire to play ball.”

Watkins is graduating in June from Arkansas State, where he started off and on the past two seasons. He has one year of eligibility remaining.

Northridge has four quarterbacks in the program--junior Josh Fiske, redshirt freshman Marcus Brady, junior college transfer David Lins and Eliseo Capellino, a freshman walk-on from St. Monica High.

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Ponciano said the Matadors are about to lose starting tackle Julio Alcala for next season.

“He is having surgery for a herniated disk,” Ponciano said. “When and where is the issue.”

Alcala, 6-4 and 275 pounds, last year transferred to Northridge from Colorado State.

The Matadors are hoping to replace him with John Raymond, a former Street & Smith All-American at Buena High and an All-Western State Conference selection at Moorpark College.

Raymond, 6-7 and 320 pounds, last season played at Pittsburgh.

“He’s trying to finish the semester at Pittsburgh,” Ponciano said.

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Trivia answer: Guy Benjamin, now an assistant at Hawaii.

Staff writer Dan Loumena contributed to this column.