Notebook : Harbor College Baseball a Beneficiary of Sport’s Demise at West L.A. Campus

Harbor College baseball Coach Jim O’Brien, entering his 12th year at the school, says that his new catcher, George Pedre, is “the most awesome power hitter I have ever coached.”

When Pedre played for Coach Art Harris last year on the now-defunct West Los Angeles College team, Harris said the same thing about Pedre. So did Dave Ruebsamen, his coach at Culver City High School.

Pedre is one of three former WLAC players to transfer to Harbor since Harris’ baseball program was dropped, one of the victims of budget cutting and layoffs and reassignments of coaches in the Los Angeles Community College District. The other ex-Oilers at Harbor are outfielder Cotton DeWitt and outfielder-first baseman DeWayne Montgomery.

Three others who played for Westside schools are also at Harbor: Charlie German, who pitched for University High School, first baseman Billy Keep from Culver City High and former Santa Monica College first baseman James Sherman.

Harbor and Long Beach City College were co-champions of the old Metropolitan Conference last year. O’Brien’s Seahawks, who finished with a 27-13 overall record last season, will play this year in the Southern California Athletic Conference.

A group of past and present UCLA soccer players are listed on the rosters of three teams in the Western Soccer Alliance, a league affiliated with the U.S. Soccer Federation. The alliance, which includes three Southern California teams among its six clubs, began its third season this week.

Three former Bruins, who are also members of the U.S. national team, are among players for the L.A. Heat--goalkeeper David Vanole, sweeper Eric Biefeld and forward Jeff Hooker. Former UCLA midfielder Hubert Rotteveel also is with the Heat, which plays its home games at El Camino College.

Bruin sophomores Anton Nistl, a goalie; Steve Black, a midfielder, and Lucas Martin, a forward, are members of the San Diego Nomads.

In addition, goalie Mike Page, who played at Santa Monica High School and Cal State Los Angeles, returns for the defending champion California (formerly Hollywood) Kickers.

The Heat recently lost an exhibition match in Torrance, 1-0, to Dynamo Moscow, reportedly one of the Soviet Union’s best teams.

Other teams in the league are in Seattle, Portland and San Jose.

The Beverly Hills Stars, a soccer team of girls ages 10 and 11, won the American Youth Soccer Organization Area P championship with a 17-0 record. Their undefeated season set a record in their division.

Area P includes Pacific Palisades, Culver City, Santa Monica, Rancho Park, the Wilshire District and West Los Angeles. Beverly Hills defeated the Culver City Bruisers, 2-1, in the championship game.

The Stars will go to sectional playoffs that begin at 9:30 a.m. Saturday at Neilsen Park in Westchester. The sectional final is March 28 in Upland.