Despite Name, Pajcin Masters the U. S. Pastime

He has heard the catcalls from the stands, but after 14 years of teasing, he is getting used to it.

Kennedy designated-hitter Vladimir Pajcin, it seems, has been ragged about his first name as long as he can remember. In a game against Granada Hills last week, Pajcin, nicknamed “V. P.,” was called a Russian spy by a fan in the stands.

“Yeah, I heard him,” Pajcin said, laughing. “The funny thing is, I know that guy. My girlfriend got all over him.”

Opposing pitchers are well-acquainted with Pajcin, too. Last year, after batting .416 with 5 triples and 25 runs batted in, Pajcin was a second-team Mid-Valley League selection as a junior. After a slow start this season, Pajcin is back in the groove, batting .339 with 3 home runs and 16 RBIs. He also has hit safely in 10 of his past 11 games and is a primary reason Kennedy (11-3 in league play) has won eight games in a row and, with a win over Birmingham on Wednesday, can clinch its first league title since 1981.

While pitchers are aware of Pajcin’s presence, few know much about his background. Pajcin was born in Belgrade, Yugoslavia, and his family immigrated to the United States when Pajcin was 4 because employment opportunities for his father, a cabinet maker, were better here, Pajcin said.

While his father, a former professional soccer player, makes his living with wood, Pajcin is making his mark swinging it. But after a debilitating knee injury suffered during football season eliminated winter workouts, Pajcin was not getting wood on anything at the start of the season.

He was benched after three consecutive three-strikeout games. But while playing in a tournament during spring break, Pajcin--wearing new prescription glasses--rediscovered his timing and he has been on a tear since.

V. P.? More like VIP.

“Since V. P. started hitting, it’s made our offense that much stronger through the lineup,” Coach Dick Whitney said. “Pitchers can’t pitch around anybody now. He’s been crushing the ball.”

I told you so: Chaminade baseball Coach Steve Costley said it would be this way before the season started: The Eagles and St. Genevieve meet today at Chaminade in the final game of the regular season to decide the Santa Fe League title.

St. Genevieve (18-2-1, 12-0-1 in league play) can win the title outright with a victory, but if Chaminade wins, the Eagles (17-5-1, 11-1-1) will share the title and enter the Southern Section 2-A Division playoffs as the league’s top-seeded team. Earlier this season, the teams played to a scoreless tie.

“That No. 1-seeding is very important to us,” St. Genevieve Coach Kevin Kane said. “And so is winning the league title by ourselves.”

Roland De La Maza (6-1) of St. Genevieve and Chaminade’s Greg Baumgartner (4-0) are the scheduled starters.

De La Maza, a junior, has struck out 101 batters in 60 innings and walked only 16. He has 7 complete games, 3 shutouts and an earned-run average of 0.58.

Baumgartner has a 1.68 ERA and is batting .333 with 20 RBIs.

European vacation: If De La Maza gets in trouble, Kane likely will go to Mike Rohrbough (9-1. 1.92). This summer, however, Rohrbough will be traveling a lot farther than the distance between the mound and the bullpen. The St. Genevieve senior has been invited to pitch for Team North America in a tournament in Stockholm in July.

The tournament will involve teams from Sweden, Canada, Australia and the Soviet Union.

New all-star game: The Ventura County High School Baseball Coaches Assn. has added an extra all-star game this summer. The intra-county game for high school seniors has been scheduled for 1 p.m. on June 11 at Ventura College.

A 20-player team will be selected after that game to play on an all-star team representing high schools on the West Side of Los Angeles. That game will be played June 18 at Ventura College as the start of a home-and-home series.

Schools supplying players for the West Side team are Westchester, Venice, University, Hamilton, Palisades, Loyola, Santa Monica, Beverly Hills, Crossroads, St. Bernard and St. Monica.

On the rise: North Hollywood baseball Coach Brian York had much to say about his team at the beginning of the season. Unfortunately, little of it was printable.

But now that North Hollywood (10-10, 10-6) has won six of its past eight East Valley League games, the Huskies are out of York’s doghouse. North Hollywood is tied with Sylmar for second place with two games left after beating Verdugo Hills, 17-5, Monday and Fairfax, 6-3, Wednesday.

“This was our best game of the season,” York said after beating Verdugo Hills. “It appears we are finally putting things together. We were brutal in the beginning of the year. Our kids have worked hard and improved and I believe we’re competitive with any team in the league.”

The Huskies will get a chance to prove that next week when they play Sylmar and Poly, which clinched the league title last week.

Clarification: Poly’s Greg Nealon “saved” his own victory in Wednesday’s 5-3 win over Sylmar after pitching the first four innings and then returning to the mound in the seventh. The senior left-hander is credited with his ninth win but not his first save. According to the National Federation of State High School Assn. rule book, a player is not eligible for a save in a game in which he is the winning pitcher.

Pizza payoff: Although Reseda volleyball Coach Bob Berrenson was happy his team beat Hollywood in the first round of the City Section 3-A Division playoffs Wednesday, it was a sad state of affairs for his wallet.

Berrenson promised to treat his team to pizza if they ever shut out an opponent. And with Reseda ahead, 14-0, in the first game against Hollywood, the fans reminded Berrenson and his team that they weren’t playing for just a one-game lead.

“When they got to 14, everybody in stands was going ‘pizza, pizza,’ ” Berrenson said.

Reseda got the final point and before Domino’s could deliver, the Regents had Berrenson at a local pizza parlor with his wallet open.

“It cost me plenty,” Berrenson said.

Staff writers Vince Kowalick, Brian Murphy, John Lynch, Chris J. Parker and John Ortega contributed to this notebook.