Valley Dodgers to Make Pitch for NBC Title : Infusion of 5 Hurlers Gives Team a Big Boost

The National Baseball Congress World Series has always been a showcase for baseball’s best amateur and semipro pitchers. Some of the greatest in baseball history have passed through the tournament on their way to big reputations and even bigger money in the major leagues.

In 1935, Satchel Paige took the mound for Bismarck, N. D., and went 4-0, striking out 60 batters in five games--a record that still stands. Don Sutton and Roger Clemens are among the others who left their marks in Wichita, Kan., where the 54th annual tournament is being played during the next two weeks.

The San Fernando Valley Dodgers, who play an opening-round game today against the Hartselle (Ala.) Expos, will need all the pitching they can get if the team hopes to improve on last season’s 11th-place finish in the 32-team, double-elimination tournament. At least, that’s the opinion of Dodger Manager Mark Morton, whose 12th-seeded team received a collective shot in the arm with the acquisition of five pitchers in the last week.

“You never have enough pitching,” said Morton, who plans to start newly-acquired left-hander Fili Martinez against ninth-seeded Hartselle (31-10).

Martinez, who will be a senior next season at Cal State Northridge, was 9-2 this summer for the San Francisco Senators in the Alaska Summer League.

The Dodgers (32-9) also picked up left-hander John Willard, who is transferring from Baylor to Loyola Marymount next season, and right-handers Chance Gledhill (Nevada Las Vegas), Leo Ramirez (Northridge) and Vale Lopez (Oxnard College).

Add those five to a staff that already includes former Northridge right-hander Dan Penner (5-1) and USC reliever Tim Quintanilla (5-2, 3 saves) and, all of a sudden, the Dodgers may have a team formidable enough to challenge teams such as the Kenai Peninsula (Alaska) Oilers (25-12), the Santa Maria Indians (41-5) and the Madison (Wis.) A’s--the top three seeded teams in the tournament.

“I don’t think anyone is going to dominate the tournament this year,” tournament director Larry Davis said. “This year, it’s a toss-up.”

The Dodgers are led on offense by designated hitter Mark Gieseke (.432, 4 home runs, 25 runs batted in). Other top hitters include Ted Higgins (.384, 8 home runs, 33 RBIs), Corey Aurand (.364, 7 home runs, 16 RBIs and 26 stolen bases), Albert Kolesar (.342, 5 home runs, 18 RBIs) and Jeff Light (.446, 2 home runs, 17 RBIs).