Sports : LEFT OUT

Two years after winning the College World Series, and for the first time since 1990, Pepperdine’s baseball season ended before the Memorial Day weekend.

The Waves (33-20) finished second in the West Coast Conference but did not receive one of the 24 at-large berths for the 48-team NCAA Division I playoffs.

Pepperdine’s chances were diminished because of the inordinate number of upsets in conference tournaments. Winners of conference tournaments are given automatic berths.

“It is tough to accept the fact that we didn’t get a bid after playing well the final two months of the season, facing the number of ranked nonconference opponents and finishing only one game behind Santa Clara in the final league standings,” Pepperdine Coach Andy Lopez said. “I believe we’re one of the top 48 teams in the nation. There were a few upsets in some of the conference tournaments, and that may have cost a team like us a spot in the field.”

Despite missing the tournament for the first time in four seasons, the Waves surpassed the 30-win mark for the 17th consecutive year.

The Waves also had four players selected to the all-WCC first team: sophomore outfielder Ryan Christenson, sophomore third baseman Ruben Gamboa, sophomore pitcher Cade Gaspar and senior pitcher Josh Schultz.

DOWN, BUT NOT OUT

Westchester’s baseball team was upset by Palisades, 4-3, Monday and finished second to University in the Western League.

Center fielder Tony Viramontes drove in the winning run with a two-out single as Palisades scored three runs in the top of the seventh. It was the third consecutive loss for the Comets (17-12), who began the season 1-7.

“A new four-game season starts Friday,” Westchester Coach Ron Kasparian said. “We’re not flat--we just had a streak of bad luck.

“Every team goes through periods like this. Hopefully, it doesn’t come at the end of the season, but it did.”

The Comets, 13-4 in the Western League, will need the bottom of their lineup to start hitting to make it to the City Section 4-A Division finals, which are scheduled June 6 at Dodger Stadium.

The Comets made their last championship appearance in 1984 when Ted Holcomb, San Francisco 49ers linebacker Ken Norton Jr. and Comet junior varsity coach DeWitt Cotton were on the team. Westchester lost in the ’84 final to Venice, 3-2.

Westchester won its only championship, a 3-A title, in 1983.

IT WAS A GOOD FRIDAY

Santa Monica Coach Pete McKellar and Crossroads Coach Bill Keep were successful in their playoff debuts Friday.

McKellar guided the Vikings to a 3-1 victory over Long Beach Millikan in a Southern Section Division I opener.

Santa Monica’s Gary Ovsiowitz hit a two-run double in the third inning and pitcher Sergio Gonzalez threw a three-hitter with six strikeouts for the win.

Simi Valley beat Santa Monica, 7-0, Tuesday in the second round.

“I wasn’t nervous,” McKellar said about his playoff debut. “I told the kids we needed to play some sound defense and come up with the big hits. Millikan is a traditional power and a tough team to beat in the playoffs. My main goal was to get the Vikings past the first round.”

Santa Monica (14-11) finished second in the Bay League. The team faltered in the first round the previous two seasons when McKellar was an assistant under Jose Lopez.

“Simi Valley has always been good,” McKellar said of the second-round game. “They have had some internal problems with their coach, but that hasn’t hurt them as a team.”

Crossroads (15-11) got a strong pitching performance from Juan Guzman to shut out Village Christian, 10-0, Friday in the Division V playoffs.

“We played one of the best games of the season against Brentwood,” Keep said about the 3-1 win over the Eagles on May 13. “The only question was whether we were going to let down in the playoffs or come ready to play.”

Keep had his doubts after Crossroads made fielding errors in the first two innings.

Village Christian had runners on second and third base with one out in the first and second innings, but Guzman (6-2) was able to pitch out of trouble.

“(Guzman) has been a success on the mound when we needed the big-game win,” Keep said.

Serrano beat the Roadrunners, 9-6, Tuesday in the second round.

POSTSEASON NOTES

* Venice won the boys’ swimming title for the first time in 26 years on May 18 at Belmont Plaza Olympic Pool in Long Beach. Henry Showers won the 200-yard individual medley in 1 minute, 59.29 seconds and the 500 freestyle in 4:53.19 to lead the Gondoliers. Palisades won the girls’ title for the 12th time in 13 years. Louise Baker swam 25.04 to win the 50, and 55.60 to win the 100. She also anchored the Dolphins’ 400 freestyle relay team to a winning time of 3:53.68.

* Sprinter Latroya Mucker of Hamilton ran 12.93 in the 100 meters and 26.48 in the 200 at the City preliminaries on Thursday at Birmingham High. She will compete in the City finals today at Birmingham.

Best chance to win their events in today’s City finals are distance runners Genevieve DeBose of Hamilton and Peter Gilmore of Palisades, hurdler Jason Brownlee of Hamilton, high jumper Larry Atkins of Venice, and sprinter/hurdler Rori Kelly of Westchester.

* Two of the nation’s top hurdlers, Tyson Murphy of Santa Monica and Kenny Haslip of Muir, will renew their rivalry in the 110-meter event at the Masters Meet Friday night at Cerritos College. Murphy ran 14.29 to finish second to Haslip (14.21), the state’s top-ranked hurdler, Saturday in the Southern Section Divisional finals at Cerritos College. St. Bernard freshman Malika Edmonson will compete in the 400 and anchor the Vikings’ 400 and 1,600 relay teams.