World of Darrell Hussman Moves at Velocity of His Fastball

The past week and a half has been an eventful time in the life of Darrell Hussman.

So eventful he is ready for a break.

Hussman, a right-hander who recently graduated from Quartz Hill High, was the starting pitcher for the East in the Bernie Milligan All-Star game on June 18. He pitched three scoreless innings, although the West rallied to win the game in the 12th inning.

Then he joined other top players from California participating in the Sunbelt High School All-Star Classic in Oklahoma.

In the opener, Hussman pitched a two-hitter, mostly relying on a fastball that was consistently clocked in the 90-miles-per-hour range. Later in the tournament he earned a save, helping California to its third consecutive championship.

Finally on Wednesday, Hussman pitched for a Detroit Tigers’ scout league team.

Under the watchful eyes of Detroit’s scouting supervisor, Hussman, a 31st-round draft selection by the Tigers, struck out six and did not allow a hit in four innings.

Obviously, he is one red-hot right-hander.

But he’s also a tired one.

“Maybe I’ll go out and throw next week once,” Hussman said, “but I want some rest.”

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Sharp jab: Former world amateur champion Diobelis Hurtado impressed spectators with his athletic ability, but not his punching power, in winning a unanimous decision over Francisco Rodriguez of Tijuana last week in the monthly professional boxing show at the Warner Center Marriott.

Hurtado’s nickname is “Ring Dancer,” and he showed why, stepping circles around his frustrated opponent.

However, this exchange, overheard at ringside, summed up the response of local boxing fans to the still professionally undefeated (6-0) Cuban defector:

Fan No. 1: “Ring Dancer is right. This guy dances like Michael Jackson.”

Fan No. 2: “Looks like he punches like him, too.”

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Box office: On one judge’s card, George O’Mara last week lost every one of the 12 rounds he boxed against former heavyweight champion Mike Weaver. Another judge had him winning one. The other, two.

Where O’Mara won was with the fans, standing in against Weaver’s best punches, and occasionally sneaking in a few of his own.

Most of the crowd was chanting “George, George, George” for the better part of the final round.

When it was over, O’Mara turned toward his trainer, Pat Goossen, and shrugged and smiled as if to say, “Well, I gave it my best shot.”

Indeed, he did.

Said judge Pat Russell: “I just didn’t want to see George get hurt. But he stood in and actually delivered some licks. I was stunned.”

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Long ball: The California Stealth, an 18-and-under softball team, went to great lengths in order to qualify for the National Fastpitch Softball Championships to be held in Illinois in August.

Because California is allowed a limited amount of entries, the Stealth traveled to New Hampshire and defeated Central Massachusetts, 4-0, to gain its berth in the finals.

Included on the Stealths are Tami Jones and Ramona Shelburne of El Camino Real High, Cindy Sims, formerly of Quartz Hill High, and Saugus High pitcher Jamie Gillies.

Honors

Valley College is ranked 11th among the nation’s junior college teams in a preseason poll published in Bob Griese’s College Football ’95 yearbook.

Linebacker Troy Tuck, a 6-foot, 216-pound sophomore at Valley, was a first-team All-American selection by the publication.

The California Commotion, a major women’s fast-pitch softball team based in the San Fernando Valley, won the Canada Cup tournament title last week in British Columbia, defeating national teams from Japan, China, Netherlands, Chinese Taipei, Puerto Rico and Canada.

Quotebook

“I guess I’m going to have to start collecting aluminum cans, plastic bottles and having some barbecue fund raisers.”

--Johnna Jenkins, mother of Palmdale High track standout Kadrina Coffee, on how she’s going to pay for a car that she promised her daughter if she ever broke 54 seconds for 400 meters. Coffee did it last week.

“One of my concerns is [that] parents find out the kids [are] using drugs and don’t care. We’ve had kids who started using drugs because the parents gave them to them.”

--Phil McCune, football coach at Ventura High, which has instituted a drug-testing program.

Stats

When Kadrina Coffee of Palmdale High ran 53.96 seconds to finish second in the women’s 400 meters in last week’s USA Track & Field Junior (ages 14-19) championships at Mt. San Antonio College, she moved to fourth on the all-time region list.

Kennedy’s Denean (50.87 in 1982) and Sherri Howard (51.48 in ‘80), and Rio Mesa’s Marion Jones (52.91 in ‘91) rank ahead of Coffee. Denean Howard’s mark is still the national high school record.

Seth Barkley of the Panorama City American Legion baseball team recently had eight hits and five RBIs in 11 at-bats over three games.

* Compiled by Mike Hiserman. Contributing: Jeff Fletcher, Michael Lazarus, Paige A. Leech, John Ortega, Bryan Rodgers.