The Galveston Daily News from Galveston, Texas • Page 19

Scouts have eyes on young Texans DALLAS (AP) Once again, the eyes of professional baseball scouts are upon young, promising prospects from Texas. And on June 2, when the amateur draft begins, several of the state's ripest could be taken in the first round. "The scouts have toid me this is the best crop to come out of Texas in the draft era," said Allan Simpson, editor of "BaseballAmerica." "Four, maybe even five, should go in the first round. There have never been more than three in any one year. There seems to be even more talent than usual; 15 or 20 Texas high school players may be drafted in the first five rounds." In the 21 years of the draft, 33 Texans have been drafted in the first round.

Scouts attribute the traditionally strong state talent to population, climate and coaching. "I used to work in New England, and you would have to drive for miles before you see a good prospect," said Stan Saleski, a New York Yankees scout. "Here you can drive for an hour and find four good prospects." Bill Scudder, the Prairiland High School baseball coach, has been entertaining scouts from everywhere with their eyes on gifted pitcher Scott Scudder. "We've never had major league scouts corne to one of our ballgames," Bill Scudder said. "We've met people you just read a bout." Scott Scudder is one of several Texas high school players who have a chance of being drafted early.

Daryl Green, a righthander from Nacogdoches, has been clocked at 94 rnph, and is 17-0 with 108 strikeouts and a 1 3. ERA. "The thing they all have told me is he's one of the few prospects improving," said Nacogdoches coach Bobby Reyes. "The other thing they like is he's a competitor. He's able to reach back and find thatlittleextra." At Houston Smiley, catcher Paul Williams' power has also attracted scouts.

He began the season with 22 hits in 45 at- bats, including eight doubles and four homers. Thomas Jefferson pitcher Mike Moscrey, who is 14-0 with 150 strikeouts, heads a list of Dallas area prospects. Piano East catcher Steve Piskor and Dallas Jesuit pitcher Mike Grimes are also expected to be drafted. TRUCKLOAD OPEN ALL DAY SATURDAY! Bill Martin TIRE AND AUTO REPAIR DISCOUNT PRICES Vv Miles FULL SET OF PREMIUM STEEL BELTED RADIALS 3 FOR FOR FOR SERVICE IN AND OUT QUICK Cooper TIRES (FREE FREEPiCKU MOUNTING ROTATION TIRE REPAIR PICKUP DELIVERY TRENDSETTER 2 fiberglass polyester i rnrri nlio Steel-belted; all-season Original equipment ATTENTION SMALL CAR OWNERS STEEL BELTED RADIALS 4 FOR $88 BLEMISH WITH NEW CREDIT APPLICATION Includes up to 5 quarts of oil with approved cred.t on INSTANT CREDIT 90 DAYS SAME AS CASH TEXAS CITY GALVESTON TRADEWINDS CENTER 2302 BROADWAY 2230 61st ST. 948-3417 765-7781 744-5787 Thursday Morning, May Ofolueaton 0miu Nous 5-B Niedenfuer gets another black eye XT 11 1 NEW YORK (AP) Life was going bad enough for Tom Niedenfuer, Los Anpeles Dodgers' bad-luck relief pitcher, when a mouse showed up under his Jeft eye.

He has only three saves in the nine games he has finished this season, and 11 of the 17 last runners he inherited have scored. of the last 20 hitters who led off against him have gotten hits, including three home runs. The most damaging of those home runs came Tuesday night when George Foster of the New York Mels hit a sixth-inning grand slam in an 8-1 Dodgers loss. "It's been awfully tough," Niedenfuer said. "It'sheen a bad six weeks.

I'm on a low." Niedenfuer reportedly had tried to play peacemaker in a pregame confrontation between teammates Steve Sax and Greg Brock. Then, after giving up the homer to Foster, he hit Hay Knight with a pilch, sparking a brawl between the two learns. And Niedenfuer wound up with another black eye. Niedenfuer received the worst black eye of his career, a figurative sort, when he gave up home runs to Ozzie Smith and Jack Clark of St. Louis during the National League playoffs last season.

The two homers cost the Dodgers Games 5 arid ti of the playoffs and sent the Cardinals into the World Series. "That has nothing to do with this. "1'rn throwing hard. I have no consistency," said Niedenfuer, who had a shiner under his left eye and other marks on his face after the fight. "Hut as a relief pitcher, everything gets magnified." After the game, both Brock and Sax made light of the situation and playing cards in the trainer's room.

"1 was shocked by stories of a fight," Brock said. "We grew up together, came up through the 'Dodgers; system together. We go a long way back. Sure, we had a disagreement, but not a fight. I wish had something better to tell you." Sax joked about the report.

"He asked my girlfriend out, and I asked his wife out," Sax said. Loyola Marymount making CWS debut OMAHA, Neb. (AP) There are no secrets about Loyola Marymount's sudden success in college baseball, says Dave Snow, second-year coach of the Los Angeles school. "When I came in here I didn't have a five- year plan or a three-year plan. We set immediate goals," the former Cal State-Fullerton assistant coach said.

"We tried to establish a positive attitude a winning attitude and not use every excuse available." Snow didn't need many excuses as his 198(j team rose to a No. 1 national ranking at one point during the season. The Lions also earned the school's first trip to the College World Series, which begins Friday in Omaha. Loyola takes a 49-13 record into Friday's 4:10 p.m. CDT opening game against LSU, 54-12.

Arizona, 45-18, meets Maine, 41-21, in Friday's second game at In Saturday's opening round, defending champion Miami, 47-15. meets Oklahoma State, 54-13, at 4:10 p.m. Indiana State, 48-19, faces Florida State, 57-11, at "It's an outstanding field of teams," Snow- said. "We don't have the national reputation a lot of those teams do, or the tradition a lot of them do. But I wouldn't count this group out.

This team has a lot of heart We play more on heart than we do on talent." Snow said his team has won most of its games this season in come-from-behind fashion. "We've been a good back-to-the-wall team all year long." he said. "We don't have a lot of depth. We've had to make the right decisions with our pitching all year long. The heart of our club has been our Leading the assault for the Lions is Billy Bean with a .364 batting average.

Jirn Holleran hits Steve Polk .354 and Chris Donnels .344. Donnels also has a team-leading 20 homers. Loyola carries a .325 team batting average. Loyola has not faced any of the teams in the double-elimination College World Series. "We had Arizona on our schedule but we didn't get to play the game." Snow said.

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