The Philadelphia Inquirer from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania • Page 68

14-E Sunday, June 12, 1988 The Philadelphia Inquirer Two high school stars may realize their dreams IIIGH SCHOOLS By GARY MILES Although Steffens said that several scouts indicated to him before the draft that he might go as high as the fifth or sixth round, he said that his demand that the signing bonus be worth at least as much as the college scholarships he was being offered made some teams back off. Steffens was hoping to be paid $60,000 to $75,000 to sign. Connor said the Mets and White Sox were the most interested teams early on. "In a way, I put my foot in my mouth," Steffens said. "One scout told me the night before the draft that they couldn't pay me that much.

So, I told him I probably wouldn't sign. I wised up by the morning, though. I saw a Phillies scout the morning of the draft and he asked me what I would sign for. I said, "A few hours later, the Phillies picked me." Connor said Steffens was considering offers from Cochise College in Douglas, and other junior colleges in Florida and Maryland. "Wherever he goes, he'll be successful," Connor said.

That's another thing Steffens and Fidler have in common. last two years is not all that impressive. He was 3-1 as a junior and 3-2 this season. But his other statistics are outstanding. He struck out 59 batters and walked just 23 in 33 innings this year and ended with a 1.27 ERA.

He played outfield when he wasn't pitching and hit .285 with a team-high 18 RBIs. "He has the potential to be the best player I have ever been associated with," said Brader, who has coached at Methacton for 16 years. "He throws hard. He has an outstanding breaking ball. And he's very intelligent.

If he can put all that together, he'll be very successful." Fidler would not reveal how much money he was paid to sign with the Mets he said it was "enough" but he did show up at school three days after the draft with a 1987 Mustang GT. "I thought, 'Why he said. Unlike Fidler, who did not blossom until last summer, Steffens' climb to high school prominence took place as soon as he joined the Germantown Academy team as a freshman. Before the season was five games old, Steffens had moved up from the junior varsity and taken the starting center- fielder's job. "One of the things that impressed me most about Mark was that he not only had natural ability to hit the ball consistently with power, but he worked hard to become a complete baseball player," Germantown Academy coach Jim Connor said.

"When he was a sophomore, he hit .360, but he struck out too often. And he pulled everything, so the infielders eventually shaded him one way all the time. "So, we talked with him about cutting down on his swing, and he worked all during the off-season. When he came back in his junior year, he improved his batting average by 100 points and struck out just twice. His last at-bat this year was a home run against Chestnut Hill that went 400 feet to left-center field." Steffens, who graduated Friday afternoon and celebrated by playing in an American Legion game Friday night, first drew the attention of pro scouts in his freshman season when he hit well against Chestnut Hill pitcher David Healy.

Healy was being watched by several major-league scouts, including the Phillies' Joe Reilly. But when the group saw Stef fens pound the ball all over the field, they knew they would be spending a lot of time at Germantown Academy in the next three seasons. A year later, Steffens was named to the Inter-Ac's starting lineup at the Carpenter Cup tourney. In his first at-bat at Veterans Stadium, he tripled off the left-field wall. In his second at-bat, he homered over the right-field wall.

"After that, the scouts followed Mark everywhere," Connor said. This season, Germantown Academy traveled to Florida for a few preseason games and Steffens hit a 450-foot grand slam in his first at-bat. He ended this season with a .403 average, four doubles, seven triples, five home runs and 27 RBIs. "One of the biggest hurdles he had to overcome was being a known quantity," Connor said. "Every pitcher knew him.

He had to develop patience, wait for his pitch and understand that he may never get it. And to his credit, he did that. "Another thing that impressed me about Mark was that he didn't let the attention that was showered on him interfere with his teamwork," Connor said. "He was a team player all the way." i' Methacton pitcher Andy Fidler and Germantown Academy center-fielder Mark Steffens have shared the dream of playing professional baseball since they each learned how to hold a ball about 16 years ago. i Both players took a step closer to that goal on June 2 when they were Selected by major-league clubs in the annual amateur draft.

Fidler was selected by the New York Mets in the 10th round, and Steffens was selected by. the Phillies in the 23d round. But the two players had different reactions to being drafted. Fidler signed with the Mets almost immediately, while Steffens declined the Phillies' offer and opted to attend a junior college, hoping to improve his standing for next year's draft. "This way, I'm not tied down," Stef-, fens said.

"I can have the best of both worlds. I can improve my game at a quality college program and still out in the draft again next Vyear. I'm looking forward to that." Fidler is looking forward to play- frig with Sarasota in the Gulf Coast League next week. A 6-foot, 6-inch, ST 190-pound lefthander, Fidler had to choose between signing with the Mets or attending Old Dominion Uni- versity. and Bicentennial for all-star team Inter-Ac combine By Gary Miles inquirer Stall Writer The Inter-Ac League will play its first game in this week's Carpenter Cup all-star tournament at Veterans Stadium on Friday against the Catholic League.

And so will the Bicentennial League. Because the nine-team Bicentennial League applied for admission into the tri-state round-robin tourney this year, the organizers directed the six-team Inter-Ac League to combine with the Bicentennial League to form the Inter-AcBicentennial all-star team. Last Sunday, all-star teams from both leagues played a qualifying game, and the Inter-Ac won, 10-3. With the win, the Inter-Ac earned 21 spots on the 30-player roster of the combined all-star team. The Bicentennial League was limited to nine spots.

"I'm happy that the players from the Bicentennial get to play in the tourney, but it limits the participation of our league," said Bill Ford, the coach of Malvern Prep of the Inter-Ac and the head coach of the combined all-star team. "In the last two years, 10 or 12 of the kids who played for us were underclassmen, and that participation went a long 14 1 1 Horn (shortstop), Chris Brassell (outfield) and Chris Simon (outfield); Germantown Academy's Mike Cole (pitcher), and Haverford School's Dan Moyer (outfield). The Bicentennial League players on the team are Christopher Dock's Carl Ness (pitcher), Mike Childs (catcher) and John Leonard (pitcher-first base); Holy Ghost Prep's Chris Moy (pitcher-outfield); Bristol's Ray Seifert (pitcher-first baseman); Archbishop Kennedy's Len Bracale (catcher) and Dan Ma-gee (shortstop); Jenkintown's Ted Whalen (third base), and Morris-ville's Lew Hollish (outfield). The Carpenter Cup opens Thursday with Mercer County (N.J.) meeting South Jersey North at 10:30 a.m., South Jersey Central meeting Delaware at 2:30 p.m., and South Jersey South meeting the Public League at 6:30 p.m. Friday's games have the Chest-Mont playing the Suburban One American at 10:30 a.m., the Del-Val Central playing the Suburban One National at 2:30 p.m., and the Inter-AcBicentennial playing the Catholic League at 6:30 p.m.

The second round is set for next Sunday, the semifinals are June 20 and the championship is June 22 after the Phillies game. I tj ''1 "'f; HIGH SCHOOL SCOREBOARD way in developing them for their senior year and giving them exposure to scouts. We'll miss that." Ford said he was particularly concerned about losing some of the players who played in the tourney last year because the Catholic League is returning several veteran players. "Playing in the Vet is a big thing," Ford said. "It's nice to have some guys who have been there before." Despite the addition of the Bicentennial League players, Ford does have some players with tourney experience.

Germantown Academy centerfielder Mark Steffens clubbed a home run and triple two years ago as a sophomore, and Malvern Prep third baseman Gary Duda played well in the tourney last year. Joining those two on the team from the Inter-Ac League will be Penn Charter's Jim Michel (pitcher), Paul Murphy (pitcher), Craig Cubin (outfield), Mike Cooley (designated hitter), T.A. Sprat (shortstop) and Dave Nanni (first base-outfield); Malvern Prep's Tim Kerns (pitcher-first base), Mike Rooney (third base), Mike Hickey (catcher) and Jeff Spenser (pitcher); Episcopal's Tony List (second base), Todd Ma-gargee (outfield) and Marc Matar-azzo (outfield); Chestnut Hill Academy's Brian Horn (second base), Alan Shuttle hurdles Penn Wood 1:01.9 Bensalem 1:04.5 Springfield (D) 1:04.8 converted from auto timed, converted from yards. Baseball standings (Through Saturday) PUBLIC Division A League Overall Central Frankford Washington Northeast Mastbaum Franklin Southern Roxborough Lincoln Lamberton Bartram Olney Edison 12 11 10 8 8 6 5 5 5 4 2 2 1 2 4 4 6 7 7 7 8 10 10 12 18 19 11 11 12 7 6 6 12 5 13 League Overall Division Kensington Bok Gratz Dobbins Eng. Science L.

King Univ. City Germantown Overbrook West Phila F.L. Center William Penn forfeited all games. 2 2 2 4 4 4 6 6 8 8 8 11 CATHOLIC Northern Division League Overall -La Salle Father Judge Bishop Egan Arch. Ryan Bish.

Kenrick North Cath C. Dougherty Arch. Wood Bish McDevitt league champion. 13 12 11 11 8 6 5 4 2 3 4 5 5 8 10 11 12 14 21 17 16 14 13 10 16 8 17 6 16 5 17 League Overall Southern Division "There was never really any doubt for me," Fidler said. "I knew that if I was selected, I would sign.

It's been a dream for me all my life, and now I have a chance to make it come true." Fidler's ascent to high school stardom began last summer when area scouts noticed him pitching for J. P. Mascaro of the Greater Norristown American Legion league. When the high school season opened this year, the scouts flocked to Methacton's games. "Andy handled that part of it very well," said Lee Brader, Methacton's head coach.

"He said he was nervous before a few games. But if he was, he didn't show it. The rest of the team just enjoyed all the attention. There were a half-dozen scouts at most of our games." Fidler's won-loss record over the and Lantrell Williams won the high jump at 4 feet, 8 inches.Hendrix (200 dash), Smith (400 run), Bradford (1,600, Harris (100 hurdles) and sophomore Stacey Lewis (high jump) all took second-place finishes. Harris (300 hurdles), Lewis (100 hurdles and shot put) and Wallace added third-place finishes.

"I prefer the distance events over the sprints," said Washington. "I seem to place better in longer runs. My idea of a good race in the 800 is to take it easy and stay with the crowd early, then pick it up at the end and go all out." Although Overbrook won the boys' team title behind the first-place finishes of DeWayne Cooper (400), Derek Brown Will Campbell Donovan Nelson (400 hurdles) and the 3,200 relay team of Cooper, Michael Thomas, Leroy Wilson and Walter Jones, Charles Sawyer of University City had perhaps the best individual performance of the day. Sawyer won the 100 dash in 10:87 and the 200 in 21.78 and ran on the Jaguars' victorious 1,600 relay team. George Ponzo, Vincent Scott and Kevin Chambliss joined Sawyer to edge Central in that race and win in 3:24.34.

Other outstanding performances in the meet included Dobbins' Kevin Hill's victory in the 800 run in 1:58.97, Penn's Kevin Reed's victory in the 110 hurdles in 15.1, Central's Courtney Taylor's wins in the long jump (22-2'2) and triple jump (44-104) and OIney's Darnell Perry's win in the pole vault (12-0). Hill also finished second in the 1,600, and Reed was third in the 400 hurdles. "Kevin finished third in the crosscountry championships last year, but i 4 The Philadelphia Inqutrar JERRY LODRIGUSS Overbrook's Derek Brown en route to a meet record of 4 minutes, 24.90 seconds in the 1,600 meters. Washington saves her best for last leading Wm. Penn to girls' title Boys' track honor roll As reported to The Inquirer: only maor meets considered.

100 meters Jerry Paterson, W.C. Henderson 10.5 Troy Vincent, Pennsbory 10.5 Charles Sawyer, University City 10.6 200 Charles Sawyer, University City 21.54 Jerry Paterson, W.C. Henderson 21. 57 Steve Branche, Penn Wood 21.8 Kevin Hamilton, Coatesville 21.8 400 Jerry Patterson, W.C. Henderson 48 2 Dayne Kirksey, Pennsbury 48 83 Erwm Church, Penn Wood 48.83 800 Andy Tiefenthaler, Phoenixville 1:52.83 Kevin Coll.

Perkiomen Valley 1:53.74 Wayne Smith, Wissahickon 1:53.86 1.500 Shawn Schneider, Arch. Ryan 3:58.26 Gabe Wilson, Devon Prep 3:58 70 Jonathan Frieder, Abington 4:09 8 1,600 Gary Morrison, Marple 4:16.39 Philip Mellott, Owen J. Roberts 4:18 2 Gabe Wilson, Devon Prep 4:18.8 3.000 Shawn Schneider, Arch. Ryan 8:35 8 Randy Lowe, Interboro 8:36.5 Derek Brown, Overbrook 8:45.1 3,200 Randy Lowe, Interboro 9:21 8 Dan Goettle, U. Moreland 9:30.15 Shawn Schneider, Archbishop 9:31.5 110 hurdles Greg Rogers, Bensalem 14.3 Matt Howard, Bensalem 14.4 Rich Elijah, Glen Mills 14 6 Adrian Johnson.

Penn Wood 14.6 Bill Coleman. Penn Wood 14 6 Kevin Thomas, Upper Darby 14.6 300 hurdles Bill Coleman, Penn Wood 38 9 Steve Coren, Haverford High 39.0 Greg Rogers, Bensalem 39 5 Warwick, Pennndge 39.5 Tom Martin, Central Bucks East 39 5 Sean Jackson, Springfield (M) 39.5 Rich Elijah, Glen Mills 39.5 400 hurdles Bill Coleman, Penn Wood 55.6 Ervin Bryant. Coatesville 55.9 Jeff Wade, McDevitt 55.9 High jump Gregg Mullen, Hatborc-Horsham 6-9 Steve Trombetta. Archbishop Ryan 6-9 Jay Richards, North Penn 6-8 Kirk Queenan, Wissahickon 6-8 Long jump Ulandis Jones, Ridley 23-4'4 Kirk Queenan, Wissahickon 22-7 Randy Cuthbert, Central Bucks West. 22-4 Triple jump Scott Taylor, Cheltenham 46-2 Jumanne Smith, Central 45-7 Leon Howard, Penn Wood 45-54 Shot put Eric Jessup, Hatboro-Horsham 56-9V4 Oliver Strickland, West Phila 66-6'4 Howard Soltos, Boyertown 55-104 Discus Kraig O'Keefe.

Council Rock 167-7 Tony Rice. Strath Haven 153-1 Bryan Moser, Neshammy 151-0 JaveKn Dan Taylor. Bishop McDevitt 211-1 Bill Vergantmo, Neshammy 203-5 Barry Lepon, Coatesville 200-11 Pole vault Mason Ternay, Lower Merion 15-0 Dave Wilmore, Upper Dublin 14-5 Brian Campbell, North Penn 14-0 400 relay Penn Wood 42 08 Glen Mills 42 5 Coatesville 42.9 800 relay Glen Mills Penn Wood Upper Merion 1:31 1.6O0 relay Pennsbury 3: 17 5 Glen Mills 317 62 Wissahickon 3:19 84 3.200 relay Haverford High 7:63 29 La Salle 7 54 3 Pottstown 7:56.28 Sprint medley Wissahickon 3 37 Chester 3 38 Malvern 3:40.4 Distance medley Archbishop Ryan 10 27 4 La Salle 10 46 4 Haverford High 10:51 5 SUB. NAT. League Overall Patriot Division x-Council Rock 12 4 14 6 Neshammy 10 6 12 6 Pennsbury 10 6 11 8 Truman 8 8 9 8 Bensalem 3 12 3 14 Wm.

Tennent 2 13 2 15 clinched title. League OveraH Colonial Division x-North Penn 13 3 1(5 4 Abington 11 5 14 7 Norristown 8 8 10 9 Pennndge 8 8 10 10 C.B. West 6 10 8 12 C.B. East 5 11 7 12 clinched title. DEL-VAL League Overall x-Chichester 11 0 12 1 Interboro 9 5 10 7 Sun Valley 7 6 9 8 Academy Park 6 6 6 7 Glen Mills 6 7 7 8 Penn Wood 5 7 7 10 Harmon 4 9 5 12 Chester 3 11 3 12 clinched title.

CHES-MONT League Overall x-Downingtown 9 2 15 5 W.C. East 7 5 13 7 Boyertown 7 5 12 6 W.C. Henderson 7 5 11 7 Coatesville 6 6 7 9 O.J. Roberts 4 8 6 11 Great Valley 1 10 2 15 clinched title. PIONEER League Overall x-Phoemxville 13 0 18 2 Spring-Ford 9 -4 21 4 St.

Pius 8 5 13 10 Perk. Valley 6 7 ,9 9 Pottsgrove 6 7 ,6 7 Pottstown 5 8 ,5 11 Upper Perkiomen 3 10 5 13 LansdaleCath 2 11 4 12 clinched title. BICEN. League Overall ,1 x-Holy Ghost 12 2 ...15 4 Chris. Dock 10 14 6 Arch.

Kennedy 1 0 4 13 8 Bristol 5 8 10 Morrisville 5 7 9 Jenkintown 5 i 9 "9 10 Devon Prep 4 10 "8 12 New Hope-Sole 2 10 12 clinched title. SO. CHESTER League Overall x-Octorara 11 1 13 2 Oxford 8 4 10 6 Unionville 8 4 9 6 Bish. Shanahan 5 7 8 12 Garnet Valley 5 7 9 11 Avon Grove 3 8 6 9 Kennett 1 10 1 13 clinched title. FRDS.

SCH. League Overall x-Germ Friends 5 0 14 5 George School 3 2 9 4 Frds. Central 3 2 4 8 Westtown Sch 2 3 4 6 Abington Frds 1 4 3 7 Moorestown Frds 14 2 9 won tournament. KEYSTONE League Overall x-Perkiomen Sch 10 0 17 4 Christian Ac 7 3 9 5 Delco Chr 6 4 9 5 Plumstead Chr 5 5 5 8 Cedar Grove 2 8 2 11 Phil-Mont Chr 0 10 1 14 clinched title won tourney. INDEPENDENTS Overall The Hill School 1 5 Ac.

New Church 5 5 Girard College Valley Forge 1 1 St. J. Neumann 10 4 13 7 West Catholic 8 6 13 12 Msgr. Bonner 8 6 17 8 St. Joseph's 7 7 11 10 Card.

O'Hara 6 8 9 14 Arch. Carroll 6 8 10 12 St. James 5 8 9 9 Roman Cath 5 8 9 11 INTER-AC League Overall y-Malvem 8 2 12 5 y-Penn Charter 8 2 16 4 Episcopal 4 6 10 7 Chestnut Hill 5 5 12 9 Germantown Ac 4 6 9 9 Haverford Sch 1 9 5 16 tied for title. CENTRAL League Overall J. By Gary Miles tnqutrtr stall Wnlcr William Penn runner Kim Wash-i ington labored in the shadow of all-' league hurdler Camille Hendrix for much of the Public League track and field season this year.

But Washington saw an opportunity to grab a piece of the limelight in Tuesday's league championship meet at Villanova and that she did. "I knew this was my last high school meet, and I wanted to do the yery best I could," said Washington, who is planning to attend college next year but is still undecided about where. "In a way, I wasn't that wor-I ried because I knew that the good I competition would force me to do my best." Washington responded to the competition by winning the 800-meter run in 2 minutes, 21.01 seconds and helping the Lions win their fifth straight girls' team title and 10th in the last 14 years under coach Tim Hickey. "Kim is an outstanding competitor," Hickey said. "She has worked very hard all season, and her success in this meet shows how developed she has become." Washington also ran on Penn's vie-, torious 400, 1,600 and 3,200 relay teams.

She teammed with Hendrix, Felisha Harris and Lakeya Smith to win the 400 relay in 49.54 seconds; with Harris, Smith and Pnmro.se Channer to win l.w0 in 402.72, and with Charmer, Cliffae Wallace and Najah Bradford to win the 3,200 fn 10:23.25. a testament to Penn's depth this Season, freshman Marsha Rush added a victory in the 400 run (56.69) he fell sick in May and missed about three weeks," said Dobbins coach Rich Yankowitz. "He's only been back in training for about a week and a half. What does that tell you about his natural ability?" Other boys' winners were Larry Fountain of Olney in the high jump (6-2), Tyson Price of Central in the shot put (SI-6V2) and the Dobbins 400 relay team of Arthur Childs, Gerald Jones, Darryl Richardson and Eric Barksdale. Central's William Reed, one of the nation's top sprinters last season, is still recovering from a foot injury and did not run.

The other girls' winners were Kim Johnson of Bartram in the 200 (25.03), Naimah Uqdah of West Philadelphia in the 1,600 (5:19.76) and 3,200 Tesra Bester of Germantown in the long jump (I8-5V2), Crystal Russell of Germantown in the triple jump (35-4) and Vanessa Millhouse of Girls in the shot put (35-4). Brown's time of 4:24.90 broke the meet record of 4:25.5 in the boys' 1,600, set by David Moore of Over-brook in 1985, and Bester broke the meet record of I8-V4 in the long jump, set by Lisa Smith of Overbrook in 1981. Brown also finished second in the 800, while Bester was second in the triple jump and 300 hurdles. In the boys' 100 dash, Central's Jer-rod Washington and Sawyer finished neck-and-neck in first place, but Washington was disqualified for wearing an illegal uniform. According to the National Federaton of State High School Associatons for Track and Field, whose rules the Public League adheres to, non-sanctioned, one-piece uniforms such as the one worn by Washington are not permitted in league meets.

x-Marple Newtown Radnor Upper Darby Conestoga Penncrest Strath Haven Haverford High Springfield (Dl Ridley Lower Merion clinched title. 15 12 12 11 10 7 7 6 5 2 2 6 6 7 7 9 10 12 13 15 17 13 15 12 11 7 8 11 7 13 SUB. AMER. League Overall Liberty Division y-Cheltenham 10 5 11 9 y-Ply-White 10 5 10 9 Quakertown 9 7 12 8 Methacton 8 7 8 10 Souderton 7 8 10 8 Uooer Merion 4 12 5 12 co-champions. Freedom Division 12 10 7 6 6 4 4 6 9 9 9 12 14 5 10 8 8 10 8 11 7 10 5 15 x-Upper Dublin Upper Moreland Wissahickon Hatboro-Horsham Springfield IMI Lower Moreland clinched title.