A LITTLE TOO LATE SIMI'S STAR PITCHER MISSES SCHOLARSHIP OPPORTUNITIES.

Byline: Rich Hammond  Staff Writer

College recruiters everywhere should heed the story of Simi Valley High senior pitcher Mike Roe.

Roe's late physical development - he won't turn 18 until Aug. 12 - made him a late bloomer in baseball, and even though Roe was one of the area's best pitchers this season and led the Pioneers on an amazing run to the Div. II finals, he is considering attending a local junior college in the fall.

A handful of Division I college programs have expressed interest in Roe, but by now, most schools have handed out all of their full scholarships and many of their partial rides. So Roe, fresh off a great playoff run, will likely spend a year at Moorpark College, then hopefully have more options after his freshman year.

``Because I came around kind of late, I didn't get a lot of attention early and a lot of colleges just ran out of money,'' said Roe, who will represent the East in the Daily News Bernie Milligan All-Star Game. ``They tell you they want you, but they just don't have the money.''

Some local college coaches had to be cringing when they saw Roe's recent playoff performances.

In the second round, Roe scattered two runs on six hits in six innings and struck out 10 to help the wild-card Pioneers beat Sea View League- champion Aliso Niguel 16-2.

Three days later, the pressure doubled by Roe responded. Simi Valley was tied with West Torrance 4-4 in the 10th inning when Roe took the mound. Over the next four innings, Roe allowed one hit and struck out five. Simi Valley took the lead in the top of the 14th, but Roe couldn't finish the job because he had already reached the maximum-allowed 10 innings pitched for the week.

``Age-wise, Mike would pretty much be considered a junior,'' Simi Valley coach Matt La Belle said. ``I keep telling people how much I'd love to have another year to work with him.''

After Roe emerged as a talented right-hander during this season, colleges started to take notice. Fresno State and Long Beach State showed interest, Roe said, but couldn't do much because they had given out their scholarships and wanted Roe to attend only on ``book money.''

UC Davis has also talked to Roe, but as his father, also named Mike, sees it, the family would have to spend at least $10,000 next year for Mike to play for a Division I college program. Roe's break could come if a top program loses a recruit to the draft and has some scholarship money freed up that way.

``He was kind of surprised by the attention he got this year,'' Roe's father said, ``but he had worked real hard over the summer, and he came back and had a pretty good year.''

If Roe attends Moorpark for one year, he will still be eligible for the major-league draft and, with a good season on the mound, he would no doubt attract even more attention from top college programs that only started to notice him this year, as a senior.

Roe had a 4.44 ERA last year, but for most of this season he hovered around the 0.50 range. He averaged well over one strikeout per inning and earned MVP honors in the Daily News Invitational.

``Before I wasn't like a standout,'' Roe said, ``but all of a sudden, scouts and other people started showing up in the stands.''

Roe is still maturing - ``I feel like I grow an inch every day,'' he said - and so are his skills. Roe raised the speed of his fastball this year by five miles per hour, to a range in the mid-to-high 80s, but that's not enough. Roe said he plans to hit the weight room this summer and get his fastball above 90.

Then, Roe would be almost impossible to ignore.

``His velocity is still not up to where he will get big-time money from big-time schools, but he's getting there,'' La Belle said.

Rich Hammond, [phone]

rich.hammond(at)dailynews.comRO

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Mike Roe is Simi Valley's top pitcher but his game peaked when most schools already had made their scholarship decisions.

Michael Owen Baker/Staff Photographer