BASEBALL BEAT : HAVING A BALL.

There's an old baseball adage, ``Keep your eye on the ball.'' Chaminade's Tyler Dersom and Burroughs' Anthony Fabrizio won't ever forget it after escaping serious injury when each lost sight of the ball during practice last week.

Dersom, a senior shortstop for top-ranked Chaminade (15-1), was beaned in the eye by a JV pitcher during an intrasquad scrimmage. ``He looked like he should be in one of those horror pictures,'' coach Scott Drootin said of Dersom's black eye. ``It was so bad he wouldn't let his mom look at it.''

Fabrizio, a senior first baseman for Foothill League leader Burroughs (10-5), was playing catch when a ball hit him in the mouth. ``From what I can remember, I fell down, my tooth was on the ground and there was a lot of blood,'' said Fabrizio, who spent five hours in the emergency room and received 13 stitches.

Each showed toughness by returning to the field last week as if nothing happened.

Kennedy's going prime time

Kennedy has moved its Thursday Northwest Valley Conference game against Chatsworth to Cal State Northridge so it can be televised by Fox Sports West 2. The game will begin at 3 p.m. but will be shown on TV at 8 p.m. The Cougars also plan to save ace pitcher Jon Garland for Thursday's game.

``It's kind of a major event,'' Cougars coach Manny Alvarado said. Switching Garland's turn to pitch from Tuesday to Thursday also serves as retaliation because several teams in recent weeks have refused to use their No. 1 pitcher against Garland. ``Maybe it will be a good message to send if people are bouncing around their aces,'' Alvarado said.

Sylmar's family ties

For those wondering how unsung Sylmar is off to a 6-0 start in the Valley Pac-8 Conference, credit tradition. There are eight players on the Spartans' roster whose older brothers played for Sylmar coach Gary Donatella.

And, if Donatella ever gets upset with one of the little brothers, he can always make a phone call to the big brother. ``Hey, you better talk to your younger brother and tell him what we're all about,'' Donatella tells the older brothers.

Here are the family ties: sophomore 3B Robert Gomez, brother of Ruben (Sylmar '96); senior C Armando Garcia, brother of Robert ('91); senior P Chris Cervantes, brother of Mike ('95); junior 2B Carl Ball, brother of Tom ('89); junior 3B Ricardo Zamora, brother of Esteban ('95); senior OF Gilbert Avila, brother of Jesse ('94); senior OF Chris Martinez, brother of Anthony ('93); sophomore P Ivan Hernandez, brother of Gonzalo ('90).

Etc.

Perserverance: Harvard-Westlake senior shortstop Jordan Krall deserves a profile in courage award for never giving up after experiencing 25 straight defeats in Mission League play. The streak finally ended last week against St. Francis.

``It was a bit difficult,'' Krall said of losing game after game.

Then came a 9-3 win over the Knights. ``It was really a great feeling. I had a very peaceful sleep. Now we have to keep going,'' he said.

Krall spent Sunday and Monday at Princeton seeing if he wants to attend college there. He's also considering Amherst.

Krall ranks as one of the smartest athletes in the area. He scored a 1510 on his SAT.

Gutsy performance: Birmingham pitcher Alberto Flores beat Kennedy 3-1 last week, ending a 23-game conference win streak for the Cougars. Even more impressive was that Flores suffered severe leg cramps in the seventh inning but kept pitching.

``He pitched on guts alone,'' Braves coach Rick Weber said.

Flores is 5-2 this season with a 1.29 ERA and 60 strikeouts in 49 innings.

``Maybe now we can get some recognition and respect,'' Flores said of beating Kennedy.

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Photo

Photo: Chaminade's Tyler Dersom

Gus Ruelas / Daily News