BASEBALL NOTEBOOK: AREA PLAYERS BID FOR U.S. TEAM.

Byline: Heather Gripp Staff Writer

Four local players could be part of the quest to help the USA Baseball Youth National Team extend its streak of 25 consecutive victories against international competition.

Quartz Hill infielder/pitcher Brian Chavez, Westlake of Westlake Village infielder/pitcher Michael Notaro, Crespi of Encino pitcher Trevor Plouffe and Agoura pitcher J.T. Trelatsky are among 36 players invited to try out for this year's 16-and-under national team. All four are entering their junior year and were varsity starters this past spring.

Players earned invitations to this week's team trials based on play in last week's USA Baseball Junior Olympics held in Tucson, Ariz., and Jupiter, Fla. A week of scrimmages and workouts will be used as the final selection process. The 18-member team is to be announced Friday.

A local berth on the team would give the region representatives on each level of this summer's national teams. Camarillo's Delmon Young is on the 18-and-under Junior National Team and El Camino Real of Woodland Hills graduate Conor Jackson made the National Team.

The Youth team will play in the COPABE Pan Am Youth Championships Aug. 23-Sept. 1 in Barquisimeto, Venezuela.

--Marathon stars: Sunday's district 20 All-Star events lasted until almost midnight. Long after many of the players had left, the South defeated the North 5-4 in the Division I game. Valley Chatsworth's Brian Lee went 2 for 3 and scored twice.

A late finish for the Division II game led to a late start for the Division I contest, which lasted more than three hours.

--Coach to be named soon: Westlake has begun interviewing candidates to fill the head coaching position that was vacated when Chuck Berrington resigned at the end of the season. The new coach is expected to be selected this week.

Warriors assistant Josh Eby has been coaching Westlake's summer team and is among those who has applied.

--Indians get a boost: Nate Maddox might be from a small school, but he made a big first impression with his new team. The junior infielder is transferring to Hart of Newhall from small-school power Grace Brethren of Simi Valley, which won the Division VI title this spring for the Lancers' fourth Southern Section title in five years. Maddox recently played his first game with the Indians in a Valley Invitational Baseball League contest against Santa Barbara, the team that eliminated Hart in the first round of this year's Division II playoffs. Maddox went 2 for 3 with an RBI triple in the 7-5 victory.

--Odds and ends: The VIBL All-Star Game is scheduled for Friday at 6:30 p.m. at USC. ... Several local players are competing for invitations to the prestigious Area Code Games. Southern California tryouts for the Area Code Games were held Monday and are scheduled again today at Loyola Marymount. The Area Code Games are Aug. 5-11 in Long Beach. ... The inaugural Wood Bat Invitational is scheduled for Wednesday through Friday in Orange County, with the championship game set for 2 p.m. Friday at Sonora High of La Habra. The San Fernando Reds are the only local entrant in the 10-team event, but locals such as USC's Joey Metropoulos can be found on other participating teams.