BASEBALL NOTEBOOK: JV PITCHERS MAKE CASE FOR VARSITY SPOTS.

Byline: Heather Gripp Staff Writer

When the Quartz Hill High baseball team decided to use seven pitchers for an inning each during last week's victory over Notre Dame of Sherman Oaks, the move was made primarily to keep arms fresh for its Golden League opener later in the week.

However, it also gave the Rebels a chance to get a look at some promising junior varsity pitchers who could soon be back on varsity.

Brandon Van Dam and Johnny Volk made the most of their varsity auditions and have Quartz Hill coach Lance Pierson looking forward to the young players' contributions for years to come.

Van Dam, a hard-throwing, 6-foot-4 freshman right-hander, has the makings of a future ace. In addition to a shutout inning against Notre Dame, he was used for three innings in a tournament game against Granada Hills.

``He's going to be a name you hear a lot,'' Pierson said.

Volk is the opposite of Van Dam, except in potential.

``He's a little guy with a big heart,'' Pierson said of the right-hander, who threw a shutout inning against Notre Dame. ``He doesn't throw real hard. He's a real smart guy, he knows how to pitch.''

With arms typically at a premium during spring-break tournaments in which several games are played in a short period, Van Dam and Volk have a good chance of being among those joining the varsity for the Arcadia Tournament beginning April 2.

``Most likely, one or both of them will join us for our spring break tournament,'' Pierson said. ``And if one of our varsity pitchers should go down, one or both of them would be in line to be called up the rest of the season.''

--Not all bad news: Highland (2-4-1, 0-0-1) has found some positives while waiting to find out what is wrong with pitcher Clint Skeen. With a sore arm limiting Skeen - the Bulldogs' expected No. 3 starter - to two innings this season, junior Kyle Arnold was promoted from junior varsity and has made a good impression.

``He might stick,'' Highland coach Mike Van Cheri said of Arnold, who also played shortstop at the junior varsity level.

Arnold had three strikeouts with no walks, one hit and one run allowed in his first two innings of varsity work.

--Delivering in a pinch: Paraclete (3-2-1) discovered its pinch-hitting specialist in senior Mark Nemback. Nemback injured his shoulder during football season, an injury he aggravated shortly before baseball season began, which has limited him to pinch-hitting duties.

Nemback's pinch hitting was the difference Saturday when he hit a bases-loaded double to drive in the winning runs in a 13-11 victory over Mojave.

Heather Gripp, [phone]

heather.gripp(at)dailynews.com