CHATTER: BIAS IN PLAYOFF SHUFFLE?

Byline: Lee Barnathan Staff Writer

Is it an anti-Catholic backlash or an Orange County-Long Beach bias?

Crespi baseball coach Scott Muckey wonders, too. He finds it suspicious there are no Catholic schools playing Division I baseball starting next season.

The reason: Los Alamitos High, on behalf of the Sunset League, drafted a plan calling for strict enrollment to determine the divisions (football excluded) and banning the practice of moving up to Division I, which schools such as Crespi and Notre Dame have done for years.

The Southern Section council approved the plan about a month ago. As it stands now, Mater Dei is the only Catholic school with a Division I-sized enrollment.

Muckey said the big schools believe smaller schools take their playoff spots by opting up.

``This is Division I. You take on all comers,'' Muckey said. ``Now, we've been voted out of it.''

Take heart, Scott. Southern Section sports information coordinator Thom Simmons said volleyball schools such as Newport Harbor are unhappy with the vote and might try and draft a new proposal. . . .

Cal State Northridge is proving volleyball is an international language. Among the the Matadors signees are Oyvind Boxaspen, a Norwegian national team player, and Russian Marin Jerolimov, from Phoenix. CSUN already has German Eckhard Walter.

Good thing for coach Jeff Campbell they all know English. . . .

La Canada resident Janine Harispe, who plays soccer at UC San Diego, was named to the GTE Academic All-America second team for the fall/winter quarter. Harispe has a 3.439 GPA majoring in communications/history/visual arts. . . .

UCLA was eighth and USC was ninth at the Pac-10 men's golf Championships at Arizona State. Travis Johnson of UCLA finished fifth at 9-under-par 279. USC's Alex Kuyumjian was seventh at 280. David Oh of USC was 11th at 282 and UCLA's Brandon DiTullio (late of Thousand Oaks) was 17th at 286. . . .

The fourth annual San Fernando Valley All-Star Football game is June 10 at Cal State Northridge. Hart's Mike Herrington and Bob Francola of Kennedy are the coaches.

The game will be preceded by the 24th anuual Midget Division (ages 13-14) Pop Warner All-Star game. . . .

The fourth annual Jeff Fisher Valley Youth Conference charity golf tournament is June 19 at Braemar Country Club. Information: Bill Speer, [phone] or [phone]. . . .

The PT Cruisers, under-14 boys' basketball travel team, went 2-2 and reached the quarterfinals of the Palm Springs Basketball Bonanza last weekend. Area players: Kevin Flahavan (will attend Crespi), Joey Ellis (will attend Crespi), Steven Cullity (will attend Notre Dame), K.C. Croal (will attend Notre Dame), Dylan Grombacher (will attend Notre Dame), Travis Daniels, Michael Schaaf and Uche Amanwu (will attend Crespi). . . .

The Daily News Invitational baseball tournament is expanding from 32 to 36 teams and will include a new three-game junior varsity tournament. Two City and Southern Section varsity teams are needed. Varsity coaches have the option of including their JV.

Also, the Daily News is sponsoring a softball tournament featuring a 16-team field that includes Crescenta Valley, Kennedy, San Fernando, Sylmar, El Camino Real, Saugus, Newbury Park, Verdugo Hills and Chatsworth. Four teams are needed. The dates are March 31 and April 7. Information for either tournament: Steve Marden, (818) 360-555 or [phone], ext. 565.