COOKE PUTS DOWN THE BOOKS LONG ENOUGH TO BE AN ALL-STAR.

Byline: Lee Barnathan Daily News Staff Writer

Charlie Cooke never saw himself as the valedictorian type. Baseball player, yes. Hitter, even more so. But not valedictorian.

Yet when Antelope Valley High School holds its graduation this week, Cooke will stand as one of two valedictorians of his class. He earned nothing but A's in his eight semesters and plans to spend his two-minute address recounting significant moments during the past four years.

He also has excelled on the diamond and will participate in Saturday's Daily News Bernie Milligan All-Star Baseball Game at 3:30 p.m. at Cal State Northridge.

Cooke said his dream job would be designated hitter for an American League team. He batted .410 with a Golden League-best five home runs, 11 doubles and 33 RBI, earning him all-league honors.

But he also had the smarts to realize the books come first, even though he doesn't see his idea of a school valedictorian when he looks in the mirror.

``I picture a girl with glasses, relatively short and thin, very conservative,'' he said. ``That is the other valedictorian.''

On a recent test, on which he scored a perfect 100, one girl kept asking him how he did it.

``I don't know. I just do it,'' was his response.

Actually, he knows how he's successfully balanced varsity baseball and the books for three seasons. He knows how to budget his time.

``Got to make time for everything,'' he said, having found the time to sit in a baseball dugout before a recent American Legion game. ``Got to make sure I don't forget something I have to do. I've got a (mental) schedule.''

His schedule is simple: When he gets home from school, ``I do my homework (an average of two to four hours a night during the week) until it's done, and then I go to bed.''

He keeps Friday night and Saturdays free for social activities, then resumes the studies on Sunday. He even kept that schedule in this, his final semester, when most of his friends started taking easier classes, giving them more free time.

``This is my hardest (semester),'' he said. ``All my friends took easy classes, and they're kicking back and having fun, and they want me to come along, and I have to tell them I got to do homework. They're probably sick of hearing that. They call me from the beach: `Hey! How ya doing? The waves are great!' ''

During the school year, he was just another student. Now that he has the valedictorian label, people look at him and treat him differently.

``They treat me like I'm not supposed to be at the party. I'm not supposed to be hanging out. I'm supposed to be at home,'' he said.

The awards have been coming in. He was voted most likely to succeed by his class, won scholarships totaling $1,300, and was selected by the school administration as one of the top six seniors.

Some would say his work with the books carries over to his baseball. Antelope Valley coach Ed t'Sas said Cooke has steadily improved over each season, partly because of his work ethic and partly because he watched and learned from past players such as Chris Tapia and David Nichols.

Cooke will attend Antelope Valley College in the fall. He's aware valedictorians usually are accepted to major four-year institutions, but he thought AVC fit him best.

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PHOTO A.V. valedictorian Charlie Cooke looks to hit basebal ls, not books, in the All-Star game.

Jeff Goldwater / Daily News