DAILY NEWS VICTORY SPRING CLASSIC PREVIEW: CHAMINADE'S NO LONGER A SURPRISE.

Byline: Heather Gripp Staff Writer

Chaminade of West Hills isn't going to sneak up on anyone this year at the Daily News Victory Spring Classic softball tournament. Last season, the Eagles surprised everyone but themselves in winning the tournament.

Chaminade went on to win the Mission League and established itself as one of the best teams in the area.

``That really got us going and put us on a good track,'' Chaminade coach Jon Ellinghouse said. ``We've been talking a lot though, about how we fought so hard to put ourselves on the map and now we have to fight even harder to stay on top.''

The Eagles begin defense of their title against dangerous L.A. Baptist of North Hills today at 9 a.m. at Hjelte Sports Complex in Encino. Here's a breakdown of the 16 tournament teams:

Pool A

Teams: Granada Hills (11-8) vs. Alemany of Mission Hills (8-3), 9 a.m.; Royal of Simi Valley (7-1) vs. Burroughs of Burbank (6-5), 11 a.m.

Outlook: Royal of Simi Valley, ranked No. 6 by the Daily News, probably has the most talent of any team in the tournament with senior shortstop Andi Ramirez (.542), senior first baseman Devon Hofland (.370) and sophomore pitcher Rebecca Heteniak (0.42 ERA).

Burroughs of Burbank is improved over last season behind junior leadoff batter Kimmie White (.514) and freshman shortstop Kerry Hodgins (.454), but Royal will probably be too much for Burroughs.

Alemany also looks improved over last season and more like the team that advanced to the Southern Section Div. IV championship game in 2003.

Pool B

Teams: Birmingham of Lake Balboa (11-7) vs. Agoura (4-5), 9 a.m.; Harvard-Westlake of Studio City (5-7) vs. Oaks Christian of Westlake Village (7-2), 11 a.m.

Outlook: Oaks Christian is a heavy favorite to win this pool. The Lions had a coming-out party at the Daily News tournament last year, upsetting Royal in the second round and silencing critics who wondered how the small-school power would fare against top competition. Oaks Christian might be the deepest team in the area. Sometimes it is difficult to identify the best players on the team. Sophomore Taylor Schlopy, who broke the state record for triples last season, is definitely the most exciting.

Pool C

Teams: Village Christian of Sun Valley (3-7) vs. Westlake (5-2), 9 a.m.; Notre Dame of Sherman Oaks (2-6) vs. San Fernando (11-4), 11 a.m.

Outlook: After preseason questions about its pitching, Westlake is coming off a big 1-0 victory over Newbury Park on Thursday. The lineup, which includes Monica Gonzales (.591), Megan Shie (.588) and Ava Amini (.500), should be able to score on anyone.

Westlake should beat Village Christian, which isn't the same team since the departure of pitcher Lauren Nydam (Stanford). Village Christian is led by Nicole Owen (.304) and Meghan Hanna (.300).

San Fernando is the darkhorse in this pool.

Pool D

Teams: L.A. Baptist of North Hills (3-2) vs. Chaminade of West Hills (9-5), 9 a.m.; El Camino Real of Woodland Hills (11-2) vs. Newbury Park (3-5), 11 a.m.

Outlook: This pool should be the most competitive of the four. Defending champion Chaminade has to be the favorite, but any of the other three teams could win.

Making things more interesting, the teams in this pool are very familiar with each other. Chaminade defeated El Camino Real 1-0 on March 9 on a home run by freshman Brittany Cervantes. El Camino Real defeated Newbury Park 3-0 on March 5.

Heather Gripp, [phone]

heather.gripp(at)dailynews.com