DISCOVERED IN CAPE COD; CSUN'S HILL GETS INKED, BY L.A.

Byline: PATRICK HIPES Minor League Baseball 

Nakia Hill, now officially a former Cal State Northridge infielder after signing a 1999 free-agent contract with the Dodgers last week, spent an agonizing two days in June waiting by a phone that never rang.

``I thought everything was in line,'' said Hill, a second-team All-American this spring, of his chances in the 1998 amateur draft. ``I did get a call the second day from the Cardinals, but by then I told them not to waste a draft pick on me.''

Frustrated and stung, Hill took the advice of CSUN coach Mike Batesole and went to the Cape Cod League to get more exposure. If waiting by the phone was bad, playing baseball in the Northeast would've made Dante blush.

``Oh man, I hated it there,'' said Hill, who hooked up with Batesole friend Scott Pickler, a coach with Yarmouth. ``It was humid, the bugs were everywhere. I wasn't even playing that well.''

He played well enough to get the attention of the Dodgers, who signed him to a contract, gave him a bonus and told him to report in March of 1999. They even will pay for Hill's final year at CSUN, where he will continue to work out with the Matadors.

``It's what I've wanted, so I'm happy,'' said Hill, who is represented by PSI Sports Management of Oxnard, the same group that represents Wally Joyner, Tim Wakefield and Keith Lockhart. ``I'm really anxious to show what I've got.''

Keeping up with Jones: Former USC standout Jacque Jones, who injured his knee in his first pro game after signing with the Twins in 1996, is batting .313 with 18 homers and 57 RBI for Double-A New Britain, also home to former El Camino Real High infielder Dan Cey.

The outfielder, who has endured a move from center to right field this year, was recently rated the Twins' seventh-best prospect.

``His numbers are pretty good,'' Minnesota farm director Jim Rantz told Baseball America. ``He's been especially consistant in the last month or so.''

Road tripping: As much trouble as the Oxnard-based Pacific Suns have endured this season - from a player strike to trading pitchers for catfish - the Grays Harbor Gulls/Western Warriors can top it.

The Western League team, known as the Gulls before folding in late June, has been on the road since June 13, is now being operated by the league and financed by the other seven teams.

By the end of the regular season, Sept. 2, the team will have played 62 consecutive away games, breaking the modern-day record set in 1992 by the Houston Astros, who spent 28 days away from the Astrodome while it played host to the Republican national convention.

The all-time road-trip record belongs to the Cleveland Spiders, a National League team that played 114 games away from home in 1899.

Short hops: Japan Sports Systems, which sold its portion of the Single-A California League's Visalia Oaks at the beginning of the season, announced the Triple-A Vancouver team it owns is also up for sale. The move has fueled rumors that the Canadians, in the final year of their player-development contract with the Angels, will leave Canada. . . . Matt Anderson, the right-handed pitcher who was the Tigers' No. 1 pick in the 1997 draft, has been clocked as high as 101 miles per hour on the radar gun since joining the parent club. ``I might look at the gun readings to see where my arm is, but I try to stay away from that as much as possible,'' he said. . . . Former Yankees catcher Matt Nokes, now with the independent Northern League St. Paul Saints, was suspended one game for allegedly choking the Winnipeg Goldeneyes mascot, Goldie, with a broomstick.