FORMER PREP STAR MAKES THE DEAL SAGE, PARTNERS SEEK STRONG COMMUNITY TIES.

Byline: GERRY GITTELSON

VALENCIA - There's a well-publicized sports connection at Mercedes-Benz of Valencia through owners Eddie Murray, a Hall of Fame baseball star who hit more than 500 home runs, and Kevin Malone, the former Dodgers general manager.

Most don't realize the dealership's third partner, Lenny Sage, was among the San Fernando Valley's best prep athletes in the 1980s, at Montclair Prep of Panorama City.

Sage, now 40, received all-league recognition in football, baseball and soccer at Montclair Prep, and these days he remains a top baseball infielder and softball player in men's adult leagues. He's also an avid golfer.

At Montclair Prep, Sage holds numerous school football records for field goals and extra points. In baseball, he helped the Mounties to consecutive Southern Section Small Schools championships in 1981-82. And he considered soccer his best sport - he scored 15 goals as a senior.

The plan for Sage and his partners is to maintain a strong community sports presence in Santa Clarita, starting with a golf fundraiser that precedes the AT&T Classic at Valencia Country Club next month, with proceeds to benefit Henry Mayo Newhall Memorial Hospital. Among the celebrities who have confirmed they'll attend are former major-leaguers Cal Ripken, Joe Morgan, Ozzie Smith, Kirby Puckett and Dave Winfield, actor James Caan, and UCLA football coach Karl Dorrell.

``We want to give as much support to local sports and the schools as we can,'' said Sage, who said he's grown very fond of Santa Clarita since the dealership opened in December.

``It's refreshing in Santa Clarita to see a city that really cares about how the streets look and how the parks look,'' Sage said. ``I don't think you get that feeling anywhere else in Southern California.''

Sage, who has been married to his wife, Tema, for 14 years, has three children: daughters Halston, 12, and Kaitlin, 6, and son Max, 10, a rising baseball prospect who hit four Little League home runs last spring.

He has fond memories of his days at Montclair Prep, particularly the championship baseball teams that included Torey Lovullo, who played major-league baseball, and Toi Cook, who played in the NFL.

``Montclair Prep was an amazing baseball team back then - not just for Small Schools, but for any school,'' he said. ``We also had Rocco Buffolino and Mike Ciccone, who both played minor-league baseball. So there were four professional athletes on the same team.''

--Five College of the Canyons football players signed with Pacific-10 conference universities - the largest single-season group in Canyons' history. Defensive backs Justin Tryon and Troy Nolan and punter Jonathan Johnson signed with Arizona State, linebacker Joey LaRocque with Oregon State, and defensive back B.T. Walker with Washington State.

``Five players with Pac-10 scholarships? That's a ridiculous number,'' Canyons coach Chuck Lyon noted.

Four of the five played high school football at nearby schools. Tryon played at Taft of Woodland Hills after transferring from Littlerock. Nolan went to El Camino Real of Woodland Hills, LaRocque at Agoura and Johnson at Grace Brethren of Simi Valley.

Other Canyons players who have signed scholarships include defensive back Mike Farr (BYU) and former Vasquez of Acton linebacker Wes Anderson (BYU).

Several others are closing in on Division I scholarships. Defensive back JaVonte Holmes (Palmdale) is expected to sign with Hawaii after completing his AA degree, and former Taft High/Cal quarterback Cary Dove is close to accepting a BYU scholarship as a receiver. Offensive lineman James Maddox is deciding between Louisville and North Texas State.

Receiver Pat McCann committed to Division III Cal Lutheran, linebacker Marcus Mercer is weighing an offer from Division I-AA Savannah State, and defensive lineman Jonathan Celestine is close to accepting an offer from Division I-AA Jackson State.

--Kody Kurowski, a former Saugus High football standout who took a year off from football to play baseball at Canyons last season, is on the verge of a football comeback. The 6-foot-4, 235-pound tight end/defensive lineman plans to play football for Canyons after meeting with Lyon.

--After insisting that a college football scholarship must also include a chance to play college baseball, Arizona-bound quarterback Tyler Lyon of Hart High might concentrate solely on football. He'll decide in the next week or so if he'll rejoin Hart's baseball team for his senior year.

Lyon, a hard-throwing right-handed pitcher, missed nearly all of his junior baseball season because of an arm injury. He's been a member of Hart's baseball team since his freshman year.

--It's not official, but Valencia quarterback Michael Herrick is expected to participate in the annual Shrine Classic all-star football game June 24 at Citrus College.

CAPTION(S):

2 photos

Photo:

(1) Lenny Sage co-owns Mercedes-Benz of Valencia with baseball Hall of Famer Eddie Murray and former Dodgers GM Kevin Malone.

David Crane/Staff Photographer

(2) Lenny Sage played football, baseball and soccer for Montclair Prep in the early 1980s.