HE'S FOUND A WAY TO COPE BASEBALL: NOTRE DAME'S RODARTE HAS THE MEMORY OF HIS DAD WITH HIM ALWAYS.

Byline: Gerry Gittelson

Staff Writer

Nik Rodarte's father died suddenly of a heart attack two years ago during Rodarte's sophomore year at Notre Dame High of Sherman Oaks, but in some ways his father has never left him.

Rodarte thinks about his father whenever he pitches, systematically glancing upward before every start because he knows Manuel Rodarte is looking down.

Dad would be proud.

Rodarte is 5-0 this season with a 2.28 ERA and 29 strikeouts in 30 innings, and he is batting .354 with two home runs and 16 RBIs for the Knights (12-2, 3-0) heading into today's 3:45 p.m. Mission League game against visiting Loyola of Los Angeles (10-6, 2-1).

With the continued support of his mother, Carla, and older brother Daniel, 22, Rodarte has found solace in baseball and his teammates such as Trevor Gee and Kelly Dugan, his best friends.

"His dad died one day before Nik's 16th birthday, and for a boy that age, that's really tough," said Carla Rodarte. "We were a very tight family, and we still are. His brother pitched for Notre Dame, too, and he comes to every game.

"And Coach (Tom) Dill has helped a lot, too. The coach taught him baseball is only a part of who you are, and everything Nik has gone through, his coach and his teammates have gone through right with him."

Tuesday would have been Manuel Rodarte's 55th birthday. With a heavy heart, Nik Rodarte performed brilliantly in a 5-4 victory at Loyola, striking out nine in six innings to earn the victory, and he also hit a home run and delivered the go-ahead RBI single in the seventh inning as his mother and brother cheered wildly.

"Since it was my dad's birthday, thoughts of him kept popping into my head all day," Rodarte said.

When his father died, Rodarte's teammates were there for him. Every one of them attended the funeral.

"That meant everything to me," Rodarte said.

His brother Daniel continues to marvel at Rodarte's strength in the face of such a tragedy.

"I would think my little brother had it the hardest, but he was the one consoling everyone instead of the other way around. He cried the least," Daniel said. "He's really done a great job dealing with it. It helped that all the parents and players and coaches showed nothing but love.

"Our dad had never missed a game, and he worked as a maintenance engineer, so my parents made a lot of sacrifices to send the two of us to private school."

Rodarte has excelled on the baseball field and in the classroom, and he plans to attend college, hopefully on a baseball scholarship -- not such a far-fetched idea considering he is a successful left-handed pitcher who is 6-foot-3 and 220 pounds with seasoned skills, thanks to private coaching from John Bushart, the pitching coach at Pierce College.

Whatever happens, Rodarte looks like he's going to be OK.

"Nik has a great work ethic and just a great family," Dill said. "It's amazing how well he has adjusted and how mature he is."

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BASEBALL LEAGUE UPDATES

FOOTHILL

Hart continues to thrive on pitching, as the Indians have limited 11 of 15 opponents to three runs or fewer. RHP Trevor Bauer held Golden Valley hitless Wednesday for the second time in two weeks in a 19-2 victory, but both times Bauer was pulled after five innings, costing the junior a possible no-hitter. Bauer (6-0) has allowed two hits in his past 17 innings while striking out 29, lowering his ERA to 0.21.

LHP Mike Montgomery is 3-1 with a 1.54 ERA, as Hart's team ERA is 1.67.

GOLDEN

Quartz Hill's Mick Gaston has nine RBIs over the past four games. He is batting .422 with five HRs and 22 RBIs in 45 ABs.

MARMONTE

Westlake's 21-5 victory Wednesday over Agoura was the most runs the Warriors have scored since a 23-6 nonleague victory over Glendale early last season.

The Warriors, operating under a new coach -- Zach Miller -- for the fourth time in four years, have scored 11 runs or more in each of their past four victories. Shane Kroker (.489, 13 RBIs) and Cutter Dykstra (.462, three HRs) are among five starters batting .387 or better.

Newbury Park's 7-3 loss Wednesday to Simi Valley snapped a five-game winning streak 7/8 all at the Bishop Gorman tournament in Las Vegas.

MISSION

Harvard-Westlake LHP Nik Turley (3-1), signed with BYU, has proved durable. He has pitched a seven-inning complete game in four of his five starts with a 1.06 ERA and zero HRs allowed in 33 innings, striking out 33.

Brian Felten, a former Crespi player, has made quite an impact as head coach at Loyola, winning the Southern Section Div. III title in his second year last season and compiling a 58-22 career record heading into today's league matchup at Notre Dame.

"I'm just using the tricks I learned from (Crespi coach) Scott Muckey," Felton said. "It's really not me. It's the guys who play the game."

Felten was a Loyola assistant for three seasons under Chris Beck, a former college teammate at LMU who is now a Bishop Amat assistant.

"I learned a lot about baseball from Coach Muckey and a lot about how to coach players from Chris Beck," Felten said.

Loyola's top hitter, Steve Selsky (five HRs), is doubtful today at Notre Dame after receiving stitches above his eye Tuesday when he foul-tipped a ball into his face.

"Steve looks like he's been through a heavyweight fight. He looks pretty banged up," Felten said. "By the next day, there were all the colors of the rainbow on his face."

OLYMPIC

Montclair Prep SS Matt Hartunian, one of the league's top returning talents, continues to recover from a nagging hamstring injury that has sidelined him for most of the season. Hartunian is expected to start at DH today at 3:45 at Paraclete in Lancaster.

"We've kind of been using everyone and everybody at shortstop," said athletic director Ken Smith, a top pitcher for Montclair Prep in the 1970s.

PACIFIC

After an 0-3 start, Crescenta Valley (8-3) has won eight in a row while outscoring opponents 68-13 during the streak.

Hoover SS Sako Chapjian has five HRs (three over the first four games) in 41 ABs, and he's batting .400 with a .943 slugging Pct.

SANTA FE

Bell-Jeff freshman Phillip Diaz has 11 hits in his last 16 ABs, raising his batting average to .615 in eight games.

VALLEY

Arleta freshman Erik Trujillo was 5 for 6 with two triples and seven RBIs in a 33-0 victory March 26 over Northridge Academy. He is batting .609 in 23 ABs.

WEST VALLEY

In a 9-4 victory Wednesday over El Camino Real, Chatsworth RHP Trevor Takeyama allowed 11 hits and three walks but performed well under pressure, stranding 10 runners, six in scoring position, while going the distance. He worked his way out of bases-loaded jams in the second and third innings.

"The team put up some runs early, and it was pretty good to pitch with that," Takeyama said. "I liked our defense, too."

Chatsworth was coming off a 2-1 loss last Friday to Taft of Woodland Hills - the Chancellors' first loss to Taft in the past 28 games.

"We definitely wanted to come back from that," Takeyama said. "It felt good to put a win up. We're starting to click. We're right where we want to be right now."

Chatsworth and El Camino Real, two of the Valley's fiercest rivals (12 City titles between them), meet again at 3 p.m. today at Chatsworth, which has won seven in a row over the Conquistadores - including a playoff victories last season. Ace RHP Michael Booth is ECR's scheduled starter. He was 2 for 3 with a home run Wednesday.

-- Gerry Gittelson

SOFTBALL LEAGUE UPDATES

FOOTHILL

Although Hart of Newhall boasts one of the state's top junior pitchers in left-hander Destiny Rodino, Indians' fans got a glimpse of the future in the second game of Saturday's nonleague doubleheader against Agoura when freshman right-hander Emili Escamilla recorded her first career victory in a 12-1, five-inning, mercy-rule triumph.

Escamilla, a former standout in Burbank Little League and Parks and Recreation leagues, gave up four hits and struck out a batter as Hart rallied from an early deficit with two runs in the second and 10 in the third.

"I thought she handled her own out there against a good hitting team," Oklahoma-bound catcher Jessica Shults said of Escamilla. "(For her first start) I thought she did great." For Escamilla, who was motivated after learning she received straight-As on her report card the night before, being surrounded by so many Division I college prospects has helped make her transition to high school softball smoother.

"They're amazing," Escamilla said. "They're a good group of girls and it's a fun team to be on."

Rodino continues to be an ideal mentor for Escamilla, pitching six hitless innings with 11 strikeouts in Tuesday's 12-0 Foothill League victory over Canyon.

Hart leadoff hitter Melissa Brown continued her torrid start, extending her hitting streak to 15 games with a single against Canyon. Brown, a junior who has committed to Tennessee, is hitting .571 (28 for 49) for the Indians, who have outscored opponents 71-2 during their seven-game winning streak.

GOLDEN

After staging an incredible rally to outlast Lancaster 15-14 in nine innings March 28, Quartz Hill's late-inning heroics ran out Tuesday, as Knight of Palmdale rallied for three runs in the bottom of the seventh to defeat the Rebels 9-8. Brittney Peterson drove in the winning run for the Hawks, who received three hits from Taylor Pleasant. The loss snapped Quartz Hill's 22-game Golden League winning streak, its first setback since a 3-1 loss, April 7, 2006, against Highland of Palmdale.

Highland boasts two of the league's top freshmen in Alexis Cason and Aryn Feickert, who shined again Tuesday in a 17-0 victory over Eastside of Lancaster. Cason had three hits, including a home run, and drove in six. Feickert, who recorded a 1-0 victory March 1 over Hart of Newhall, struck out seven and allowed one hit in three innings.

PACIFIC

Crescenta Valley of La Crescenta junior Baillie Kirker continued her recent surge in Thursday's 7-3 victory over Arcadia, belting her state-leading 12th home run.

Kirker, who went 5 for 5 with three home runs and nine RBIs in Tuesday's 24-0 victory over Muir of Pasadena, is hitting .630 (34 for 54) with 26 runs and 39RBIs. The Falcons' Stephanie Ziemann added three hits Thursday, increasing her average to .587 (27 for 46).

TRI-VALLEY

Oak Park's Julia Rice squared off Thursday with Grace Brethren of Simi Valley's Ashley Rice -- no relation -- in the Eagles' 8-0 win.

Julia Rice (8-0) pitched the first three innings for Oak Park before being replaced by Jenny Liepman. Ashley Rice, the Lancers' leading hitter at .580 (29 for 50), collected one hit in the setback.

-- Erik Boal

CAPTION(S):

photo, 3 boxes

Photo:

Notre Dame senior Nik Rodarte has a 5-0 record and 2.28 ERA for the 12-2 Knights this season, as well as a .354 batting average.

Andy Holzman/Staff Photographer

Box:

(1) THE DAILY NEWS TOP 10 TEAMS

(2) BASEBALL LEAGUE UPDATES (see text)

(3) SOFTBALL LEAGUE UPDATES (see text)