LOCALS WELL REPRESENTED AT ALL-STAR GAMES.

Byline: GERRY GITTELSON Community Sports

The annual Daily News Bernie Milligan all-star baseball and softball events will have a Santa Clarita flavor this year. The baseball coaches for the East team are Canyon Country resident Bob James of Vasquez High and Saugus' George Lopata. One of the softball coaches for the East is Hart's Cathy Giordano.

Both events are at Cal State Northridge. The softball game is scheduled for 4 p.m. June 7, and the baseball game is scheduled for 2 p.m. June 11. A home run contest precedes both games.

Team rosters are expected to be released this week.

--Friday was a busy Southern Section playoff day for local baseball and softball teams - and the softball group enjoyed much more success. Two of three Foothill League baseball entries were eliminated from the Div. I baseball playoffs - including No. 3 seeded Saugus, which had won 18 in a row - while Valencia, Hart, Saugus and Burroughs all advanced in the Div. I softball tournament, and Santa Clarita Christian advanced in Div. VII.

Hart, which a year ago advanced to the Div. II baseball semifinals after entering as a wild-card, could be on the verge of another Cinderella season after a dramatic 8-7 victory at Agoura. The Indians (18-8-1) play host to Bishop Amat (17-8) of La Puente at 3:15 p.m. Tuesday. The winner could meet top-seeded Poly of Riverside in the quarterfinals Friday.

All four Foothill League softball entries play at home in the second round at 3:15 p.m. Tuesday.

--Several former College of the Canyons baseball players from last year enjoyed solid seasons, notably pitchers Will Savage (Oklahoma) and Kris Krise (Chico State).

Savage, who prepped at El Camino Real of Woodland Hills, led Oklahoma in victories, going 8-3 with a 3.73 and 50 strikeouts in 84 innings - quite a debut considering Savage pitched just 17 innings as a sophomore at COC. Krise (Crescenta Valley High of La Crescenta) earned All-California Collegiate Athletic Association honors after finishing 8-1 and leading the conference with a 1.88 ERA. Opponents batted just .204 against him - also tops in the CCAA.

--The latest PONY baseball phenom at the William S. Hart complex is Zach Vincej, a 5-foot-6 14-year-old who is 9-0 with a 1.15 ERA and 132 strikeouts and just 12 walks in 73 innings. He's also batting .470 with one home run, and he has only struck out once.

``Zach is completely dominating,'' said Dave Caldwell, the team's assistant coach. ``I like his attitude. He is solid always. If something doesn't work out, he doesn't pout. He just refocuses himself.''

--Paul Kim, girls' basketball coach at Burbank High the past two seasons, has resigned to pursue other interests. The team was 15-13 last season after finishing below .500 in Kim's first year.

In other Burbank coaching news, former Glendale head football coach Loi Phan has joined the football staff as an assistant.

--Baseball standout Camron Collard of Burroughs High of Burbank set a school single-season strikeout record with 78 in 69 innings, breaking Brent Fekety's 2004 record of 75 in 59 innings.

--A freshman orientation meeting for prospective Saugus High football players is scheduled for 10 a.m. Saturday at Plum Canyon Elementary School. The Saugus varsity, led by returning quarterback Zach Summers, plans a busy summer, beginning with the annual Hart passing tournament at College of the Canyons June 10-11. Saugus hosts a large-scale passing tournament June 24-25 at Central Park, followed by the Thousand Oaks tournament July 8-9 and the Claremont tournament July 15-16.

--Football coach Karl Zierhut, a former offensive coordinator at Valencia who helped turn around a beleaguered program at Simi Valley in his first head coaching job three years ago, is moving on.

The 33-year-old Valencia resident has taken a job as coach at Capital Christian in Sacramento, a small school that finished 0-10 last season.

Prior to Zierhut's arrival in 2003, Simi Valley had lost 22 in a row, but Zierhut guided the Pioneers to a 6-4 mark in his second year before finishing 4-6 last season. Now he plans to another rebuilding project.

``They've had some struggles at Capital Christian in football, but they've been very successful in other sports,'' Zierhut said. ``The bottom line is it's a program headed in the right direction, and it's clear to see.''

Zierhut expects a much better environment at a private school compared to a public school.

``It's a better situation for my family, and I've just never been really impressed with public education,'' Zierhut said. ``Some of my closest friends who mentored me coached or still coach at private schools, and after 10 years of public education, I'm a little frustrated with all the bureaucracy. The nice thing about a private school is it's like private business - you can put the right people in the right spots.''