Change-up helps ex-Ramona star excel

Right-hander Neil Jamison had reached a point where his slider wasn't enough.

Not that Jamison's slider wasn't any good. The former Ramona High star had used the pitch effectively last season at Long Beach State, earning 11 saves and not allowing an earned run in 28 appearances.

And it wasn't that Jamison didn't put up good numbers after the Padres took him in the sixth round of the 2005 draft.

He simply needed another pitch to retire left-handed hitters on a consistent basis at the professional level.

"I put up pretty good numbers (2-3 with a 1.69 ERA and eight saves in 32 professional appearances last season at Eugene and Fort Wayne) by throwing a sinker and slider away," Jamison said. "But at the professional level, my slider wasn't as effective against left-handed hitters.

"I had to throw my fastball inside to get lefties out. I needed another pitch, something I could throw down and away to lefties."

So Jamison and the Padres' staff went to work on a change-up. He spent most of instructional league and all of spring training working on it.

"The great thing about instructional league is that you can work on things and not worry about numbers," Jamison said. "I was able to work on that change-up, sharpen it in spring training, and now it's a weapon."

Jamison had hoped to make the roster at Lake Elsinore, the Padres' Class A California League affiliate, out of spring training, but was instead assigned to Fort Wayne of the Midwest League.

It wasn't because he did anything wrong, however.

"We had some guys we needed to make some decisions on," said Grady Fuson, vice president of scouting and player development for the Padres. "We wanted those guys at Lake Elsinore where we'll know one way or the other if they'll help us. Once that situation works itself out, Jamison could move.

"Neil Jamison is a good pitcher, a pitcher we feel will help us at the big-league level."

Jamison has appeared in three of Fort Wayne's first eight games. He has two saves and six strikeouts in three innings of work.

"Spring training gets to be a routine," he said. "There are different drills, of course, but things are the same every day. You can't wait to get here, but after a while you can't wait to leave, get with a team and start playing games."

For now, that team is in Indiana. Sometime this season, that could change, and Jamison will be pitching right up the road from home.

"That would be nice, real nice," Jamison said.

Track and field

< Freshman pole vaulter Derek Scott (El Camino), who had his senior prep season cut short by a leg injury after clearing 16 feet, 8 inches, has cleared 17-1 as a freshman at USC.

< UCLA's Jolanda Diego (El Camino) has run 11.54 seconds in the 100 meters and 23.56 in the 200, qualifying for the NCAA West Regionals. Jenna Timinsky (San Dieguito Academy) has run 2:06.26 in the 800 meters and has also qualified for the regionals. Claire Rethmeier (San Pasqual) is running the 1,500 (4:29.43), 3,000 (10:00.91) and 10,000 (36:23.67) for the Bruins. Nastassja Hall (Rancho Buena Vista) is preparing for heptathlon competition. Allison Hall (Rancho Bernardo) is running the 800 (2:10.55) and 1,500 (4:27.74) for UCLA.

< Chris Oxidine (Mt. Carmel) is throwing the javelin and hammer at Azusa Pacific.

The award goes to …

> Breanna Dobbe (Poway resident), a member of the women's ice hockey team at the Rochester Institute of Technology, earned Eastern College Athletic Conference East All-Academic Team honors. Academic team members must maintain a 3.0 GPA on a 4.0 scale and play in at least half of a team's games.

> Georgia's Megan McAllister (Carlsbad) was named SEC Softball Player of the Week after going 12-for-17 with three doubles, two homers and 12 RBIs in three-game sweeps of South Carolina and Mississippi State. She's hitting .389 for the season with a team-leading 10 homers and 51 RBIs. Georgia is ranked No. 9 in the nation.

Around campus

> Tiffany Snow (San Pasqual), the former NCAA Player of the Year at Old Dominion, and Kristi Gannon (San Pasqual), the former Michigan star, have been named by USA Field Hockey to the 18-member team that will play in the World Cup Qualifying Tournament, scheduled for April 25-May 6 in Rome. The top five teams in the 12-team event will join Australia, Argentina, Germany, India, The Netherlands and Spain at the Women's World Cup, Sept. 27-Oct. 7 in Madrid.

> Becky Lucidi (Poway) and partner Ashley Langer have advanced into the Elimination Challenge at The Golf Channel's "Big Break V: Hawaii." The next round airs at 6 p.m. Tuesday.

John Maffei's Alumni Report appears every other Monday through the college season. He can be reached at (760) 740-3547, by fax at (760) 740-5045 or at jmaffei@nctimes.com. Readers are urged to submit information on former North County prep athletes. To comment, go to nctimes.com.

ALUMNI REPORT: AROUND CAMPUS

JOHN MAFFEI

Staff Writer

AROUND CAMPUS

BASEBALL

< Freshman first baseman David Plante (Fallbrook), who got off to a slow start at Arizona, has heated up. He's hitting .302 with two homers and 16 RBIs in 18 games. One of his homers was an eighth-inning grand slam against archrival Arizona State.

< Derek Simper (San Marcos/Palomar College) is hitting .328 with a homer, nine doubles and 17 RBIs at San Francisco State. He has started all 33 games for the Gators.

< Freshman Allan Dykstra (Rancho Bernardo) continues to swing a hot bat at Wake Forest. After a five-RBI game Wednesday against UNC Greensboro, he was hitting .350 with an Atlantic Coast Conference-leading 12 homers, 13 doubles and 43 RBIs.

< Infielder Kyle Smith (Fallbrook) is hitting .338 with four homers, eight doubles and 17 RBIs at UNC Asheville. He has started all 28 games for the Bulldogs.

< Left-hander Kyle Owsley (Mt. Carmel) is 4-3 with a 2.15 ERA after eight starts for Cal State Los Angeles.

< Freshman center fielder Tim Murphy (Rancho Buena Vista) is back playing for UCLA after missing 22 games with a broken hand. He has played in eight games and is hitting .333.

< Right-hander Mike Casserly (Vista) is 3-1 with a 2.77 ERA for a Biola team that is 25-9.

< Freshman outfielder Angus Schaller (San Dieguito Academy) is hitting .387 with a pair of homers and a team-leading 19 RBIs at Amherst College. Pitcher Mike Hinckley (San Dieguito Academy) is also playing for the Jeffs.

< Left-hander Craig Deaver (Escondido) has made 10 starts for Regis University and is 5-3 with a 3.70 ERA. He has worked 64 1/3 innings and has 55 strikeouts.

< Matt Guiliano (Valley Center) and Kyle Thompson (Valley Center) are tearing it up at the University of Sioux Falls. Guiliano is hitting .523 with three homers and 16 RBIs after 23 games and recently hit for the cycle in a game against Northwestern Iowa. Thompson is hitting .466 with two homers and 16 RBIs. He is 3-2 as a pitcher.

SOFTBALL

< Kristie Fox (Mt. Carmel) has started all 37 games for No. 4-ranked Arizona and is hitting .405 with six homers and 29 RBIs.

< Samantha Pittman (Rancho Bernardo) has started all 53 games and is hitting .270 with three homers and 28 RBIs at Providence.

< Mia Longfellow (Ramona) is hitting .383 with a homer, 20 RBIs and a team-leading 12 doubles for an Oregon State team ranked No. 8 in the nation.

< Sophomore first baseman Whitney Holstun (Escondido) is hitting .279 with three homers and 15 RBIs at Virginia. Pitcher Karla Wilburn (Torrey Pines) is 7-7 with a 3.75 ERA for the Cavaliers

< Staci Falzon (La Costa Canyon) is hitting .308 with a homer and 16 RBIs at Purdue. Kristen Schell (Poway) is hitting .259 with three homers and 15 RBIs for the Boilermakers.

< Laura Determan (Rancho Bernardo), a freshman at Villanova, is hitting .255 with a homer and 10 RBIs and is 2-9 with a 4.29 ERA in 20 games on the mound.

< Infielder Sarah Jensen (Rancho Bernardo) is hitting .462 with a home run, 29 RBIs, a team-leading 10 doubles and nine steals at Biola. Catcher Kristin Martin (Poway) is hitting .260 with four homers and 11 RBIs for the Eagles.

MEN'S VOLLEYBALL

< Sophomore Bryan Shires (Mt. Carmel) led UC Santa Cruz to the title game of the NCAA Division III tournament. He had eight kills, including the match winner, in a three-game sweep of Riveria in the semifinal at Hoboken, N.J. Shires also had eight kills in the title match, but the Banana Slugs fell in three to Juniata.

-- John Maffei