THE HIGH SCHOOLS : Birmingham Finds Condition of Star Pitcher a Sore Subject

Birmingham High’s baseball team, whose 13-game winning streak was stopped last week by Monroe, is preparing for the City Section 4-A Division playoffs with another dose of reality: ace right-hander Josh Brown (11-2) has developed a sore shoulder muscle.

Brown, who defeated Sylmar in a regular-season game this season, will pitch against the Spartans in a first-round game Friday at Birmingham--provided his shoulder can handle the assignment.

“There’s a little bit of a question mark with Josh,” Birmingham Coach Wayne Sink said. “But the doctor said he could throw this week. It shouldn’t be a big deal.”

Or so Sink hopes. This year’s playoff berth marks the final run for Sink, who will retire at the end of the season.

“We’ve had such a good season that anything we do in the playoffs is icing on the cake,” he said. “But we’re capable of putting some good icing on the cake. In fact, I’m looking for a big mound of whipped cream.”

Good news, bad news: While Birmingham worries over the state of its arms, Poly, the top-seeded team in the 4-A, is rejoicing.

After spending the past four weeks without the services of No. 2 pitcher Rodrigo Dorame (3-0, 2.41 earned-run average), who had a tender elbow, Coach Jerry Cord is welcoming Dorame back.

“Rodrigo’s starting to throw some,” Cord said.

While Cord will rely on senior Eddie Castellanos (12-0) in Friday’s opener, either Dorame or spot starter Raul Torres (5-1) will serve as backup.

Lone star: North Hollywood’s wild-card berth in the 4-A playoffs can be viewed as a tribute to shortstop/pitcher/catcher Erik Martinez.

Martinez, who threw his second one-hitter of the year in the season finale against Grant last week, has posted statistics worthy of All-City consideration. He leads the team in batting (.507), runs scored (15), hits (34), runs batted in (15) and stolen bases (seven).

He’s also thrown three shutouts.

Martinez, who likely will attend Mission College next year, is scheduled to pitch Wednesday against Granada Hills at North Hollywood in a wild-card game.

Not so grand: It was the shot heard ‘round the high desert.

Antelope Valley’s Jack Cox belted a dramatic seventh-inning grand slam Friday against Palmdale, but it didn’t alter the Golden League playoff picture one iota.

Cox’s one-out blast tied the score, 8-8, before the Antelopes added a run to win, 9-8.

Win or lose, however, Antelope Valley (8-7) would have entered the playoffs as the league’s No. 3 team behind Palmdale (8-7) and Saugus (14-1).

Antelope Valley was assured of the third playoff berth when Canyon (7-8) lost to Saugus on Friday.

Nonetheless, the junior catcher’s third home run of the season will long be remembered by those in attendance--especially Antelope Valley Coach Mike Van Cheri.

“I remember him stepping out of the batter’s box and giving me a big grin and then stepping back in and hitting it out,” Van Cheri said. “It was like he knew he was going to do it.

“It was the biggest one of the season without a doubt.”

Deja vu: If history repeats itself, perhaps Palmdale’s three-game losing streak is a good omen.

Palmdale, in fact, has lost four of its past five league games--a repeat performance from last season.

“We lost to the exact same teams in the exact same order,” Coach Terry Vernor said.

Palmdale closed the regular season this year and last with a loss to Quartz Hill, a win over Ridgecrest Burroughs, and losses to Saugus, Canyon and Antelope Valley.

Palmdale rebounded in the playoffs last season, winning two games before losing to Tustin in the Southern Section 3-A Division quarterfinals.

Sudden death: Glendale took more time to warm up than a vintage television, but Coach Chris Axelgard found a motivational tool to spark his players: fear.

At one point, the Dynamiters were 3-3-1 in Pacific League play, but the team went 7-1 after spring break and finished second in league play at 10-4-1.

Consequently, Axelgard says his team will be acclimated to the do-or-die nature of the playoffs.

“We backed ourselves into such a corner that every game we played was a must-win game.”

Staff writers Sam Farmer, Vince Kowalick and Brian Murphy contributed to this notebook.