Leeches

The call came on the eve of his Los Angeles concert, just as he was leaving his home in Mexico. We have your son. Follow our instructions. Don't make trouble. It was a year ago, and Vicente Fernandez was about to headline four sold-out shows at the Pico Rivera Sports Arena, his annual Memorial Day pilgrimage to the Eastside suburbs of L.A. Now this voice, saying his 33-year-old son, his namesake, was being held for a ransom of millions.

First Lady Nancy Reagan startled those attending an American Camping Assn. meeting with this statement: "I don't think most people associate me with leeches or how to get them off. But I know how to get them off. I'm an expert at it." She did not explain her remark made Monday night. But it came after published reports that she was a prime force behind the departure of Chief of Staff Donald T. Regan. Her press secretary, Elaine Crispen, was not amused at the linkage.

About 120 women have lettered in softball at Cal State Northridge in the 15 years the school has offered the sport. Most hung up their glove and spikes and called it quits after college. This summer, however, nine former Northridge players dusted off their equipment, joined forces and returned to the diamond. Although the team easily could call itself the Matador Alumna, it is known as the Stevenson Ranch Mavericks, a women's Amateur Softball Assn.

Tennis, anyone? Well, how about tennis and a little rock 'n' roll? North Ranch Tennis Club in Westlake Village is playing host to the Tennis and Music Festival, this Friday through Sunday, to benefit the charities of the City of Hope, Musicares, and Grammy and the Schools. This refreshing combination will feature several tennis professionals--including U. S.

Less than a year ago, Rick St. Pierre of Thousand Oaks decided to drop out of coaching. After a decade of coaching his youngest daughter Michelle in summer and winter leagues, he decided it was time she venture off to gain perspective from another mentor. His wife Cathy was ecstatic about the decision. After all, Rick spent four nights a week at batting or pitching practices. Weekends were filled with tournaments and doubleheaders.

More offense, more interest. That was the result the NCAA hoped to achieve this year by changing the look and composition of the ball in the previously pitcher-dominated sport of collegiate softball. All three divisions of the NCAA abandoned the white leather ball with the white laces in favor of one of fluorescent yellow and red laces. Additionally, the inner core was hardened to make for a livelier ball.

Kym Weil, a former Hart High pitcher, does not consider herself accident-prone. But the University of Hawaii pitcher does consider herself lucky to be alive. In the span of little more than a year, Weil had two major accidents. One kept her from competing during her collegiate sophomore season. The other could easily have ended her life. It was 10:45 p.m. on Dec. 20, 1990. Weil, then a freshman, and her roommate had just finished grabbing a late-night snack at a local Honolulu eatery.

Natasha Pospich of Woodland Hills is quickly--and successfully--making the transition from junior to open tennis competition. Pospich, 17, the No. 1 player at Calabasas High, defeated Linda Allred of Los Angeles, 7-6 (7-5), 6-2, in the title match of the $5,000 Whittier Narrows Open tournament last weekend. It was Pospich's first open tournament of the year. Pospich, who plans to attend Pepperdine in 1991, was losing, 5-4, in the first set, but managed to take Allred to a tiebreaker.

"Here's the thing," says David Rosenthal, former television writer and self-styled Hollywood whistleblower. "When you give up a job that's paying $2.5 million a year, and you write a play that's full of very foul language, and you do it without preparing your parents for it, some people are going to freak out." Rosenthal laughs, picking at his fruit plate over breakfast at the trendy Mercer Kitchen restaurant in New York, where he now lives. He's no stranger to freakouts.

Not knowing what she looks like, former Newbury Park High softball player Gina Casey is tough to spot in the feature film "A League of Their Own," which opened Wednesday in theaters citywide. Casey's only speaking scene in the movie about the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League of the 1940s and '50s ended up on the cutting-room floor. Casey, 25, was originally cast as a double (or stand-in) for actress Debra Winger.