Semifinals Finals

In the semifinal round of the CIF Division V playoffs, St. Paul defeated Oaks Christian, 15-10, and Serrano defeated St. Bonaventure, 3-2. St. Paul and Serrano will play for the championship on Thursday at UC-Riverside at 7:30 p.m.

The Revised Schedule

The American Legion Schedule posted below is the revised version. If there are further updates, you can be assured that I'll have them posted here quicker than you can open the attachment from Coach Buss.

2005 American Legion Schedule

Date	Day	Time	Visitor	Home	Location
June 7	Tuesday	5:00pm	Malibu	Palisades	UCLA
June 10	Friday	5:00pm	Fairfax	Malibu	UCLA
June 11	Saturday	11:00am	SaMo A	Malibu	Malibu
June 13	Monday	5:00pm	Malibu	SaMo B	UCLA
June 18	Saturday	2:00pm	Lawndale	Malibu	UCLA
June 20	Monday	5:00pm	Malibu	Palisades	Malibu
June 21	Tuesday	5:00pm	Malibu	Hollywood	UCLA
June 25	Saturday	10:00am	Malibu	University	UCLA
June 28	Tuesday	2:00pm	Brentwood	Malibu	UCLA
July 1	Friday	2:00pm	Malibu	Fairfax	UCLA
July 2	Saturday	11:00am	Malibu	SaMo A	Malibu
July 2	Saturday	2:00pm	SaMo B	Malibu	Malibu
July 8	Friday	5:00pm	Malibu	Lawndale	UCLA
July 9	Saturday	2:00pm	Palisades	Malibu	UCLA
July 11	Monday	11:00am	University	Malibu	Malibu
July 12	Tuesday	5:00pm	Hollywood	Malibu	UCLA
July 16	Saturday	2:00pm	Malibu	Brentwood	UCLA

CIF Semifinals Updates

At Oaks Christian, St. Paul and Oaks Christian are tied, 3-3, in the top of the fourth inning. Serrano leads St. Bonaventure, 3-1, in the other semifinal game being played today. Final scores will be posted here when both games have been completed.

Blogger at Work

No one asked, but I've decided to do the blogging equivalent of standing up and taking a bow. (Actually, it's more like keeping my seat and giving a little wave.) Here I am, doing what I do at games: keeping score and getting as close to the action as I can. (Thanks to Art Hale for the photo taken at the Oaks Christian game on May 10.)

Third Round Update

Oaks Christian, which finished third in the Frontier League with a 6-6 record, defeated Woodcrest Christian today, 3-2, to advance to the semifinals of the CIF Division V playoffs. The Lions will face St. Paul, which defeated Temple City this afternoon by a score of 6-1.

In today's other games, Serrano defeated Cathedral, 3-1, and St. Bonaventure downed Calvary Chapel, 3-2.

Semifinal games will be played on Tuesday.

Another Take on Friday's Game

The Malibu Times has come through once again with great coverage of Sharks Baseball. Kevin Connelly's story about Friday's game against Temple City is in today's paper and is available on-line here.

I think I can speak for all of the Sharks fans in thanking Kevin and the Malibu Times for bringing some attention to the Sharks this season.

Second-Round CIF Playoff Scores

Yesterday, in the second round of the CIF Division V Playoffs, Temple City knocked out Oak Park while Oaks Christian advanced with a victory over Fillmore. Here is a complete list of yesterday's Division V scores:

St. Paul 20, Ontario Christian 3
Temple City 9, Oak Park 3
Woodcrest Christian 3, Monrovia 2
Oaks Christian 9, Fillmore 2
Serrano 11, Valley Christian 1
Cathedral 6, La Canada 3
Calvary Chapel 5, Paraclete 4 (9 innings)
St. Bonaventure 13, Santa Paula 2

Catching Up

The long-awaited recap of last Friday's playoff game against Temple City has finally been posted here. (In order to preserve the chronological order of the blog, I placed the post back in time a few days.)

Killer B's

Former Malibu stars Jaime Ballesteros and Luke Beck are having standout seasons at the junior college level. Ballesteros finished the regular season with a .403 batting average (tied for 24th in the state among junior college players) for Compton College. He also had five homeruns and 33 RBIs.

Beck, named Co-Player of the Year in the Orange Empire Conference, hit .373 with five homeruns and 34 RBIs for Orange Coast College during the regular season. A starter in the outfield all season, Beck has also been a very effective closer for the Pirates. Through May 22 (including playoff games), he has compiled a 2-1 won-loss record with nine saves in 16 appearances. Opponents are hitting just .176 against him.

Beck will be playing with Orange Coast College for the state title next weekend (May 28-30) in Fresno.

Sharks in Tuxes

As promised, here are some photos of some of the Sharks at the prom. (To those of you seeing this who aren't related to him, I apologize for the fact that Daniel is in every one of the photos. Blame it on favoritism if you must, but the fact is that neither Daniel nor his date took any pictures that didn't have him in them and he was standing so close to the other person in each picture that I was unable to crop him out.)

Brett Weinstock and DWil

DWil and Jason Puklus

Jamie Van Soelen and DWil

What Are Your Thoughts?

One of the conventions of the blogosphere is what is called the "open thread" in which the blogger (that's me) writes a post specifically inviting readers to comment on a particular topic. I'd like to try it and offer you the opportunity to share your thoughts about the 2005 season.

If you haven't posted a comment before, it's simple. Click on "Comments" at the end of this post. You'll see the comments that have already been left (if you're not the first). At the end of the comments, click on "Post a Comment." You'll be taken to a page where you can write a comment, preview it, and then post it either anonymously or by your Blogger account (if you have one or choose to create one). If you write something and wish you hadn't said what you said, you can remove the comment. If you write something and I wish you hadn't said what you said, I can remove the comment.

So, how about those Sharks?

Coming Attractions

Although the Sharks' 2005 season has ended, there's more to come on the blog. I'll be posting a recap of yesterday's playoff game along with one of the Santa Paula game on May 12. (I'm sorry it has taken me so long to get back to recapping that game.) There will also be more photos--both game photos that were not previously posted and a variety of others (including Sharks in tuxes from the prom last night).

At some point this summer I'm hoping to post a collection of photos of the seniors taken during their earlier baseball days. (Please let me know if you have photos from Little League or T-ball that you would be willing to scan and contribute for this project.)

The statistics from the 2005 season have scarcely been mined at all. With the scorebook in front of me, I'll be digging for--and occasionally writing about--interesting facts about the team that may have gone unnoticed during the season.

More baseball is just around the corner. The American Legion season begins in mid-June. Look for information about that--including the schedule--in the next few days. And once the Legion season begins, I'll be posting scores, recaps, and statistics.

What about the long-term future of the blog? This has been a labor of love, inspired by the knowledge that one of my sons, whose teams I have enjoyed watching since the days of the Malibu T-ball Reds, was a senior, as were many of his teammates whom I have also enjoyed watching for a long time. Since I also have a son who is a freshman, I suspect the labor of love will continue for a few more seasons before I pass Sharks Baseball off to a new blogger.

Temple City 5, Sharks 2

The Sharks were bounced from the CIF playoffs in the first round on Friday as the Temple City Rams scored five runs in the top of the sixth inning en route to a 5-2 victory in Malibu. Brooks Fitch dueled Temple City ace Ryan Tucker to a scoreless draw through four-and-a-half innings before Malibu scored two runs to take a short-lived lead. In the end, however, Tucker's fastball, clocked at 96 MPH early in the game, kept Malibu's bats uncharacteristically quiet.

Although Temple City had runners in scoring position in each of the first three innings, Fitch kept coming up with the big pitch necessary to keep the Rams from scoring. After a one-out walk and a stolen base put Sheehan Casey on second, Fitch struck out Tucker and cleanup hitter Chris Almacellas. In the second inning, a leadoff walk to Devin Dearth and a sacrifice bunt by Patrick Huls again put a runner on second with only one out. Fitch subsequently retired Brian Dearth on a fly to shallow left field and Kyle MacDonald on a grounder to short.

Brooks Fitch

The jam Fitch had to work out of in the third inning was more serious. After Ricky Arredondo grounded to second to lead off the inning, Fitch hit Mike Mendoza. Mendoza stole second before Casey reached on an infield single that moved Mendoza to third. Fitch then hit Tucker to load the bases with one out. Almacellas lined to center and Dearth struck out to end the inning. Although Temple City had baserunners in the fourth and fifth innings, including a leadoff single by Mendoza in the fifth, Fitch kept his shutout intact through five innings.

Meanwhile, the Sharks found themselves struggling to generate any offense against Tucker in spite of the fact that, for the twenty-first time in twenty-three games, the leadoff hitter reached base in the first inning.

Brett Weinstock struck out swinging to lead off for Malibu, but still managed to reach first on a passed ball. With a 2-1 count on Daniel Williams, hitting in the second spot for the first time since the first game of the season, Weinstock was caught stealing as Williams took a ball on what was supposed to have been a bunt-and-run play. After fouling off the 3-1 pitch, Williams hit a slow roller to short that was bobbled, allowing him to reach first safely. With Philip Johnson at the plate, Williams was picked off first before Johnson struck out to end the inning.

Although Jason Puklus had a two-out single in the second inning and Williams led off with a line-drive single to center in the third, the Sharks were unable to advance a runner to second until the fifth inning. Overall, Malibu hit only five balls out of the infield against Tucker.

With Fitch pitching effectively, it appeared that the Sharks might get all the runs they needed in the fifth. Fitch led off with a towering fly ball that the Rams' left fielder lost in the sun to give Fitch the third hit of the game off of Tucker. Greg Kernodle entered to run for Fitch. When Puklus followed with a bunt, Tucker threw wildly to second leaving the Sharks with runners on first and second and no outs. Stephen Williams entered the game and, on the first pitch, fouled off a bunt attempt. After taking a strike and fouling off a two-strike pitch, he showed bunt again on a ball wide of the strike zone before popping out to first for the first out of the inning. Geoff Roth followed with an infield groundout that moved the runners to second and third. After Mike Gwyn walked to load the bases, Jace Dispenza entered to run for him. With Brett Weinstock at the plate, Kernodle scored the Sharks' first run of the game on a wild pitch. Weinstock walked to reload the bases for Daniel Williams. A second wild pitch by Tucker allowed Puklus to score. With runners on second and third, Williams fouled off three pitches before running the count full. On a high fastball, Williams attempted to check his swing, but as the Rams came off the field and Williams headed to first base, the umpires convened and ruled that Williams had swung.

Jason Puklus

Fitch started strong in the top of sixth, striking out Devin Dearth for the second time. However, Huls followed with a double deep to center and Brenton Wunner reached on a ball hit up the middle that Jason Puklus fielded but threw past Jamie Van Soelen at first. Kyle MacDonald then tripled to right center to drive in Huls and Wunner with the tying runs. One batter later, Ricky Arredondo singled to score MacDonald with the third run of the inning. Fitch got Mendoza to fly to right for the second out, but Casey followed with a single to right center. After Tucker walked to load the bases, Almacellas singled up the middle to knock in Arredondo and Casey and end Fitch's day on the mound. Philip Johnson, on in relief, picked off Almacellas to end the inning.

The Sharks were unable to get anything else going against Tucker in the sixth and seventh innings in spite of a leadoff walk to Johnson in the sixth. In fact, Tucker, still throwing in the low 90s at the end of the game, struck out four of the last six Malibu hitters he faced. The only well hit ball for Malibu after the fifth inning was a fly out to center by Puklus to end the sixth inning.

Philip Johnson

In the end, Fitch and Tucker both had one weak inning in an otherwise classic pitchers' duel, but Temple City did more with its opportunity than Malibu could do. In a single-elimination playoff format, that was all it took to end the Sharks' historic season.

The End of the Run

Temple City defeated Malibu, 5-2, to end the Sharks' hope for a CIF title.

Thanks, guys, for a great season.

(Game details to follow.)

Fully Prepared

The Sharks gather at the end of practice on Thursday for some final comments from Coach Gallo.

Reminder

Game time today (and for Tuesday's second-round playoff game at Malibu) is 3:15 rather than the usual 3:30. Don't miss a single pitch!

BP with Coach Paulson

Coach Adam Paulson pitches BP on Thursday afternoon as the Sharks tune up for Friday's first-round CIF playoff game against Temple City.

BU Ball

Seniors Geoff Roth and Duncan Daw model the new T-shirts celebrating the Sharks' Frontier League championship. The T-shirts were provided by Coach Jeff Solny.

Post-season Roster

Here is the 18-man playoff roster for the Sharks. All statistics are for varsity games only.

No.	Name	Year	Position	G	AB	H	BA	HRs	RBIs	OBP	SLG
1	C. Bell	JR	1B, 3B	20	31	8	.258	0	8	.378	.387
2	B. Weinstock	SR	2B, SS	22	66	31	.470	0	17	.563	.591
3	G. Kernodle	SO	SB, SS	6	6	1	.167	0	0	.286	.167
4	A. Westine	SR	P	8	1	0	.000	0	0	.000	.000
7	G. Roth	SR	OF, P	22	72	24	.333	0	13	.377	.389
9	J. Weinstock	SO	OF, 1B	17	32	11	.344	0	2	.432	.375
11	D. Williams	SR	OF	22	79	42	.532	2	20	.568	.696
12	J. Dispenza	SO	OF	0	0	0	.000	0	0	.000	.000
17	M. Gwyn	JR	C, 3B	21	46	14	.304	1	6	.411	.391
18	G. Azzi	SR	3B	11	11	3	.273	0	4	.273	.273
19	J. Puklus	SR	SS, P	22	58	18	.310	1	14	.487	.448
21	D. Daw	SR	OF	8	3	0	.000	0	0	.000	.000
24	A. Beck	SR	OF, SS	17	25	6	.240	0	1	.269	.240
25	B. Fitch	JR	P, 1B	21	62	18	.290	3	24	.382	.532
29	P. Johnson	SR	P, 3B	21	62	22	.355	1	24	.468	.532
33	J. Van Soelen	SR	OF, 1B	21	52	23	.442	4	25	.544	.808
44	S. Williams	FR	C, 1B	13	28	12	.429	1	8	.543	.679
45	W. Semkin	JR	P, INF	2	1	0	.000	0	0	.500	.000

Frontier League Honors

From the Malibu High School Baseball web site:

The Malibu Sharks placed seven players on the Frontier League All Star team Monday. Player of the Year was senior outfielder Daniel Williams. Named to the first team for the second time were senior Philip Johnson and Brooks Fitch. Also named to the first team were seniors Brett Weinstock and Jamie van Soelen. Senior Geoff Roth was named to the second team and senior Jason Puklus was an honorable mention selection. Puklus was a first team member last year.

Congratulations!

On the Fence

Tim McAlevey, Steve Weinstock, Lonnie Galate, Rob Fitch, Eric Roth, and Harben Porter watch last Thursday's game against Santa Paula. (Photo courtesy of Anne Arvin.)

Scouting Report: Temple City

Malibu will host Temple City in a first-round CIF Division V playoff game on Friday, May 20, at 3:15 p.m. Playoff pairings were announced this afternoon on the CIF web site.

The Temple City Rams finished in a tie for second (with Monrovia) behind La Canada in the Rio Hondo League with an 11-4 league record. The Rams were 16-6 overall on the season with non-league wins over St. Francis (12-13), Pasadena (7-13), Keppel (1-17-1), Mountain View (12-12), and South Hills (17-6). In the most recent Division V Coaches' Poll, Temple City was ranked sixth, two spots ahead of the Sharks.

Senior pitcher Ryan Tucker led the Temple City staff with 68.1 innings pitched and a 1.13 ERA. Tucker struck out 112 in compiling a 6-4 record. Devin Dearth, another senior, threw 40 innings with a 2.10 ERA en route to a 5-1 record.

The leading hitters for the Rams, who averaged just over five runs scored per game, were Tucker (.340, 3 HRs, 17 RBIs), Chris Almacellas (.333, 0 HRs, 12 RBIs), and Mike Mendoza (.317, 0 HRs, 11 RBIs), and Devin Dearth (.309, 0 HRs, 15 RBIs).

The winner of Friday's game will face the winner of the Oak Park-Mary Star game in a second-round game on Tuesday, May 24.

Senior Day, 2005

From left to right: Jamie Van Soelen, Aaron Westine,Geoff Roth, Jason Puklus, Philip Johnson, Brett Weinstock, Duncan Daw, Daniel Williams, George Azzi, and Alex Beck.

Game Recap Coming Soon!

Once in a while I make the mistake of composing on-line with the result that everything disappears, never to be recovered. So it was earlier today with the recap of yesterday's 14-2 win over Santa Paula. I'll try to regroup and post a story sometime this evening. Thanks for your patience.

Finishing Strong

The Sharks defeated Santa Paula 14-2 at home today to close out the Frontier League season in sole possession of first place. Congratulations to Manager Paul Gallo, Coach Dave Buss, Coach Ismar Ardon, Coach Jeff Solny, Coach Adam Paulson, Coach Jason Cavnar and to all of the Malibu Sharks varsity baseball team.

(Game details to follow.)

DWil in the Malibu Times

This week's Malibu Times has a very nice story about Daniel Williams and his "season to remember." If you miss the print version, you can find the story here.

I'm not going to say too much about the story since I have a very personal interest in the subject (and pride can be such an ugly thing), but thanks to all of you who have done so much for Daniel over the years. You know who you are. (I know who you are, too, and soon I'll be telling others who you are.)

For now, thanks to Kevin Connelly for a beautifully written article. (Thanks for giving the blog some publicity, too!)

And Daniel--I'm really not as surprised by your success as my quote in the article made it sound.

Fighting for the Top Spot

They haven't been, but it would be understandable if they did.

The two Sharks players who have batted leadoff all season--Brett Weinstock and Daniel Williams--have hit at least 140 points higher in the top spot than in the other spots they've occupied. Weinstock, who led off in the opener against Vasquez, then gave way to Williams for the next fourteen games before moving back into the leadoff position on April 22 against Nordhoff, is hitting .545 at the top of the order and .404 elsewhere in the lineup. Williams, who batted second in the Vasquez game and third since April 22, has a .580 average as a leadoff hitter and a .370 average elsewhere.

Either way, Williams (currently hitting .513) and Weinstock (now at .453) have done a great job of setting the table this season. Nineteen times this season (the Sharks have played 21 games thus far), Malibu's leadoff hitter has reached base in the first inning. That translates into a phenomenal .905 on-base average for the leadoff hitter in the first inning. Believe it or not, it gets better. Fifteen times, the leadoff hitter has scored in the first inning. It's such an incredible statistic that a game-by-game run-down seems in order.

On the following table, first column provides the opponent and date of the game. The far-right column provides the outcome of the time at bat in the first inning. (A description in color indicates a run was scored.)

Vasquez--3/4	Weinstock	Walk
South Gate--3/5	Williams	Single
Marshall--3/7	Williams	Double
Glendale--3/10	Williams	Walk
Reseda--3/12	Williams	Double
Nordhoff--3/15	Williams	Walk
Kilpatrick--4/2	Williams	E-4
Oaks Christian--4/5	Williams	Single
Oaks Christian--4/8	Williams	Double
Montclair Prep--4/9	Williams	Walk
Santa Paula--4/12	Williams	Single
Santa Paula--4/15	Williams	Single
Oak Park--4/16	Williams	6-3
Oak Park--4/16	Williams	Single
Nordhoff--4/19	Williams	Single
Nordhoff--4/22	Weinstock	Single
Harvard Westlake--4/23	Weinstock	Double
Santa Clara--4/26	Weinstock	Walk
Santa Clara--4/29	Weinstock	Walk
Santa Clara--5/2	Weinstock	1-3
Oaks Christian--5/10	Weinstock	Single

Oaks Christian 7, Sharks 6

Junior Joe Dembesky, who took the loss back on April 8th when Malibu scored two runs in the bottom of the seventh to beat Oaks Christian 9-8, got a measure of revenge on Tuesday as his two-run double in the bottom of the seventh capped a five-run inning that sent the Sharks down to a 7-6 defeat. The loss, only the second in league play for Malibu, reduced the Sharks' lead over second-place Santa Paula to one game with one left to play.

Malibu came out swinging against Lions starter Tim Johnston, picking up three hits in the top of the first. Brett Weinstock singled to center, but was erased at second on Phil Johnson's grounder to short. Daniel Williams replaced Johnson at first on another fielder's choice and moved to second on Jamie Van Soelen's single to left. Jason Puklus followed with a ground-rule double to left centerfield that scored Williams, but a groundout by Brooks Fitch left Van Soelen and Puklus stranded.

The Sharks added three more runs in the third. Van Soelen, who had three hits on the day, doubled to right center with one out. Puklus followed with a single. With runners on the corners, Fitch connected for his third homerun of the season to make the score 4-0.

Phil Johnson, making his seventh start, retired the first eight Oaks Christian batters he faced. Then, with two out in the third inning, Lions catcher Ryan Haddock reached on an error. After a walk to Joey Navarro moved Haddock to second, Matt Ramirez doubled to knock in the Lions' first run.

Malibu extended its lead to 6-1 with single runs in the fourth and fifth innings. Weinstock reached in the fourth on a one-out single to left. Johnson reached on an error. After Williams struck out for the second out of the inning, Van Soelen singled to left to drive in Weinstock.

In the fifth, Fitch wound up up on third when his leadoff base hit bounced past Navarro in center. After Michael Gwyn was hit by a pitch, Geoff Roth drove in Fitch with a groundout to second.

Tim Johnston led off the bottom of the sixth with a triple to right center. With Chris Auten at the plate, Johnson balked, allowing Johnston to score. After Auten walked, Sharks Manager Paul Gallo brought in Geoff Roth to relieve Johnson. Roth struck out Joe Dembesky, induced Jimmy Dunn to ground into a fielder's choice, walked Jason Brooks, and retired the side on pinch-hitter Alex Blackmon's fielder's choice.

Looking for a quick exit with a win, the Sharks went down in order in the top of the seventh. In the bottom of the inning, Haddock led off with a single. After Navarro walked and Roth went to 2-0 to Ramirez, Gallo brought in Jason Puklus to pitch. Ramirez walked to load the bases and bring Johnston to the plate as the tying run. A walk to Johnston scored Haddock. Auten followed with a single on a 3-2 pitch to knock in Navarro and Ramirez.

With still nobody out in the inning and the score 6-5, Dembesky came to the plate and, on a 2-1 pitch, drove the ball to the fence in right centerfield. Johnston scored easily from second with the tying run and Auten, running all the way from first, beat the relay to give Oaks the come-from-behind win.

Senior Day

The Malibu High Varsity Baseball Team will have its annual Senior Day on Thursday, May 12. Come early (3:15 p.m.) for the game against Santa Paula--the final Frontier League game of the season--to honor an extraordinary group of seniors: George Azzi, Alex Beck, Duncan Daw, Phil Johnson, Jason Puklus, Geoff Roth, Jamie Van Soelen, Brett Weinstock, Aaron Westine, and Daniel Williams.

Moving Up

The Sharks have moved up a notch to number eight in the CIF Southern Section baseball coaches' poll for Division V. St. Paul, LA Baptist, and Woodcrest Christian continue to hold down the top three spots in the poll.

In Memoriam: Dr. Louis Leithold

All who are associated with Malibu High will want to read the story in today's Los Angeles Times about Dr. Louis Leithold, an extraordinary teacher, who started the calculus program at MHS. Dr. Leithold died on April 29, just days before the AP Calculus exam on which his students always excelled. The story is available here.

Run Production

All statistics tell only part of the story. That's why baseball people have been known to say about a weak swing that produces a blooper that falls in just the right spot to produce a base hit, "It'll look like a line drive in tomorrow's boxscore." Or, as Mark Twain said in his Autobiography, quoting British Prime Minister Benjamin Disraeli, "There are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies, and statistics."

Nonetheless, baseball revolves around statistics--the most important of which is a team statistic called the won-loss record--and some statistics can be revealing. But a proper understanding of what they also hide is important. So, with that introduction, let's consider run production, a subject that was mentioned briefly earlier in the season here.

The Sharks have produced runs in bunches this year. Thus far, the team has scored 174 runs in 20 games, or 8.7 per game. Not all of those runs have come at the right time, of course. Three of Malibu's six losses have been by one run; another loss (to Oak Park) was by two runs.

Where are all those runs coming from? Consider this measure of run production: If we take runs scored, add runs batted in, and divide by plate appearances (at bats plus sacrifices--including sacrifice flies--plus walks and times hit by pitch), we can derive a percentage that indicates the productivity of a hitter. (Earlier in the season, we used at bats rather than plate appearances as the denominator, but plate appearances should produce a more meaningful statistic.) The upper limit of the run production percentage would be 5.00, which could only occur if a player hit a grand slam (1 run plus 4 RBIs) every time he stepped up to the plate. (Actually, the percentage could go even higher for a player who scores runs as a pinch runner. Scoring one or more runs without ever getting a plate appearance would generate an infinite ratio of runs per plate appearance thanks to the impossibility of dividing by zero.)

Before we look at the numbers for the Sharks, consider what the statistics will not show. First, we've made no effort to separate runs scored as a pinch runner from those scored after reaching base by the runner's own effort at the plate. Nor, conversely, have we attempted to factor in the problem of being replaced on the bases by a pinch runner. (A player who hit a lot of triples only to be replaced on third base by a pinch runner would be badly cheated by what we're doing here. But as the team has only two triples all year and pinch runners have not been that common, this doesn't seem to be an issue worth trying to correct.)

Second, the statistics will not correct for the advantages (or disadvantages) of hitting in certain spots in the lineup. Ordinarily, players hitting first and second in the order score a lot of runs because they're followed by players who can hit the ball a long way. Not surprisingly, Daniel Williams and Brett Weinstock are tied for the team lead in runs scored with 25 apiece. Similarly, players hitting in the 3-4-5 spots tend to collect more RBIs thanks to the fact that they typically have players like Weinstock, Williams, and Roth on base frequently when they come to the plate. Players at the bottom of the order typically have neither advantage, except that the number eight and nine spots have been rather advantageous this season in terms of scoring runs because of the productivity at the top of the Sharks' lineup. (Of course, having the opportunity to be on base when Jamie Van Soelen is at bat is perhaps the biggest advantage of all. Batting behind him is a disadvantage because of the likelihood that he will have cleared the bases when he bats.)

With all of those disclaimers, let's look at the top ten in run production for the Sharks thus far.

	PA	R	BI	RP
J. Van Soelen	60	17	22	0.650
S. Williams	36	15	8	0.639
B. Weinstock	77	25	17	0.545
C. Bell	33	10	8	0.545
P. Johnson	69	14	23	0.536
D. Williams	81	25	18	0.531
B. Fitch	68	12	18	0.441
J. Puklus	70	18	12	0.429
G. Roth	71	15	11	0.366
M. Gwyn	49	9	5	0.286
J. Weinstock	35	7	2	0.257
A. Beck	26	4	1	0.192

JV--and Frosh/Soph--Update

The Sharks play Santa Monica High tomorrow at Malibu High in a frosh/soph game beginning at 11:00 a.m.

On Monday, the Malibu JV team completed a sweep of Santa Clara with a ten-inning win by the score of 5-4. Jacob Perrin allowed no earned runs in picking up the complete-game victory. He also drove in the winning run in the bottom of the tenth inning.

He's Hot!

Phil Johnson was listed in the "Who's Hot" section of the prep baseball coverage in today's Daily News. Here's what it said:

The senior went 3 for 5 with three RBI in a victory Monday over Santa Clara that clinched a share of the Frontier League title. He has a team-high 23 RBI.

(Rumor has it that Brooks Fitch will be listed next week in the "Who's Hot" section of the Santa Clara High student newspaper.)

Baseball in Italy

A little over a year ago, nearing the end of an eight-month stay in Italy, I had the opportunity to attend Fiorentina Baseball's opening day game (it was a doubleheader, actually) at the Campo di Baseball in Florence. That experience caused me to reflect on the differences between baseball in Italy and baseball in the United States. Here are some of my conclusions:

Top Ten Differences between Italian Baseball and American Baseball

10. In Italy, hit and run play only occurs in the parking lot after the game.

9. In America, lefty relievers are called "southpaws"–-in Italy, "comunisti."

8. Italian outfielders often kick balls rather than attempting long throws back to the infield.

7. Italian rules permit unlimited work stoppages after the fourth inning.

6. Instead of paying $7 for a warm beer, Italian fans fork over 28,000 lire for a cold Chianti.

5. Italian managerial strategies show clear signs of Machiavelli's influence.

4. In Italy, every ground ball is exciting thanks to a nationwide shortage of cups.

3. Play-by-play announcer Vito Sculli often forgets about the game and quotes long passages from Dante. (No, wait. That's just like Dodgers' baseball!)

2. Yellow cards.

1. Prime Minister Berlusconi never traded away Sammy Sosa.

Making Comments

I've just changed the settings on the blog so that anyone can post comments--without going through the process of registering first. (Just in time for the playoffs!) My apologies for not having noticed the difficulty of leaving comments previously. This should make it possible to leave anonymous comments--something that Dave Buss and the other 58 guys who want to manage have been begging to do.

Be nice, guys, or I'll pull the comment plug.

In Need of a Caption

This photo, taken by Coach Dave Buss on Monday while waiting for the umpires to show up at Santa Clara High, needs a caption.

Leave your suggestions--anonymously, if you like--in the comments.

Over 1K

The really big blogs get a thousand visits in the space of a few minutes each day, but this is not a really big blog. So, 134 days after inaugurating this blog (on the first day of winter--and on the second day of the Harvard Westlake Tournament), we've reached 1,000 visits. That, at least, is what the little multicolored box over on the right-hand side tells me. Anyway, it seems to be an appropriate time to say thanks to all of you loyal readers out there.

Incidentally, the first game described on this blog was a 5-4 Malibu win over L.A. Baptist. Could that have been a preview of the 2005 CIF Division V championship game?

Frontier League Champs!

The Sharks, enjoying a day off, clinched at least a tie for first place in the Frontier League as Oaks Christian defeated second-place Santa Paula 7-0. Tim Johnson pitched a complete game and Joe Dembesky hit a grand slam as the Lions pulled to within one game of second place.

Malibu, with two games left to play, now leads Santa Paula by two in the loss column. The Sharks travel to Oaks Christian next Tuesday and finish up against Santa Paula at home on Thursday. Santa Paula has three games remaining: Oaks Christian at home on Friday, Santa Clara away on Tuesday, and the Sharks in Malibu on Thursday.

Congratulations to the 2005 Malibu High School Sharks Varsity Baseball Team!

Ninth and Climbing

The Sharks are ranked ninth in the latest CIF Southern Section Division V baseball poll. Here are the complete rankings (with won-lost records and a link to each team's Max Preps page):

1. St. Paul (20-6-1)
2. LA Baptist (15-2)
3. Woodcrest Christian (17-4)
4. Oak Park (14-5)
5. Serrano (12-1-1)
6. St. Bonaventure (15-7)
7. Monrovia (12-6)
8. Aquinas (15-6)
9. Malibu (14-6)
10. Temple City (13-5)

To see the CIFSS baseball polls, click on the CIF Southern Section web page, click on "Polls," select "Spring Polls" and "Baseball," then choose the division on the drop-down menu. (Malibu is in Division V.) (The rankings are also available here on Max Preps.)

(Thanks to Paul Gallo for the tip.)

In the LA Times

Today's Los Angeles Times includes the following note on yesterday's game:

Malibu 10, Santa Clara 1

Senior third basemen Phillip Johnson went three for five with three RBIs and junior Brooks Fitch (5-2) pitched five innings, allowing an earned run on four hits with four strikeouts and no walks for visiting Malibu (14-6, 9-1). The Sharks are in first place in the Frontier League with a two-game lead with two games left to play. Brian Yunke went three for three with a double for Santa Clara (1-8).

You can find the write-up online here or on the Prep Sports page in the print edition.

(Thanks to Paul Gallo for the tip.)

Sharks 10, Santa Clara 1

The Sharks completed a three-game sweep of the Santa Clara Saints yesterday and, in the process, clinched a spot in the CIF playoffs for the third consecutive year. Brooks Fitch pitched five strong innings to pick up his fifth win of the season and Malibu pounded out thirteen hits en route to a 10-1 win in Oxnard.

The Sharks discuss their prom dates while waiting for the umpires to show up. Later, during the game, the subject of prom dates came up again as two unidentified Santa Clara fans begged Brooks Fitch to take them to the prom.

The Saints threatened to score first but ran themselves out of the inning in the top of the third. With one out, Santa Clara put runners on the corners as a result of two Malibu errors. On the third to first pickoff play--the play that “never works”--Fitch caught the runner breaking from first. In the ensuing rundown, Santa Clara's Anthony Gonzalez broke from third. Fitch’s throw to Gwyn at the plate was high, but Gwyn made a leaping catch and came down in time to apply the tag to the sliding runner. Fitch then struck out Chris Hernandez to end the inning.

In the top of the fourth inning, Michael Gwyn led off with a single off the end of the bat to short right field. After he had advanced to second on a wild pitch, Geoff Roth singled sharply to center moving Gwyn to third. Colbie Bell followed with a walk to load the bases and set the stage for a series of run-producing singles.

Brett Weinstock singled to left to score Gwyn. Phil Johnson followed with another single to left that plated Roth and Bell. After Daniel Williams flied out to left, Jamie Van Soelen singled to load the bases again. Jason Puklus then capped the four-run inning with a walk that drove in Weinstock with the fourth run of the inning.

Santa Clara scored its only run in the bottom of the fourth. Eric Navarro led off with an infield single but was doubled off when the next batter, A.J. Laboriante, hit a soft line drive to Brett Weinstock at second base. First baseman Brian Yunker then doubled to the fence in left center, the second of his three hits on the day. After advancing to third on a wild pitch, Yunker scored when Mike Lugo singled to right. Fitch then struck out designated hitter Phil Smith to end the inning.

The Sharks followed with another big inning in the top of the fifth. Roth started the inning with a walk. Bell bunted him over to second and Weinstock’s second hit of the day moved him to third. After Weinstock stole second, Johnson picked up two more RBIs with a single to right. Williams grounded into a fielder’s choice that erased Johnson at second and then stole second base. Van Soelen and Puklus both walked to load the bases. With a full count, Brooks Fitch then hit a line drive that caromed off the Santa Clara third baseman for a bases-clearing double to make the score 9-1.

In the top of the sixth, Malibu broke into double digits for the eleventh time in twenty games. With two outs, Brett Weinstock reached base on an infield hit. Johnson followed with a single to right and Weinstock scored when the ball got past the Santa Clara right fielder.

Jason Puklus closed for the Sharks, giving up just one infield hit while striking out three in two innings of work.

Brett Weinstock and Phil Johnson, hitting in the second spot in the lineup for the first time this season, had three hits apiece. Geoff Roth was 2-for-3 with a walk. Daniel Williams, Jamie Van Soelen, Brooks Fitch, Michael Gwyn, and Jared Weinstock had the Sharks' other hits.

Back to Santa Clara

The Sharks return to Santa Clara this afternoon for the makeup of a game rained out on March 18. It will be the third and final matchup this season of the Saints and Sharks. Last week, Malibu took two games from Santa Clara by scores of 14-2 and 13-2.

The Sharks are 8-1 in Frontier League play with three games remaining, including today's game. Second-place Santa Paula (6-2 in the Frontier League) plays tomorrow at Oaks Christian. The magic number for the Sharks to clinch the Frontier League title is two.

Baseball and Jazz

A photo of sophomore pitcher, first baseman, and DH-extraordinaire Jared Weinstock is gracing page 6 of last week's Malibu Surfside News. He's wearing shades and playing the sax.

The photo made me think of a magazine ad I saw recently. It shows a kid in his bedroom playing the sax. The caption reads, "Johnny! Close your window. Dad can't hear himself mow the lawn."