The Captains, 2007

Congratulations to Jace Dispenza, Greg Kernodle, and Jared Weinstock on being selected as co-captains of the 2007 Malibu High School baseball team.

An Unofficial Team Photo

[Photo by REW.]

A Long Afternoon in Sherman Oaks

In a practice game at Notre Dame High School today, Malibu pitchers gave up nine walks, a hit batsman, and two balks while the Sharks compiled eight errors over the course of six innings. Offensively, the Sharks collected six singles but only one run.

For a complete rundown of Malibu's highlights, go here.

The good news is that none of what happened today counts.

Greg Kernodle

Stephen Williams

To Notre Dame

The Sharks will take on the Notre Dame High Knights tomorrow in a practice game. The JV teams will play at Malibu High while the varsity game will be played at Notre Dame. (For directions to Notre Dame, which is located at the corner of Riverside Drive and Woodman Avenue in Sherman Oaks, click here.)

Last season, the Knights finished 10-14 in the tough Mission League.

Both games are scheduled to start at 3:15.

Alumni Game, 2007

Under bright, sunny skies on Saturday, Malibu High kicked off the 2007 baseball season with fourteen innings of baseball wrapped around a cookout of truly monumental proportions.

Following an intra-squad JV game, the varsity squared off against an alumni/coaches team led by Phil Johnson (Class of 2005), Brooks Fitch (Class of 2006), and Coach Dave Buss on the mound and Dane Skophammer (Class of 2001) behind the plate. The old guys, led by former Sharks manager Tony Walczuk, put some timely hits together with some Sharks errors to win going away.

Johnson struck out seven of his former teammates in four strong innings on the mound. Buss had two hits, three RBIs, and a stolen base. He also robbed Jacob Perrin of a base hit in left field when he somehow snared a line drive while stumbling over his feet and falling on the ground.

The Sharks had difficulty putting much offense together against Johnson, Fitch, and Buss. However, Jace Dispenza got the varsity on the scoreboard in the bottom of the fourth with an RBI double in the right-centerfield gap. In the fifth inning, Wilder Philipson drove in a run with a base hit and Andrew Kramer had an RBI groundout.

The day's most outstanding performance was turned in by those who prepared enough food for all the players, coaches, and fans from both of the baseball games and a softball game.

Spring Training for the Blog

Just like the team that Sharks Baseball covers, the blog is getting ready for the regular season.

Over the next couple of days, I will be making some changes to the design of Sharks Baseball in an effort to enhance both the appearance and the functionality of the site. No time offline is expected, but there may be a number of design elements that come and go as I try to find a look we can all enjoy coming back to time after time throughout the season.

If you have any suggestions, please feel free to leave a comment.

Feeding Frenzy

What better way for the Sharks to begin a new season than with a feeding frenzy?

Judging from the volume of email traffic today, it looks like there will be lots of food--most of it very unhealthy (just the way we like it)--when the Malibu High baseball and softball programs get together tomorrow for a cookout in conjunction with a couple of pre-season games.

The JV team will play an intra-squad game beginning at 10:00 a.m. Then, at 1:00 p.m., the varsity team will play against an alumni team led by the Sharks' former head baseball coach, Tony Walczuk. Somewhere in there, the grill will be fired up and large Costco containers full of hamburgers, hot dogs, chips (lots of chips), and drinks will appear.

Tomorrow's games will provide the Sharks with a tuneup for the tuneup to take place in the form of a practice game at Notre Dame High on Monday.

Diamond in the Rough

The Malibu High baseball field has been getting some much-needed work in preparation for Opening Day on Friday, March 2. Pictured below, Mark Conrad removes a shovel-full of topsoil before spreading DG.

Tim Biglow spreads DG in front of the dugout along the first base line.

[Photos by Gary Wonnacott.]

Practice Begins

The 2007 season began today at Malibu High with 33 players and 7 coaches on the field for the first day of practice.

The Sharks will open the season on Friday, March 2, at 3:00 p.m. at home against St. Monica's in the first game of the Royal Invitational Tournament.