2005 Varsity Schedule

Varsity

Monday, February 28, 3:00 p.m.
Notre Dame at MHS (pre-season)

Daily News Tournament

Friday, March 4, 3:oo p.m.
Vasquez at MHS

Saturday, March 5, 11:00 a.m.
South Gate at MHS

Monday, March 7, 3:00 p.m.
Marshall at MHS

Thursday, March 10, 3:00 p.m.
Glendale at MHS

Saturday, March 12, 2:00 p.m.
MHS at Reseda

*****

Tuesday, March 15, 3:30 p.m.
Nordhoff at MHS*

Friday, March 18, 3:30 p.m.
MHS at Santa Clara*

Saturday, March 19, 11:00 a.m.
Kilpatrick at MHS

(Spring Break)

Tuesday, April 5, 3:30 p.m.
MHS at Oaks Christian*

Friday, April 8, 3:30 p.m.
Oaks Christian at MHS*

Saturday, April 9, 11:00 a.m.
MHS at Montclair Prep

Tuesday, April 12, 3:30 p.m.
Santa Paula at MHS*

Friday, April 15, 3:30 p.m.
MHS at Santa Paula*

Saturday, April 16, 3:00 p.m.
Oak Park at MHS (2)

Tuesday, April 19, 3:30 p.m.
MHS at Nordhoff*

Friday, April 22, 3:30 p.m.
Nordhoff at MHS*

Saturday, April 23, 11:00 a.m.
Harvard Westlake at MHS

Tuesday, April 26, 3:30 p.m.
Santa Clara at MHS*

Friday, April 29, 3:30 p.m.
MHS at Santa Clara*

Tuesday, May 10, 3:30 p.m.
MHS at Oaks Christian*

Thursday, May 12, 3:30 p.m.
Santa Paula at MHS*

Tuesday, May 17
CIF Wildcard Round

Friday, May 20
CIF First Round

Tuesday, May 24
CIF Second Round

Friday, May 27
CIF Quarter-final

Tuesday, May 31
CIF Semifinal

Thursday or Saturday, June 2 or 4
CIF Final

*--Frontier League

Schedule Alert

The Sharks will play a double-header at Malibu High against San Marcos on Saturday, February 5. Details to follow.

Arguing with Umpires

"The job of arguing with the umpire belongs to the manager, because it won't hurt the team if he gets thrown out of the game."

--Earl Weaver

Sharks 8, Oak Park 1

Malibu defeated Oak Park, 8-1, today in a practice game at Malibu High. Three Malibu pitchers–Brooks Fitch, Wes Semkin, and Phil Johnson–combined to toss a one-hitter and Brett Weinstock, Daniel Williams, and Jason Puklus had two hits apiece in the win.

Pitching was the story for the Sharks. Fitch struck out the side in the top of the first, walked the first batter in the second, and then proceeded to strike out the next three Oak Park hitters.

Semkin, who pitched the third and fourth innings, allowed only one baserunner–a two-out walk in the top of the third. He retired the side in order in the fourth inning on three infield groundball outs.

Johnson worked the last three innings. He struggled with his control in the fifth inning, walking the first two batters he faced and hitting another batter after getting two outs. He got out of the bases-loaded jam with a strikeout. After pitching a perfect sixth inning, Johnson walked the leadoff hitter in the seventh. A stolen base, a strikeout, and a ground out later, Oak Park’s only hit of the game–a single to right–brought in the only run allowed by Malibu pitching all day.

Altogether, Malibu pitchers recorded 12 strikeouts–six by Fitch, one by Semkin, and five by Johnson.

Offensively, Malibu started strong. Brett Weinstock led off the bottom of the first being hit by a pitch for the first of three times in the game. (One was disallowed by the umpire for failing to make an attempt to avoid being hit.) After Weinstock advanced to second on a wild pitch, Daniel Williams pushed a bunt past the mound and reached first safely. Williams stole second to set up Phil Johnson’s two-run double to left center–what would prove to be the only extra-base hit of the game. Johnson moved to third on Brooks Fitch’s grounder to the right side and scored the third run of the game when Geoff Roth grounded out as well. The inning ended on Jamie Van Soelen’s soft line drive to second.

A missed sign limited Malibu’s scoring in the bottom of the second to only one run. Jason Puklus led off the inning with a base hit. He stole second and advanced to third on a wild pitch. After Colby Bell went down swinging, Puklus took off for the plate on a 1-0 pitch to Stephen Williams. Williams, having missed the sign from Coach Johnson to bunt, swung and missed and Puklus was tagged out after a brief rundown. Williams subsequently reached base when he was hit by a 3-1 pitch. Weinstock followed and was also hit by a pitch. With two outs and runners at first and second, Daniel Williams lined a base hit into right field to score his brother. The inning ended with Johnson striking out.

Malibu got three more runs in the third inning. After Fitch lined out to the right fielder, Geoff Roth reached on an infield hit. Van Soelen flied to shallow center and Jason Puklus reached on his second hit of the game. Colby Bell kept the inning going when the Oak Park pitcher failed to pick up a ground ball to the right side. With the bases loaded and two out, Greg Kernodle, batting for Stephen Williams, walked to drive in a run. Brett Weinstock followed with a single to left that plated Puklus and Bell. Daniel Williams flied to center to end the inning.

Thanks to a double-play line drive off the bat of Geoff Roth that erased Phil Johnson who had led off by being hit with a pitch, Malibu failed to score in the fourth. The bottom of the fifth also saw Malibu go in order. Jamie Van Soelen, who struck out looking to lead off the inning, was advised by the home plate umpire to take the rest of the day off after questioning the strike-three call.

In the sixth inning, Kernodle led off with a walk. Weinstock followed with his second hit of the day. After Williams flied to right, Johnson walked to load the bases. Brooks Fitch grounded to short, but the second baseman bobbled the feed and Kernodle scored on the play. The inning ended when Roth grounded into a 1-2-3 double play.

The next game for the Sharks is tomorrow at Malibu High against Oxnard. Game time is 10:00 a.m.

MLK Weekend Schedule

Rick Johnson has scheduled three practice games at Malibu High for this weekend. Today the Sharks take on Oak Park at 3:00 p.m. A doubleheader, with games scheduled for 10:00 a.m. and 1:00 p.m., is scheduled for tomorrow (January 17).

Postponed!

The tournament in Oxnard has been postponed due to the closure of Highway 101 north of Oxnard. Stay tuned for word about possible games in Malibu on Sunday and Monday.

Oxnard Tournament

The Sharks play this weekend in Oxnard with games on Saturday (10:00 a.m.), Sunday (12:30 p.m.), and Monday (9:30 a.m.). The championship game for the tournament will be on Monday at 2:30 p.m. All games will be at Oxnard High.

Steinbrenner's Steroids

This is just in from the Borowitz Report:

STEINBRENNER’S WALLET TESTS POSITIVE FOR STEROIDS

Yankees Boss Denies Wallet-doping Charges

Just hours after the New York Yankees concluded a deal for star pitcher Randy Johnson, the wallet of Yankees owner George Steinbrenner tested positive for steroids, Major League Baseball confirmed today.

Read the entire story here.

ABC's People of the Year

I would have been happy being named "Person of the Week." To be named "Person of the Year" by ABC News for this new venture in blogging is, well . . . I'm humbled. I couldn't have done it without you, the readers. Both of you.

Okay, so it is "People of the Year" and not "Person of the Year." And so what if there are millions of us? It is, after all, my first "People of the Year" award. I'm going to enjoy it, even if I do have to share it with millions of other people who blog about topics that are far less important than Sharks baseball--and even if there are 10,000 new bloggers every day.

Read all about it here.

January Schedule (Part 1)

Rick Johnson sends word that Malibu is signed up for a tournament at Oxnard High School during the MLK holiday weekend (January 15-17). The tournament fee is $50 per player. Players should contact Rick to confirm their availability.

Sharks 6, Campbell Hall 2

The Sharks completed the Harvard Westlake tournament with a 6-2 win over Campbell Hall. Eight Malibu players had at least one hit in the 12-hit offensive outburst and Jason Puklus gave up just one hit in four innings of shutout pitching.

Malibu's big offensive outburst came in the top of the third inning when Brett Weinstock led off with a base hit. Daniel Williams followed with a triple into the right field corner. Williams scored when the throw to third was wide of the base and got by the third baseman. After Jamie Van Soelen flied to left and Geoff Roth popped out to the shortstop, Jason Puklus tripled to center field and then scored on a single by Brooks Fitch. Colbie Bell followed with a single, but the inning ended when Stephen Williams flied to right.

The scoring started for Malibu in the second inning when Roth doubled, moved to third on Fitch's one-out groundout, and came home when Colbie Bell, who reached first after being hit by a pitch, got into a rundown on a steal of second.

The Shark's last run came in the sixth inning when Michael Gwyn hit a two-out triple and scored on Brett Weinstock's single to left.

Weinstock, Roth, Puklus, and Fitch each had two hits on the day.

Thanks to Rick Johnson for organizing and managing the team through the fall season and two post-season tournaments.

Harvard Westlake 8, Sharks 2

Host team Harvard Westlake defeated Malibu 8-2 on the second day of the four-team tournament in Encino. The Sharks started strong in the bottom of the first inning when starting pitcher Brett Weinstock led off with a double into the left field corner. Daniel Williams moved Weinstock to third on a 4-3 groundout and Jamie Van Soelen followed with a base hit to drive in Malibu's first run.

Malibu scored again in the fourth inning when Geoff Roth hit a one-out ground-rule double. After Jason Puklus lined out to center, Brooks Fitch singled to drive in Roth. Colbie Bell followed with another single, but the inning ended when Stephen Williams flied to left.

Although the Sharks played solid defense, Harvard Westlake put together a nine-hit attack and went ahead 7-1 after three innings. Michael Gwyn, Brooks Fitch, and Wes Semkin pitched well in relief of Brett Weinstock and Stephen Williams, but the Sharks were unable to make up the deficit.

Malibu plays Campbell Hall tomorrow at 1:30 in the tournament finale.

Sharks 5, LA Baptist 4

Malibu came away with a 5-4 win over the Knights of LA Baptist on the first day of the Harvard Westlake tournament. Strong pitching performances by Geoff Roth, Brooks Fitch, and Wes Semkin and clutch hitting by Jamie Van Soelen and Daniel Williams led the way for the Sharks. Van Soelen had two doubles off the screen in left centerfield and drove in three runs. Williams was two-for-three with a walk and scored three runs.

Roth pitched 3.1 innings, giving up just two earned runs. Fitch, who came in to close off a rally by the Knights in the fourth, gave up no runs in 1.2 innings and Semkin preserved the one-run lead with two shutout innings to close out the game.

The Sharks take on host Harvard Westlake today at 10:30 a.m.

Welcome

This, the first day of winter, is a great time to inaugurate a blog dedicated to Malibu High School Baseball. From now until the conclusion of the playoffs, check here for all the news about Sharks Baseball.