Six Malibu High players have earned All-Frontier League honors. Named to the first team were seniors Brooks Fitch and Michael Gwyn.
Brooks Fitch
Michael Gwyn
Second-team honorees were sophomores Jacob Perrin and Stephen Williams.
Jacob Perrin
Stephen Williams
Greg Kernodle and Jace Dispenza, both juniors, were named all-league honorable mention.
Greg Kernodle
Jace Dispenza
Congratulations!
Malibu travels to Ventura tomorrow to take on the St. Bonaventure Seraphs. The Seraphs finished the regular season at the top of the CIF Division V rankings with a 20-5 record.
The Seraphs finished first in the Tri-Valley League with an 11-1 league record. Oak Park, which finished three games behind St. Bonaventure in the Tri-Valley League, handed the Seraphs a 2-1 loss on May 3.
St. Bonaventure has twelve seniors on the varsity squad. Last year, the Seraphs made it to the semi-finals of the CIF playoffs where they fell to Serrano, 3-2.
Starting on the mound for the Sharks tomorrow will be senior Brooks Fitch. Fitch pitched five shutout innings against Temple City in the playoffs one year ago before falling by a score of 5-2.
St. Bonaventure is located at 3167 Telegraph Road in Ventura (just west of Pacific Mall). For a map, go here.
[UPDATE: The game will be played at Saticoy Field. Take the 101 Freeway to the Central exit. Go right on Central to Vineyard and turn right. Take Vineyard to Wells and turn left to Henderson. The field is on the corner of Wells and Henderson.]
The Sharks scored nine runs in the first two innings and coasted to an 11-5 win over the Salesian Mustangs in the CIF wildcard game on Tuesday. Jace Dispenza had three hits and five RBIs to pace the offense and Michael Gwyn struck out six while earning a complete-game victory on the mound.
Michael Gwyn delivers to a Salesian hitter.
After Gwyn set down the Mustangs in order in the top of the first, Jared Weinstock started things offensively with a one-out single. Brooks Fitch grounded to third, but a throwing error allowed him to reach safely and while moving Weinstock to third. Stephen Williams’ flyout to center scored Weinstock with the Sharks’ first run. Gwyn and Jacob Perrin followed with walks to load the bases. A base hit by Colbie Bell brought in Fitch. Dispenza then hit a flare down the rightfield line for a base-clearing triple to conclude a five-run first inning for Malibu.
Jared Weinstock fouls off a pitch.
In the top of the second, Eric Galdamez led off with a single for Salesian. Firstbaseman Colbie Bell turned a hit-and-run play into an unassisted double play as Gus Garcia popped out near the bag. Gwyn struck out Geovanni Alvarez to end the top of the second.
The bottom of the second started much like the first had as Weinstock singled with one out. An errant pickoff attempt moved Weinstock to second. Fitch flied to right for the second out of the inning, but Weinstock tagged and moved to third on the play. Williams then singled up the middle to knock in Weinstock for the second time in as many innings. After Gwyn was hit by a pitch, Perrin singled to drive in Williams from second. Bell walked to load the bases for Dispenza, who delivered a single to knock in two more runs.
Gwyn retired the Mustangs in order in the third and fourth innings. Except for a single by Greg Kernodle to lead off the third inning, the Sharks also went down in order in the third and fourth innings.
Salesian broke through for two runs in the top of the fifth. Galdamez led off with a walk. After Galdamez stole second, Garcia singled to move him to third. Galdamez scored and Garcia advanced to second on a wild pitch. Consecutive groundouts by Alvarez and Tommy Sotello moved Garcia to third and home. Chris Castillo and Chris Vanacore followed with base hits, but Gwyn got Martinez to ground to Kernodle at second for the final out of the inning.
Greg Kernodle waits for a pitch.
The Sharks had a two-out single by Kernodle in the bottom of the fifth, but the inning ended when Sean Conrad, hitting for Weinstock, flied to left.
In the top of the sixth, Francisco Alvarez led of with a double. After Bryant walked, Galdamez singled to left to load the bases. An error by Fitch at third allowed Francisco Alvarez to score. After Geovanni Alvarez popped out to Bell at first, Sotello hit a sacrifice fly to center to drive in Bryant. Galdamez stole third and promptly scored on Castillo's basehit. Gwyn struck out Vanacore to end the inning.
Stephen Williams scores on a wild pitch in the sixth inning.
Malibu got two runs back in the bottom of the sixth. Fitch walked to start the inning. Williams grounded to third but avoided a double play by beating the relay from second. Gwyn’s grounder to the left side on a hit-and-run advanced Williams all the way to third. As Perrin took ball four, the ball skipped all the way to the backstop allowing Williams to score. Perrin stole second and Bell walked to bring up Dispenza with another run-scoring opportunity. Dispenza responded again, but Perrin was held at third to leave the bases loaded for Nate Schoenbrun. Schoenbrun walked on four pitches to force in Perrin with the Sharks’ eleventh run.
Up by six runs, Gwyn breezed through the top of the seventh, striking out the first two hitters he faced and getting Bryant out on a grounder to third.
Malibu’s win sets up a game against the top-ranked St. Bonaventure Seraphs tomorrow in Ventura at 3:15.
[UPDATE: Please note that tomorrow's game is scheduled for 3:15 p.m. rather than the usual 3:30 p.m.]
Prior to yesterday's game against Santa Clara, the Sharks honored the four seniors on the squad. Pictured below (from left to right) are Michael Gwyn, Ross Ellis, Colbie Bell, and Brooks Fitch.
Pictured below are Colbie Bell (with his parents Ed and Connie Bell); Ross Ellis (with his parents John and Fredda Ellis); Michael Gwyn (with his parents Lee and Melinda Gwyn); and Brooks Fitch (with his mother Pam Fitch). (Not pictured is Rob Fitch, who was stuck in traffic.)
Thanks, guys, for all you've done to put Malibu baseball on the map. We wish you the best for the future.
[Photos courtesy of Dave Buss.]
In the wake of a 16-1 win over Santa Clara, the Sharks got the help they needed from Nordhoff in order to make the CIF Southern Section Division V playoffs. Nordhoff defeated Santa Paula today, 11-10.
Here are the final standings in the Frontier League:
Playoffs begin on Tuesday.
Tomorrow's practice will begin at 1:00 p.m.--as usual.
Be sure to come early for tomorrow's final regular-season game. The Malibu High baseball program will be honoring seniors Colbie Bell, Ross Ellis, Brooks Fitch, Michael Gwyn, and Wesley Semkin prior to the 3:30 game against the Santa Clara Saints.
| Date | Day | Time | Visitor | Home | Location |
| June 6 | Tuesday | 5:00pm | Malibu | Palisades | Malibu |
| June 9 | Friday | 5:00pm | Brentwood | Malibu | UCLA |
| June 10 | Saturday | 2:00pm | SaMo A | Malibu | Malibu |
| June 12 | Monday | 5:00pm | Malibu | SaMo B | UCLA |
| June 17 | Saturday | 2:00pm | Beverly Hills | Malibu | UCLA |
| June 19 | Monday | 5:00pm | Malibu | Palisades | Palisades |
| June 20 | Tuesday | 5:00pm | Malibu | Hollywood | UCLA |
| June 24 | Saturday | 10:00am | Malibu | Beverly Hills | Malibu |
| June 27 | Tuesday | 6:00pm | Brentwood | Malibu | UCLA |
| June 30 | Friday | 2:00pm | Malibu | SaMo A | UCLA |
| July 1 | Saturday | 11:00am | Malibu | SaMo A | Malibu |
| July 1 | Saturday | 2:00pm | SaMo B | Malibu | Malibu |
| July 7 | Friday | 5:00pm | Malibu | Beverly Hills | UCLA |
| July 8 | Saturday | 2:00pm | Palisades | Malibu | UCLA |
| July 10 | Monday | 11:00am | University | Malibu | Malibu |
| July 11 | Tuesday | 6:00pm | Hollywood | Malibu | UCLA |
| July 15 | Saturday | 2:00pm | Malibu | Brentwood | UCLA |
The Sharks have five games left in the 2006 regular season, including two against the Nordhoff Rangers this week. Malibu plays Nordhoff at home today and travels to Ojai on Friday.
Frontier League play concludes next week with a game at Oaks Christian on Monday, May 8, a game against Santa Clara in Oxnard on Tuesday, May 9, and a game against Santa Clara at home on Thursday, May 11. The final regular-season home game on May 11 will be Senior Day.
Oaks Christian sits atop the Frontier League standings with a 9-0 record. Nordhoff, at 4-4, is in second. Malibu is in third place with a 3-4 league record.
Coach Dave Buss reports that some of the bills for the upcoming American Legion season are coming due. The cost per player is, as always, $100. That’s less than the registration fee for Malibu Little League, less than the transportation fee for sports at Malibu High, and quite possibly less than your next tank of gas will cost.
Checks should be made payable to Dave Buss and may be given directly to Dave or to Robert Williams.
The first American Legion game will be on Tuesday, June 6, against Pacific Palisades at UCLA's Jackie Robinson Stadium.
[Update: As Coach Buss notes in the comment below, you may also mail your check to him at 2601 Huntington Lane, Redondo Beach, CA 90278.]
Well, barely alive.
After several weeks of end-of-the-semester grading hell, I’ve emerged to revive Sharks Baseball. There’s some catching up to do (going all the way back to the Oaks Christian game on April 7), so be on the lookout for some posts directing you back in time to some long lost game summaries.
