The Post-Season Baseball Banquet

The Malibu High Baseball Banquet will be held on June 5th at 6 p.m. at Camp Hess Kramer in Malibu. The cost will be approximatelyl $25 per person.

Please let Coach Gallo know as soon as possible the number of people attending from your family.

CIF Playoff Update

Paul Rodriguez, a junior catcher with a .246 average and only two previous extra-base hits, had a walk-off home run to give St. Joseph (15-11) a 1-0 win over St. Bonaventure (25-5) in the second round of the CIF Division IV playoffs yesterday. Martin Medina, who gave up only two hits including the homer, suffered the loss.

Elsewhere, Bonita High (19-7) defeated Torrance (22-7), 5-2, to advance to the third round against Northview (23-4). Northview has spent much of the season at or near the top of the Division IV coaches' poll.

Oaks Christian (8-23) bowed out of the playoffs last week in a wildcard game with a 4-1 loss to Santa Ynez (16-11) while Oak Park (9-15) lost by a score of 14-0 in the first round to Sonora (22-6).

Sharks in the News

The Malibu Times this week notes the Sharks' early exit from the playoffs at Bonita High last Thursday while also naming the seven varsity players who were named to the All-Tri-Valley League teams. The story is available online here.

Elsewhere, the San Gabriel Valley Tribune last Friday published a story on Thursday's game from a different perspective. That story can be found here.

Where's Bonita?

Here's your Google Map for Bonita High School:

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Quick and easy directions: Go the 101 to the 134 to the 210. Take exit 47 onto Foothill Boulevard (Historic Route 66). Go southeast (toward La Verne) a little over a mile and turn right on D Street. Bonita high will be on the left. (The baseball field is southeast of the large parking lot on D Street, just past the tennis courts.)

Playoff Schedule Change

The first-round playoff game between Malibu and Bonita has been moved from Friday to Thursday. Game time is 3:15 p.m. at Bonita High in La Verne TOMORROW.

Scouting Report: Bonita Bearcats

The Bonita Bearcats and the Malibu Sharks enter Friday’s first-round playoff game with identical 17-7 records. Both teams finished second in their respective leagues, Bonita with an 8-4 league record and Malibu with a 7-5 league record.

Both the Sharks and the Bearcats excelled at home this season. Malibu was 12-2 at home and 5-5 on the road during the regular season while Bonita was 9-2 at home, 5-4 on the road, and 3-1 playing at neutral sites.

The Bearcats feature a well-rounded offensive attack. Five players had 25 or more base hits during the regular season. Three different Bonita players led the Miramonte League in batting average (Jiovanni Mier, .494), home runs (Jason Plowman, 5), and RBIs (Brett Bennett, 31). In the pitching categories, Plowman also led the league in wins (6) and was second in ERA (1.55).

Mier, a junior infielder, led the Bearcats in plate appearances (90), hits (42), doubles (11), runs scored (26), batting average (.494), and on-base percentage (.522).

Senior outfielder Bennett was second on the Bearcats in both hits (35) and batting average (.455).

Jeff Gelalich, a junior outfielder, batted .439 with 9 doubles and 2 triples. Ryan Henley posted a .380 average and E. J. Reyes batted .313.

Jason Plowman led the Bearcats' pitchers with a 6-1 record. He had 28 strikeouts and 8 walks in 40.2 innings of work. Nico Calderaro posted a 4-2 record with a 2.31 ERA. Calderaro struck out 37 in 36.1 innings on the mound.

Sophomore Matt Cathcart, who posted a 7-2 record with 63 strikeouts in 56.1 innings, will start for the Sharks.

To Bonita

Malibu (17-7) will travel to Bonita High (17-7) in La Verne for the first round of the CIF playoffs on Friday, May 16. The Bearcats finished second in the Miramonte League behind Charter Oak.

Oaks Christian will play Santa Ynez tomorrow in a wild-card game. The winner will face top-ranked Patriot in the first round.

Oak Park travels to Sonora High for a first-round game on Friday. Sonora High finished first in the Freeway League.

St. Bonaventure hosts the winner of the Magnolia-La Quinta wild-card game.

Complete playoff pairings are available here (click on "Playoffs" under "Baseball" for the Excel file). A scouting report for Bonita High will be available here tomorrow.

Clinching a Playoff Berth

This week's Malibu Times includes a story by Sam Rubinroit on the Sharks' 3-2 victory over Fillmore last week. In spite of two subsequent losses, that victory clinched a spot for Malibu in the postseason.

See the story and photo here.

Senior Day, 2008

The Sharks will honor three graduating seniors before tomorrow’s game against St. Bonaventure. Jacob Perrin, Nate Schoenbrun, and Stephen Williams have a combined 688 plate appearances in Malibu High School varsity baseball games. Collectively, they have scored 152 runs and driven in another 117 runs.

Schoenbrun will be remembered as a fleet-footed and sure-handed center fielder in the mold of two players who wore #11 before him–Jace Dispenza and Daniel Williams. He also provided solid starting pitching as a junior and senior. His 3.50 ERA in 2007 was the best on the Sharks’ pitching staff. On March 3, 2007, Schoenbrun pitched a complete game at Marshall High, picking up a 6-2 win.

Perrin has been the mainstay of the Malibu High pitching staff for the past three years, starting 18 of the team’s 70 games since the beginning of the 2006 season. He has a career record to this point of 11 wins and 7 losses with 3 saves. Two weeks ago, Perrin pitched the Sharks’ first complete-game shutout in over three years, a 5-0 victory over Oaks Christian. Offensively, Perrin has a .314 career batting average. He has scored 53 runs over the past three season.

Williams has played in 83 varsity games since 2005. He has a career .408 batting average with 13 home runs and 75 RBIs. His career slugging percentage is .718 and his career on-base percentage is .540. He has been hit by pitch 20 times–or once in every 14 plate appearances.

Behind all of the numbers that Schoenbrun, Perrin, and Williams have put up in Malibu High varsity baseball games have been countless pitches and at bats in American Legion games, fall ball games, scout league games, and off-season tournament games over the past four years. Thank you, gentlemen, for all of your hard work and for all of your contributions to the success of the Sharks. It’s been a pleasure to watch you play.

Getting to the Game

St. Bonaventure plays home games at Saticoy Field on Wells Road just off the Santa Paula Freeway (126) in Saticoy. Here's the map:

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Scouting Report: St. Bonaventure Seraphs

The Sharks (17-5) take on the St. Bonaventure Seraphs (22-4) today and Thursday in the final two games of the regular season. The Seraphs, who boast a perfect 10-0 record in league play to this point, clinched the Tri-Valley League championship on Friday with their 7-1 win over Oaks Christian.

The Seraphs are led by senior pitcher/shortstop Casey Serna. Serna, who has signed a letter of intent to play at Oregon next year, leads the Tri-Valley League in hitting (.500), slugging percentage (.921), on-base percentage (.574), and stolen bases (14). He trails only teammate Martin Medina in RBIs (29).

Sophomore outfielder Michael Abeloe is fourth in the league in hitting with a .446 average. Medina (6) and Serna (5) trail Stephen Williams (7) for the league lead in homeruns.

Two St. Bonaventure pitchers, Serna and senior Jeremy Dann, have posted seven wins on the season. Dann is ordinarily the Tuesday/Wednesday starter while Serna generally starts the Thursday/Friday games. Senior Martin Medina (6-1, 4 saves, 0.44 ERA) has become the Seraphs' closer.

Senior Nate Schoenbrun (1-0, 1.24 ERA) is expected to start for Malibu on Tuesday.

Scoreboard-Watching

Oak Park defeated Nordhoff, 3-2, yesterday. Nordhoff's loss, coupled with Malibu's win over Fillmore, puts the Sharks in sole possession of second place with three games left to play. Nordhoff plays Oak Park again tomorrow before closing out the regular season next week with two games against Oaks Christian.

Sharks 3, Fillmore 2 (Photos)

Justin Hale scores the go-ahead run in the bottom of the first.

Sean Conrad singles in the third inning.

Matt Cathcart pitches with two outs in the bottom of the seventh.

Tony Gwyn squeezes a popup for the final out of the game.

Sharks 3, Fillmore 2

Malibu surrendered two unearned runs in the top of the first but scored three times in the bottom of the inning to give Matt Cathcart a lead that he never relinquished as the Sharks downed Fillmore, 3-2.

After the first inning, Cathcart and Fillmore pitcher Nick Hernandez engaged in a classic pitchers’ duel. Cathcart, who pitched a complete game for the fourth time in as many starts, gave up no runs on just two hits over the last six innings while Hernandez scattered four singles in shutting down the Sharks from the second inning on.

Leading off the game for the Flashes, Raul Ramirez hit a flare down the right field line that turned into a double when right fielder Matt Bordier failed in an attempt to make a sliding catch. After Sal Ibarra struck out, Nick Hernandez grounded to second. Tony Gwyn’s fielding error allowed Ramirez to score all the way from second as Hernandez reached first safely. When Nathan Ibarra struck out for the second out of the inning and Michael Watson grounded to short, it appeared Cathcart would be able to limit the damage to one run, but Jacob Perrin misplayed Watson’s grounder and the inning was extended. With runners on first and second, Jason Hurtado singled to center to drive in Hernandez before Nick Paz grounded back to Cathcart for the final out of the inning.

Trailing 2-0 and facing a pitcher who had allowed only one of his last four opponents to score as many as three runs, the Sharks immediately mounted a comeback. Leading off the bottom of the first, Jacob Perrin reached on an infield hit. Tony Gwyn struck out and, with Stephen Williams at the plate, Perrin advanced to second on a passed ball. Williams walked and, on the first pitch to Sean Conrad, advanced another ninety feet along with Perrin on the second passed ball of the inning. After Conrad flied to shallow left, Justin Hale tied the game with a two-out single to right field.

Jesse Conrad advanced Hale to second with a base hit to set the stage for what would prove to be the final run of the game. With a 1-2 count, Matt Bordier singled through the left side of the infield to drive in Hale with the go-ahead run. Conrad was hung up between second and third for the final out of the inning, but, as it turned out, the Sharks had given Cathcart all the run support he would need.

Having escaped the first inning with a 3-2 lead, Cathcart did not allow another hit until the fifth inning. David Watson led off the fifth with an infield single on a weak popup that landed behind the mound, but was thrown out stealing by Williams on the first pitch to Raul Ramirez as Ramirez missed on a bunt attempt.

The Flashes threatened to tie the game in the top of the seventh. After Hurtado struck out to lead off the inning, pinch hitter David Esquivel singled to left. One out later, David Watson reached on an error. With the potential tying run at second, Cathcart induced Ramirez to pop out to second baseman Tony Gwyn for the final out of the game.

Hernandez meanwhile kept the Sharks’ bats in check. Jesse Conrad picked up his second hit in the bottom of the fourth but was unable to advance beyond second. Perrin singled with one out in the fifth but never got off first. In the bottom of the sixth, Sean Conrad led off with a single and stole second base. Nate Schoenbrun had a two-out infield hit that moved Conrad to third, but the inning ended when Cathcart flied out to right.

Cathcart struck out six in the game to run his league-leading total for the season to 59. By running his won-loss record to 7-1, he also moved into a tie for the lead in wins.

The win runs Malibu’s record to 17-4 with three regular-season games left to play. The Sharks face the Flashes at Fillmore on Friday before closing out the season against St. Bonaventure on Tuesday and Thursday of next week.

Scouting Report: Fillmore Flashes

Malibu (16-4) takes on Fillmore (10-12) in a pair of crucial Tri-Valley League games this week. The Flashes travel to Malibu High for a 3:30 game this afternoon with the rematch set for 3:30 Friday afternoon at Fillmore High.

The Sharks, 6-2 in league games, are tied with Nordhoff for second in the Tri-Valley League with four games remaining, including two next week against first-place St. Bonaventure (20-4, 8-0).

Although the Flashes are 1-7 in league games this season, Fillmore's Wednesday afternoon games against Tri-Valley League opponents have all been close thanks to strong pitching from senior Nick Hernandez. On consecutive Wednesdays in April, the Flashes lost to Nordhoff (3-1) and St. Bonaventure (2-1), then defeated Oaks Christian (3-1). Last Wednesday Fillmore shut out Channel Islands, 7-0, in a non-league game.

The Sharks enter today's game with an 11-1 record at home. The only home loss came against Nordhoff on April 18. Fillmore is 2-5 on the road.

Since Malibu's offensive slump against Nordhoff and Faith Baptist, Stephen Williams is hitting .625 will 4 RBIs, Justin Hale is hitting .571 with 6 RBIs, and Sean Conrad is hitting .417 with 3 RBIs.

Matt Cathcart, expected to make his eighth start of the season today, is 6-1 with a 2.32 ERA. He has pitched a complete game in each of his last three outings.

Baseball Rankings

Although not yet in the top ten, the Sharks are listed in the latest CIF-Southern Section Coaches' Baseball Rankings for Division IV. The poll, released yesterday, lists the followng teams:

1. Patriot
2. Northview
3. St. Bonaventure
4. Sonora
5. Savanna
6. Torrance
7. San Dimas
8. Bonita
9. Cathedral City
10. Charter Oak

Others: El Segunda, Anaheim, Covina, Malibu

The April 28 poll is available here [Word document].

Rubinroit Special

Sam Rubinroit's story about the Sharks' series against Oak Park appears in this week's Malibu Times here. The print edition includes a photo of Jacob Perrin.

Scouting Report: Montclair Prep Mounties

The Sharks take on Montclair Prep today in a non-league game at Malibu High. Game time is 3:30 p.m.

Malibu (9-2) will be looking to extend a seven-game winning streak while the Mounties (10-4-1) will be going for their fourth win in a row.

Montclair Prep, a perennial power in the Olympic League, features a roster with twelve seniors including infielder Enrique Zenon, pitcher Kelvin Tolbert, and outfielder Andrew Cohen. Zenon is hitting .405 so far this season. Tolbert has a 4-1 record with a 2.19 ERA in five starts in 2008. Cohen is hitting .350 with 9 RBIs.

Malibu and Montclair Prep have had one common opponent this season. On April 1, Montclair Prep defeated LA Baptist, 2-0. Malibu defeated the Knights, 6-5, back on March 5.

Last season, Montclair Prep defeated Malibu, 11-3, in a game played at the Mounties' new field in the Mid-Valley baseball complex. Two years ago, the Mounties defeated Malibu, 3-0. Malibu's last win in the series was in 2005. With Malibu down, 3-2, Daniel Williams hit a three-run homer in the sixth inning to provide the margin of victory in a 5-4 win--the eighth win in a row for the 2005 Sharks.

Sharks 7, Oak Park 1 (Photos)

Jacob Perrin delivers in the first inning en route to his third win of the season.

Coach Gallo greets Stephen Williams as he rounds third following a two-run homer in the first inning.

Stephen Williams connects on his second homerun of the game.

Jesse Conrad pitches in relief in the sixth inning.

Sharks 7, Oak Park 1

Stephen Williams homered in his first two trips to the plate and Jacob Perrin allowed only one run in 5.1 innings as Malibu rolled to a 7-1 victory over Oak Park on Friday.

Oak Park scored first, but was unable to hold the lead or to get to Perrin or reliever Jesse Conrad after the first inning. Eagles' shortstop Ryan Jensen led off the game with a double to the left-center field gap. Noah Markel followed with a bunt single. After centerfielder Mitch Halpert fouled out, pitcher Jake Hagen singled to right to drive in Jensen. Perrin and the Sharks escaped with no further damage as Eric Columbia grounded back to the mound and Cameron Dechene flied to center.

In the home half of the first, Perrin reached on a one-out walk to set the stage for Williams' first home run of the afternoon. After fouling off three pitches from Hagen, Williams parked a 3-2 pitch beyond the left field fence to give the Sharks a 2-1 lead.

Sean Conrad followed the homer with a single to right. After stealing second and moving to third on Jesse Conrad's ground out to second, he was stranded when Justin Hale walked and Matt Cathcart flied to center to end the inning.

Although Oak Park put runners in scoring position against Perrin in three of the next four innings, solid defense and clutch pitching kept the Eagles off the board.

Meanwhile, Malibu added two more runs in the third and three in the fourth. Leading off the third, Williams took Hagen deep for the second time on a 2-0 pitch. Sean Conrad followed with a bunt single and his second of three stolen bases on the day. After moving to third on Jesse Conrad's ground out, Conrad scored on a double to left center by Justin Hale.

In the bottom of the fourth, Gwyn started a one-out rally with a base hit. Perrin grounded out, advancing Gwyn to second, and Williams was intentionally walked. Gwyn scored and Williams moved to second when Jensen mishandled Sean Conrad's ground ball. After Williams took third on a wild pitch, he scored on the front end of a successful double steal. Jesse Conrad's base hit then drove in Sean Conrad with the third run of the inning.

With a pitch count at 88, Perrin left the mound with one out in the top of the sixth. Jesse Conrad retired two of the three batters he faced in the sixth before sealing the victory by retiring the heart of the Oak Park lineup in order in the seventh.

On the day, Williams was 2-for-3 with three RBIs and three runs scored. His home runs were his fourth and fifth of the season. Sean Conrad was 2-for-4 with three stolen bases and two runs scored. Monty Biglow, Jesse Conrad, Tony Gwynn, and Justin Hale picked up the remaining hits in the Sharks' eight-hit attack.

With the win, Jacob Perrin ran his record on the season to 3-0. Two days after picking up a save at Oak Park, Perrin scattered seven hits over 5.1 innings while walking three, striking out three, and hitting one batter.

The win runs Malibu's record to 9-2 and 2-0 in Tri-Valley League games. The Sharks host Montclair Prep on Monday before resuming league play with games against Santa Paula on Wednesday and Friday.