College Baseball - Look Who's Still Undefeated

UCLA. 21-0

When I went and watched them play back in February in the Dodgertown Classic (check out my write up on Monday, March 1st), I liked their team but never envisioned them starting out the year this way. They are one of only two Division 1 programs with a perfect record (and as it happens, fellow Pac 10 power Arizona State is the other).

How are they getting it done? Pitching and defense (and really isn't that the recipe for a successful baseball team no matter the level?). Weekend sophomore starters, Gerritt Cole and Trevor Bauer have thrown great and senior righthander Garett Claypool has taken care of business during the week.

They are currently ranked 5th in the USA Today / ESPN Coaches Poll and starting this Thursday, their schedule starts to toughen as they open Pac 10 play when Stanford comes to town for a 3 game series.

For all the details on the team Go Here.

Bill

Foothill versus El Toro - Game 11

El Toro - 4

Foothill - 2

Mantra for the game? "Straighten it out kid, straighten it out"..

I say that only because both teams went to the plate swinging the bats and the pitchers were able to get guys out on their front foot early and rolled over on a lot of balls.

Neither team scored in the first, but El Toro was able to push a run across in the bottom of the second. Matt Le Vert singled and advanced to 3rd on an errant pick off attempt, and Devin Schaefers did his part by bringing him in with a sacrifice fly to center.

In the 4th, with the score tied 1-1, Le Vert walked, Logan Roberts singled and eventually both advanced a base on a sacrifice. With two outs, Andrew Kincade came through with a big 2 strike single to right, driving in both runners, making the score 3-1 after 4.

The 5th started out with a Jayson Yano walk followed by a Mitchell Tolman bunt. James Meager followed with a single bringing in Yano and putting us at 4-1 Chargers.

Brett Hammond was on the hill for El Toro doing what he seems to do every game. What's that? Well pretty much shut everyone down.... Going into the 7th, he'd given up 1 run on 4 scattered hits, but the Knights threatened and refused to go easily. After getting the first out on a comebacker, Foothill followed with a single, double and a walk to load them up. A hard line drive up the middle looked to close the gap, but Tolman snared it for the second out, leaving the bases loaded. A swinging bunt down the 3rd base line, brought the score to 4-2, bases still loaded. Hammond then beared down and got the final out on an easy grounder to second.

With the win, El Toro moves to 8-3 on the year and 4-0 in league play. They'll take a 4 game winning streak into Thursday as they travel to Trabuco Hills High School to face the Mustangs. Game time is 3:15 (weather permitting).

Bill

Ranking The Angels

With opening day closing in on us (Angels open Monday April 5^th), I thought I’d go thru the Angels 25 man roster and rank them 25-1 in order of importance. This is not a list of who’s the best, but who’s most important for the Angels to have a good season.

Here we go:

25) Rob Quinlan – I thought the Quinlan era was over, but just like the Godfather, right when I think I’m out, they pull me back in…. I have nothing personal against Quinlan (although he is from Minnesota and, yes, I guess I do have an issue..), I’m sure he’s a nice guy and everything, but still, he’s pretty much useless. I would have preferred someone else to fill the final spot. My patience with “Quinny” is gone.

24) Brian Stokes – Right handed pitcher, filling a long relief role. He came over in the Gary Matthews deal with the Mets. Grew up in Mira Loma and went to Riverside Community College. He was an outfielder in college and only started pitching after graduating. So whenever someone says it’s too late to start pitching, look to Stokes. I’m pulling for him to do well.

23) Reggie Willits – As much as I detest Quinlan, I love Willits! He’s the 4^th or 5^th outfielder coming in to spell someone and give them a day off. He’s also the designated “stolen base guy” coming in late in games when it’s tight and they’re looking to score. Fun, hard working kid the fans appreciate.

22) Jason Bulger – Another long relief guy who might get some spot starts here and there if injuries pop up. Again, like Stokes, he didn’t start pitching till late (senior year in college). He has an over powering fastball (he’s hit triple digits before) which has gotten him to the major leagues, but it’ll be his ability to spot his curve which will make him a success or not.

21) Matt Palmer – Palmer went 11-2 last year with a 3.93 era as he filled the 5^th starters role with the early season injuries to Lackey, Santana and the death of Adenhart. Maybe more impressive then the won /loss stat is that Palmer was the toughest pitcher in the league last year against right handed batters, who only hit .197 against him….. Bet you didn’t know that. He’s ready to fill in again if and when needed.

20) Howie Kendrick – Howard shows up here as I’m not quite sure at this point what he’s got. Injuries affect him every year. Those damn hamstrings… If healthy, I think he’s got a .320 average in him with some great defense, but he’s got to stay on the field. Due to the fact of injuries though, the Angels have some one as talented waiting in the wings.

19) Scott Shields - Shields is returning from patella tendon surgery in his left knee last June. If he can return to form, the Angels might boast the best bullpen in baseball (they still might without him). If he returns to form, Angels have multiple shut down guys they can go to from the 7^th on. All indications so far this spring is the knee is going to be fine and with his arm being fresh after having most of last year off, I expect big things from him.

18) Juan Rivera – I’m the first to down play Rivera’s worth to the Angels. It wasn’t until I looked up his stats for this write up I realized what a good season he had last year. He batted .287 (.331 obp), with 25 hrs and 88 rbi’s. That’s pretty damn good. He’s not their number 3, 4 or 5 batter, so getting that sort of production from your number 6^th or 7^th batter is huge. I fully expect the same, quiet production from him this year.

17/16) Jeff Mathias / Mike Napoli – Until one of them separates themselves, you have to rank them as a package deal. Mathias hitting came on in the postseason and if he can continue that, he’ll be the main guy (as he’s a better catcher than Napoli). These two are good friends and share a house together during the season and I’m not sure that’s such a good thing. I’m not saying they shouldn’t be friends and get along, but I’d really like to see one of them separate from the other and I think they’re in such a comfort zone and like each other, they’re continually playing down to the others ability, not pushing each other. Who knows… If one doesn’t step up though, they might both be gone next year when Hank Conger comes along (well maybe not both, but one of them).

15) Kevin Jepsen – Initially I had him lower but when I started looking closer at the bullpen, this is a guy that stood out and moved up the rankings. After posting a 19.29 era and going on the disabled list in mid April, he was lights out the rest of the year. He developed a cut fastball which went well with his mid 90’s fastball. He made 8 consecutive scoreless appearances at one point and pitched respectably in the postseason appearing in 5 of the Angels 9 postseason games. He’s a closer in waiting and if Fuentes or Rodney struggle, you might be seeing Jepsen more and more in the 9^th.

14) Brandon Wood – It's time. After posting some incredible numbers in the minor leagues over the last 5 years, Wood’s finally getting a shot at an every day job. In the couple cups of coffee he’s had in the majors, he’s struggled at the plate but I think given the 3^rd base job and confidence to go out there every day, he’s going to do well. How well? I’m expecting Juan Rivera numbers this year (.285, 20 something homeruns and 80 plus rbi’s). He’s probably going to bat what? 8^{th, 9th}? I’ll take that production from my number 9 hitter every day of the week. Also, what I think some people forget is he’s considered a great fielder. This isn’t some dh guy they’re rolling out in the field. He’s a converted shortstop that has a great glove. He’ll do just fine replacing Figgins at the hot corner.

13) Hideki Matsui – I think Matsui is going to be a huge upgrade over Vladdy at DH. I loved Guerrero, but his time had come. His birth certificate may read 35, but if he’s not late 30’s, I’d be highly surprised. Matsui is no spring chicken, but last year he posted numbers of .274, 28 hr’s and 90 rbi’s (as compared to Vladdy’s .295, 15 and 50). Yes Guerrero was injured but I fully expect Matsui to out produce him again. I’ll take it.

12) Fernando Rodney – I’m really not sure what to expect from Rodney. Could be good or he could be a right handed version of Fuentes (meaning erratic...). Rodney had 37 saves last year with Detroit but he had a 4.40 era. He’s got an overpowering fastball so he comes in challenging guys. Expect to see him in the 8^th but if Fuentes starts struggling, Rodney will get his shot to close.

11) Bobby Abreu – Couldn’t have asked or expected more from Abreu last year. Along with the numbers (.293 average, .390 obp, 29 doubles, 15 hrs and 103 rbi’s), he was a club house leader and many guys credited having better seasons due to Abreu’s approach at the plate and how others learned from him. Can we expect the same? Probably not from the numbers standpoint, but I don’t see a huge drop off. He’s such a professional hitter (what that means I don’t really know, but I know it when I watch Abreu…) I think he’ll gradually decline but won’t have a huge drop off (like we’re seeing with Vladdy). You know what you’re getting from Abreu every game, and that means a lot.

10) Scott Kazmir – Okay, we’ve reached the top ten and our first starting pitcher to make an appearance. I said it last year and I think it’s even more evident now. Trading for Kazmir was great. They gained a former number 1 lefty pitcher who’s only 26. Yes he struggled with Tampa in the 1^st half last year, but if the problems had to do with his mechanics as most are saying, in his 5 big league seasons, he’s never had a losing record and until last year (due to first half) has never had an era over 3.77. Butcher is his old pitching coach in Tampa, so I think he’s going to have a great year this year. Oh and in case you didn’t know, I love my left handed pitchers!

9) Maicer Izturis – Surprised to see “ice” so high on the list? He made it here because of his versatility in playing 2^nd, 3^rd and ss. Question marks out there on those positions but Izturis is capable of stepping in and doing a great job at any of those spots. He hit .300 last year (in 417 plate appearances) with an obp of .359, 65 rbi’s, 22 doubles and 13 stolen bases. He’s a .327 career hitter with runners in scoring position so he has no hesitancy in coming up with runners on. He has the ability to play every day so if someone struggles or goes down with an injury, don’t expect to see much (if any) drop off in production with Izturis in there.

8) Ervin Santana – It’s an even year so expect to see big things from “El Manejo”. For some reason he does better on even numbered years, so I expect him to bounce back from the 8-8, 5+ era he posted last year. I think the numbers he had in 08 (3.49 era, 16-7 record) are doable. He had a sprained elbow at the beginning of the year last year causing him to miss the 1^st 5 weeks of the season, but he should be healthy this year. He’ll be slotted as the 4^th starter and if healthy, has number 1 stuff.

7) Brian Fuentes – I like Fuentes. Was he lights out last year? No. Did he get the job done? Yes. He led the league in saves and this all while he was making an adjustment coming over from the National league. Did he get roped by Arod in the playoffs? Yes, but so do a lot of pitchers. I think he’ll be fine. His velocity was down a couple mph last year (88-90 where he wants to be 90-93), so this off season he hired a personal trainer and is (supposedly) in the best shape of his life. A lot of the teams fortunes rely on your closer, so he’s a huge cog for the Angels. Maybe last season wasn’t what we all hoped, but hell the guy saved 48 games, give him a break.

6) Torii Hunter – Great first half of last season, then injuries took their toll. However, while he was out, the Angels played some of their best baseball of the year so he’s not indispensable… Great to have and as he’s so quick to point out, he’s a “club house leader”….. that’s overrated in my book, but that’s fine. He obviously brings great defense to center field and works hard every day, that I respect. Barring injury, he’ll post his usual numbers.

5) Joe Saunders – Finally we reach the top 5, and what better spot to start then with a another lefty pitcher. Big Joe started last season with a knot in his shoulder which affected him thru the first half of the season, but after his stint on the DL, he went 7-0, with a 2.55 era in his final 8 starts of the year, givng him a record of 16-7, with a 4.60 era. Now healthy and having a great spring, Saunders is expected to have a big year.

4) Erick Aybar - I think Aybar is in store for big things. After taking over the full time ss position last year, he led the team in batting average and obp (.312 and .423). He’s fast, although hasn’t been asked to steal many bases in the past. Expect to see him increase that this year. He’s as good a ss defensively in baseball as they come. Expect him to be an all star candidate this year.

3) Joel Pineiro – I put Pineiro here because a lot is expected of him coming over, and in theory, replacing John Lackey. Last year Lackey, dealing with early season injuries, went 11-8 , with a 3.83 era and a 1.27 WHIP. Pineiro finally lived up to his vast potential, hooked up with famed St. Louis pitching coach Dave Duncan, developed a sinker and had one his best seasons ever. He went 15-12 with a 3.49 era and a 1.14 WHIP. Will that continue? We’ll just have to wait and see. Angels are considered one of the best defensive teams in baseball and if Pineiro can continue to induce ground balls at the rate he did last year, he’s going to have a good season.

2) Kendry Morales – The biggest surprise on the team last year will now be counted on to put up the same production he did in 09. Last year he batted .306, with 34 homeruns and 108 rbi’s in what was basically his rookie season (or at least full time starting). Lots of questions about him at the beginning of the season, but he lived up to the high regard the Angels had in him and had an MVP type season. Can we expect the same? Well, for the Angels to be successful, he’s going to have to. They need that bat and production in the lineup.

11) Jered Weaver - Finally number 1. Angels have 5 solid, potential number 2 starters, but they need one of them to step up and be ace material in order for them to be a force in the playoffs. Coming out of college, Weaver had ace written all over him and he fell to the Angels in the draft due to the bonus money he was demanding. Now’s the time to see if he was worth it. Last season, with Lackey missing the first month, Weaver took over the number 1 spot and had a good year. He went 16-8, with a 3.75 era and a 1.24 WHIP. Hopefully he can lower his era a bit more this year and really fulfill his potential. I do think the Angels are going to win 95 games during the regular season and make the playoffs, but without Weaver posting Cy Young type numbers (19 wins and a sub 3 era), I don’t see them getting back to the World Series.

Bill

Huntington Beach versus El Toro - Game 10

El Toro - 14

Huntington Beach - 2

This game was dictated by the starting pitching of Ricky Schafer. Schafer threw a complete game, allowing 1 run in the 3rd and another in the 7th. Best performance on the year by him against probably the best team he's faced. El Toro needed this as they've run into some injuries with their pitchers and have had to bring up Freshman in order to fortify the bullpen.

From an offensive standpoint, again in order to score 14 runs, lots of kids need to have lots of great at bats. Gavin Collins with 2 huge doubles, Jayson Yano with a multi hit game, Logan Roberts with a single and double and multiple rbi's, Mitchell Tolman with a triple driving in a couple more, James Meager with a hit and rbi. From a fielding standpoint, Roberts got a chance to show off his gun in center when in the 6th, HB had a man on second, 2 outs and got a base hit up the middle. Logan charged it and came up throwing to the plate, cutting down the Oiler runner trying to score from second!

With the win, the Chargers record moves to 7-3 and more importantly, 3-0 in league play. They're off for the weekend before coming back Tuesday the 30th with a home game against Sea View league rival Foothill Knights. 3:15pm start time.

Go Chargers,

Bill

El Toro versus Woodbridge - Game 9

El Toro - 15
Woodbridge - 3

And it wasn't even that close.

Brett Hammond took a no hitter into the 5th, before finally surrendering a Texas Leaguer with 2 outs.. On the day, Brett went 6 innings, allowing zero runs, 1 hit, striking out 7 and walking 1. Just another typical Brett Hammond performance! Oh to be a lefty....

From the offensive side, who didn't do well? I guess first off, Matt Le Vert continued his assault at the plate, hitting a tape measure shot that exited the park over the 365 sign and carried another 50 feet beyond that... He had a huge double earlier in the game when it was close. James Meager drove one to dead center field for a triple, which if the park wasn't 385 there, would have gone out of most fields. Logan Roberts, Gavin Collins, Devin Schaefers and Jayson Yano all had rbi hits, Nick Paglialongo (in his first action being called up from the Frosh/Soph team), had a couple hits and Brian Graves and Mitchell Tolman served as table setters, getting on base and causing havoc.

It was 15-0 in the 7th, before the Warriors finally pushed three across, giving us a final score of 15-3.

El Toro comes back with a home game on Friday in what should be a tougher test against a talented Huntington Beach squad. Start time is 3:15pm.

Go Chargers!

Bill

Jon "Bones" Jones

If you caught any of the UFC on Versus last night, you know what I'm talking about when it comes to Jon Jones.

As I wrote last week, Sunday night Versus televised a couple of excellent fights for free. Jones vs. Brandon Vera and Jr. Dos Santos vs. Gabriel Gonzaga.

Dos Santos ko'd fellow brazilian Gonzaga in round one announcing himself to the elite of the heavyweight division. Gonzaga, instead of trying to take down Santos, tried to stand and punch with him and that didn't work out so well..

Anyway, in the main card, Jones showed why at 22, he's the next big up and coming fighter in MMA. Long, lanky, athletic, powerful, with an enormous reach, he's hard to match up with. He controlled the fight from the opening bell, took down Vera and put a stop to it at 3:19 of the 1st round with a nasty elbow to Vera's eye socket, most likely breaking it. Vera's no push over and yet this fight was never in doubt.. It looked like an amateur against a professional. I'll be interested in who he faces next, as the light heavy weight division is stacked. I can't imagine the UFC would put him in against champion Lyoto Machida next, however if Machida is able to defend his title in May and Jones can get by a top ranked contender in his next bout this summer, this would be a helluva fight come fall or the end of the year. Remember the name Jon "Bones" Jones.

My man crush grows!

Bill

El Toro Versus Northwood - Game 8

Game 8 on the year, but game 1 in league.

El Toro - 11

Northwood - 3

Brett Hammond and Ricky Schafer took care of business on the mound, while the offense finally put up some runs.

Having nice days at the plate were Devin Schaefers with 2 hits, Jake Tredwell with a monster triple and Logan Roberts, Gavin Collins and Mitchell Tolman chipping in with doubles. Jayson Yano also had a timely single and even though Byron Manzo couldn't get anything to drop, hit the ball hard on the day.

With the win, the Chargers move to 5-3 on the year and 1-0 in Sea View League play. Next up is an away game at Woodbridge next Wednesday, 3:30pm start at Windrow Park.

Go Chargers,

Bill

San Clemente vs. El Toro - Game 7

Well, they powned us.......

2 games against San Clemente and 2 losses. What more can you say? This one ended up closer than last week, but the result was still the same.

San Clemente jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first and El Toro was chasing the rest of the game. Can't say ET played bad, just San Clemente played better. The Charger pitchers didn't throw bad (Hammond, Schaefers, Wirth, Tredwell) but they just couldn't finish them off. The Tritons did a great job, hitter after hitter, with 2 strikes. Some very solid approaches at the plate.

El Toro came back from the 2-0 deficit to take a 3-2 lead in the 3rd, then SC tied it up and eventually took the lead 7-3. El Toro fought back on a Gavin Collins home run to left and narrowed the gap to 1, but in the 7th, San Clemente posted another 2 runs and El Toro ran out of gas.

Final - San Clemente 9, El Toro 6.

The loss pushes the Chargers record to 4-3 on the year (with 2 of the losses to San Clemente) with the opening of the Sea View league on Friday with an away game at Northwood. Start time is 3:15pm.

Bill

5 for Fighting

1) Final Four Prediction - I suppose I'm obligated to put up my college basketball prediction. In the final four I've got Kansas, Kansas State, Kentucky and Villanova. I've got Kentucky over Villanova in one semi and Kansas over KState in the other with Kentucky winning it all. I know Kentucky's young but admittedly I like Calipari and it'd be a helluva story him coming into Rupp Arena year one and winning it all...

2) The 7,6,5 Man - I, of course, am talking about Antonio Cromartie, newly signed cornerback of the NY Jets. What do the numbers stand for? He has 7 kids, by 6 different women in 5 different states... I guess he's agile, mobile and fertile! Supposedly today he caught up on his past due child support ($25,000 to $50,000), I've no doubt he'll never miss a payment again..... What's the over/under before he's back in court? A year, 2 years? This is a "man" (and I use that term loosely), thats all of 25 years old.... This will not end well. I wish Vegas took bets on stuff like this.

3) Eldrick - Ok, it's offical. I'm sick and tired of hearing about Tiger Woods. I don't care about his sex addiction, his golf sabbatical or when he's coming back. Yes he's a great golfer but golf was a great sport before he was ever born and it'll be a great sport long after he retires... I probably watched more golf on tv the last couple months while he's been out. To all those tv golf producers out there, believe it or not, people enjoy golf for other reasons than Cheetah Woods.

4) Ron Washington - Interesting story out today about Washington, the Manager of the Texas Rangers. Apparently last summer he tested positive for cocaine. Before the league received the results of the test, he coped to it and went to the league.... Interesting. I honestly don't know what side of the fence I'm on about this... I find it hard to believe this was a one time occurrence. Him doing coke once and then 2 days later being tested. What are the odds? A 100 to 1, a 1,000 to 1??? He's a 57 year old man, what's he doing cocaine for unless he's addicted and can't stop? Yes, I hope he gets help and everything's fine, but really, how does he still have a job? Does he have some black mail photo's of "The Express" or something? It's not like he's some single season, record breaking, western division, world series champion Manager or something..... He has a below .500 record since becoming Manager and has tested positive for cocaine. Really Texas, this is who represents your organization??

5) UFC on Versus - On Sunday night, the UFC will be on Versus (that's a channel in case you didn't know) and 3 interesting fights are on the card. Cheik Kongo vs Paul Buentello, Jon "Bones" Jones vs. Brandon Vera and in a heavyweight bout, Brazilians Junior Dos Santos vs Gabriel Gonzaga (and you know I love my Brasilians!). All 3 fights are very solid and should be entertaining. If you get Versus (Cable channels 334 or 765 HD on Cox Communications), this is a great chance to watch some talented fighters for free. Jon Jones is a young talent on his way up and the match up with Vera should be a good gage whether he's the real deal or not. Same holds true for Santos. A young guy who's got a lot of momentum facing a veteran in Gonzaga who is in need of a comeback win. Tune in Sunday night, 9pm eastern time, 6pm pacific.

Bill

El Toro Versus Laguna Hills - Game 6

El Toro - 11

Laguna Hills - 3

This was pretty much a snoozefest from the beginning. It was hot (86) and due to "political reasons" the game got moved from the varsity field, to the Freshman field. Neither side was real happy....

This game started at 3:15pm and by 3:30pm, it was over for all intensive purposes... El Toro started in the first with singles by Mitchell Tolman, James Meager, Jake Tredwell and Byron Manzo. Matt Le Vert connected on a triple to clear the bases and Devin Schaefers hit a sac fly to put up a 5 spot for ET in the first. Game over.

The Hawks attempted to answer back with 3 singles, but could only push across 1 run. After the Chargers put up a couple more runs next inning (Le Vert sac fly, Manzo singling in Logan Roberts and another Schaefers sac fly), the game was in cruise control and the boys started focusing on the Laguna Hills girl softball players hanging around while the crowd decided to start looking for shade.

Ricky Schafers looked sharp on the mound for El Toro, going 4 innings and only giving up the solo run in the 1st. Devin Schaefers took over in the 5th and put his knuckleball to use for 2 innings before Matt Le Vert came in the 7th and closed it out.

Final - El Toro 11, Laguna Hills 3

The Chargers are in revenge mode tomorrow as San Clemente comes north for a 3:15pm game. Last Tuesday the Tritons handed El Toro their first loss so the Chargers are anxious to repay the debt.

Go Chargers!

Bill

Santa Margarita Versus El Toro - Game 5

Santa Margarita - 8

El Toro - 7

I think the impending time change effected El Toro's inner clock as they had a hard time early before eventually making a game of it.

In the first, the Eagles used 3 singles, a double and 3 Charger errors to put up 6 runs. The bad news was the 6 runs, the good news was El Toro had 7 innings to come back and they used every single one.....

They chipped away putting up a run an inning on timely hits by Matt Le Vert, Jayson Yano, Logan Roberts and Devin Schaefers. They closed to 6-5 in the 5th and had the bases loaded with 1 out, but a strike out and an out on an attempt at stealing home sent us to the 6th.

The Eagles used two walks and a hit to push one across and were attempting more when Jayson Yano came in and got the last 2 outs to send us to the bottom of the 6th. Santa Margarita got the 1st 2 outs and were looking to be out of the inning when Yano hustled down the 1st base line to capitilize on a bobbled ball at 1st. That brought up Mitchell Tolman and on the next pitch he promptly deposited it over the right field fence giving us a tie game for the first time on the day since 0-0.

Santa Margarita didn't let the change in momentum effect them and they loaded the bases in the top of the 6th and got a single to right field to go back in the lead. El Toro wasn't able to answer going 1, 2, 3 in the bottom of the 7th ending one of the more exciting games of the young season.

With the loss, that ends the Garden Grove Tournament giving El Toro a record of 3 up and 2 down on the year. Next week is a busy one as they travel to Laguna on Tuesday for a 3:15pm game against Laguna Hills. They come back on Wednesday and try to avenge last weeks loss to San Clemente, before finally kicking off their league season on Friday away against Northwood High School.

Bill

Cypress versus El Toro - Game 4

Brett Hammond is making this look to easy. After battling through the fall and winter for the final roster spot on Varsity, the lefty is quickly showing why he's so highly thought of. Hammond extended his scoreless streak to 12 and a 1/3rd before finally giving up a run on the year. He again showed pin point control in keeping his fastball down, along with a nice array of off speed pitches.

On the offensive side, what El Toro lacked on Tuesday against San Clemente, they brought today. Logan Roberts led the way with a 3 run home run in the second and followed that up in the 3rd with a run scoring double.

Not to be outdone were Jake Tredwell, Gavin Collins and Andrew Kincade who chipped in with doubles of their own.

Final on the day was El Toro 6, Cypress 1, moving the Chargers record on the year to 3-1.

Next up is a battle against traditional Catholic power Santa Margarita on Saturday at 3pm in Lake Forest.

Go Chargers!

Bill

El Toro Versus San Clemente - Game 3

Well I guess you can cancel that parade!

San Clemente -10

El Toro - 1

Might be hard to believe, but this was close for most of the game. El Toro went up 1-0 in the first when Collins scored on a passed ball. San Clemente answered back in their half on a couple hits, then a pitchers dual broke out.

Jordan Wirth, while not having his best stuff, showed his "wirth" by battling the Tritons, and while San Clemente threatened, he was backed up by good defense and we went to the bottom of the 5th still tied 1-1. In the fifth, Jordan got the first 2 outs and then a loud "pop" came from the San Clemente dugout....... Little did we know the Triton manager had opened a can of whup ass and then all heck broke loose. A walk, a double, a home run, another walk, another double and the undersea kings had taken a 5-1 lead.

ET threatened to score in the 6th on hits by Meager and Tredwell, but a timely double play shut any hopes of a rally down. In the bottom of the 6th, after a pitching change, I think the wind shifted to going out, as the Tritons hit 2 more home runs and the rout was on.

While the Chargers only scored that 1st inning run, there were some nice at bats and plays on the day. Meager and Tredwell both had 2 hits. Andrew Kincade hit well and Devin Schaefers had a hit along with some nice glove work in the field.

Next up for the Chargers is a home game on Thursday against Cypress High School. Start time is slated for 3pm.

Bill

Zeke- Bad, Turtle - Good!

The Bad - Well it's finally over. Stick a fork in them..... The FIU basketball team, under 1st year coach Isiah Thomas, ended their season Saturday with a loss in the 1st round of the Sun Belt Conference Tournament to the Denver Pioneers. The Panthers ended the season 7-25 coming up a little short of my prediction of 14-18. They ended the season on a 7 game losing streak which is not ideal... However, taking away some good from season one, everyone seemed to work hard and there is help coming next year.

As we've mentioned here a few times, Zeke has some 4 and 5 star players coming in so hopefully they can forget about this year and build on it. We'll see..

The Good - "Turtle" Thomas and the FIU baseball team are out to an 8-2 start. They did lose yesterday to #2 ranked ASU 4-1, but the Panthers have been playing well. Yesterday Garrett Wittels extended his hitting streak to 10 games pushing his average on the year over .500.

The Panthers are ranked #41st in the latest poll and with home games coming up this week against Boston College and Rutgers, look poised to make a push into the top 25, a spot FIU has never seen.

That makes Vanessa very happy!

Bill

Canyon at El Toro - Game 2

On Saturday morning, in chilly temperatures (game time temp's in the mid 50's), the Comanches traveled down to Lake Forest to take on the Chargers.

El Toro jumped out 2-0 in the first on walks by Tolman and Collins followed by a Le Vert single (5 RBI's on the year). After that the Comanches settled down and in the tepid weather, a pitchers dual broke out.

Ricky Schafers was on the mound for the Chargers and held Canyon to just 1 run through 5. In the 5th, El Toro opened up a 4-1 lead on hits by Tolman and Meager followed by a Tredwell drive to right.

In the top of the 6th, Canyon strung together a couple hits and pushed across 2 runs to make it a 4-3 game. El Toro answered with a run in the 6th giving us a score of 5-3.

Jordan Wirth came in and shut down the Comanches in the 7th ending with a nice 4-6-3 double play.

The Chargers move to 2-0 on the year and unquestionably the #1 seed in the Garden Grove Tournament as we move into "Championship Week"...... March Madness is in full swing, let the dancing begin!

Next up for El Toro is a road game at always tough San Clemente next Tuesday. Start time is slated for 3pm.

Go Chargers!

Bill

El Toro Versus Edison - game 1

Couldn't have asked for better conditions in this game one match up in the Garden Grove Tournament. What? You didn't know this was a tournament? Well don't feel bad, I don't think anyone else knows it either..... Who ever "wins" this tournament (each team plays 5 games over 8 days) will get exactly..... nothing. I was reminded the El Toro Frosh/Soph won this "tournament" last year and I still can't believe how many people turned out for the parade that ran thru the streets of Lake Forest... I'm sure somewhere I have a photo of Coach Farrell hoisting the Championship trophy over his head as confetti falls down around him at City Hall.... Maybe this is what it's like being a college football player and winning the "mythical" National Championship. Whoever goes undefeated and wins this baby, I'm going to "cast" my sportswriters vote and crown them Champions. Baseball America, USA Today, MaxPreps, CalHiSports, be on the alert for this epic achievement!

Okay, now that that's out of the way, on to the game: El Toro 9, Edison 0.

Two words - Brett Hammond. He was the story of the game. The southpaw went the distance for El Toro, only giving up 4 hits and shutting down a strong hitting Edison team. Solid defense and a couple timely double plays took care of the few batters that reached base.

From the offensive side, Matt Le Vert got it started in the first with a mammoth 2 run homerun to left center. He also supplied an rbi single later on in the game. Logan Roberts, Jake Tredwell, Mitchell Tolman and Gavin Collins also stepped up with big hits.

All told it was a dominate 1st game on both sides of the ball. A nice start to the season for the young El Toro squad.

Next up is Canyon High School in an 11am start at Charger Field on Saturday, mother nature allowing.

Bill

El Toro Chargers JV Baseball

Well here we are again. Spring training's over (or in our case winter training) and it's time to start another season of El Toro High School Baseball!

The nucleus of the Frosh / Soph team that went 30-5-1 and winners of the Sea View League Title last year are back and have moved up to JV (with a couple additions and subtractions). Should be another exciting season with a lot of great games on the schedule. In addition to league teams (Trabuco Hills, Foothill, Northwood, Woodbridge and Huntington Beach), the out of league schedule includes traditional Southern California high school powers such as Edison, Canyon, San Clemente, Cypress and Santa Margarita. El Toro is also entered in the "Foothill Tournament" which draws top level competition every year. All told, it'll be 30 games over the next 2 and a half months.

Season kicks off this Friday as the Chargers travel up to Huntington Beach to take on Edison in a 3pm start. First home game is Saturday in an 11pm tilt against Canyon High School.

Here's the roster:

G. Collins

B. Graves

B. Hammond

S. Jones

A. Kincade

M. Le Vert

C. Lioi

B. Manzo

J. Meager

L. Roberts

D. Schaefers

R. Schafers

M. Tolman

J. Tredwell

J. Wirth

J. Yano

Coaches Jackson and Hammond.

As the season goes along I'll give updates on games, scores, recaps, player profiles and Sea View league standings. For the complete downloadable schedule go HERE.

Go Chargers!

Bill

My Dream Job or: How I Learned To Stop Worrying and Love The Bomb

I read an article last week by Bill Simmons on ESPN (click HERE) about how to improve the NBA and it got me thinking about college basketball and that in turn became how I’d coach if I’d gone down that route.

As I’ve told various people over the years, I think my true calling, career wise, was being a mens college basketball coach. I had multiple people try to direct me into that field coming out of high school but I foolishly didn’t take their advice. My high school coach played college ball at UMASS with Dr. J, Rick Pitino and Al Skinner and was still close with them at the time (1983 or so). Pitino was finishing up his last year at BU before taking an assistant job with the Knicks for two years before moving to Providence College (where he made his final four run in 86) and I had some opportunities to meet him and discuss playing college ball (not Providence mind you, I was D2 material). I never persued it and today still regret it (note to self – I’m an idiot….). Six years later, I was living in Los Angeles and had a friend who was good friends with Sonny Vaccaro (If you don’t know who Sonny Vaccaro is, then you don’t know college basketball. Google him). I had an interview scheduled with him but something happened and it got postponed and I never followed up on it (again, the lesson here - “Bill's an idiot”).

Anyway, when I read Simmons article, it got me thinking about how I’d run a college basketball program:

1) You have to win (or at least win more than you lose) and it has to be entertaining.

2 With so many “1 and done” players now, unless you’re at a marquee school that continually draws the top level players (Duke, Kentucky, North Carolina, Kansas, UCLA, Syracuse, et al.), I think you need to think outside the box and do some creative things in order to draw good players, be consistently successful, and play a style that people enjoy watching.

With these thoughts in mind, this is what I came up with:

1 ) Up Tempo - Kids want to play in an up tempo game, giving them chances to score a lot. It’s fun to score and a fast paced, up and down game gives them chances to post big numbers along with it being fun to watch from a fan perspective. A “defensive battle” that ends up being 39-35, while maybe technically good, leaves people leaving the arena going “that sucked to watch”… (even if your team won).

I’d Dictate Tempo - I'd rather lose playing my style, then win playing the other teams style. Now I’m not saying I want to lose every game or anything, but in the long run, the team will be more successful if they can dictate their style. We’d full court press trying to get into an up tempo game and create turnovers. When broken, we’d fall into various match up zones (ala Temple under John Chaney). If the other team has one main ball handler (which most mid major and lower D1 schools do), we’d go various box and 1’s to put the ball in someone else’s hands and try to create turnovers. I want people handling the ball that are not used to it.

Players - Assuming I’m not going to be able to recruit the 5 or, even the 4 star player, I’m going to have to be selective in what 2 and 3 star player I’d need to run my system. I’d go after the lanky, long limbed, 6’3” to 6’8” athletes that can run the floor. I’d have no interest in a slow 7’ footer (even skilled). A Zydrunas Illgauskas type of player would not fit my system…. I’d want a couple 6’3”, 6’4” spot up shooters and I wouldn’t care if they lacked defensive ability. Think Dell Curry.

Juco Players - I think the Junior College ranks have a plethora of these players I describe above. A lot of these kids end up in Jr. College because coming out of high school they may have had ability but lacked a necessary “elite” skill set. After spending a year or 2 in JC, they’re ready to move to D1, but most likely not a D1 powerhouse (that by this point doesn’t have a spot for them).

In thinking this thru, my style would combine the “40 minutes of hell” philosophy of Nolan Richardson and his 80’s, 90’s Arkansas Razorback teams and the Paul Westhead Loyola Marymount teams featuring Hank Gathers and Bo Kimble (basically just saying “screw it, we’re playing token defense and just trying to run up and down the floor, score on you and hope you miss once or twice so we win”). Might not be quite to that extreme but you know damn well when you looked in the paper back then after one of LMU's games and you saw the score 147-143, a smile came to your face and you thought “Damn! That’s a lot of points”! It’s exciting basketball to play and watch. Everyone was happy!

So where would this work? As I’ve said the major schools that recruit and get the 4 and 5 star players don’t need to do this (and it’s hard to beat those teams playing this style, they have to many ball handlers and scorers). It would have to be a mid major that for what ever reason isn’t a national power, that has a hard time getting players to their school, but is either big enough or in a locale that kids “want” to go to. Quite honestly, a lot of schools fit this profile, but I settled on 3 that fit me.

1) University of New Mexico - While they’ve had some good teams over the years, I always thought this was a program that could be bigger than it is (and actually for what it's worth, Steve Alford is doing a great job there now). They play in the Mountain West Conference and while it’s not the “Pac 10”, still a lot of quality competition (BYU, UNLV, San Diego State, Utah, Colorado State, TCU, Wyoming and Air Force). The conference champion gets an automatic bid to the NCAA tournament, so if you can put together a solid , proven, exciting, winning system that players want to play for, you have a chance to be “Dancing” year after year after year……

The Southwest area (New Mexico, Nevada, Texas and lower Oklahoma) is litered with top notch Juco programs which you can pull from.

University Arena (commonly called “The Pit”), seats about 15,000, and is known as one of college basketballs loudest venues in the country (click HERE). It’s a tough building for opposing teams to come into, as since 1966 the Lobo’s home record is a staggering .821. The school has a large enrollment (28,000) and while Albuquerque might not be as exciting a city like New York or Los Angeles, it’s large enough to draw the players needed to run the system.

2) The “U” – I can’t understand why this major collegiate power in every sport hasn’t broken thru in basketball. I’ve heard the arena is a multi use facility that’s held the program back, but still, south florida is in the top 5 in the country in turning out top level basketball players (maybe #1 in athletes). They are in a major conference (ACC) which has it’s advantages and disadvantages. Disadvantage being it’s never going to win the conference and it’s virtually impossible to play pressure defense when the other team has multiple players to handle and distribute the ball. As I’ve said, one of my main philosophies is pressure and forcing the other team to make quick decisions and preferably by players that aren’t used to handling the ball (i.e. bigs.). In a conference like the ACC, the other team will have those big guys that are able to do that (hence the 4 and 5 star player). The advantage though is you’ll probably draw some of those higher tier players because you’re in the ACC. Never hurts being on national television facing top level talent. University of Florida obviously has been very successful and over the years Florida State has fielded top teams. USF in Tampa has made the NCAA tournament a few times and FIU (right up the road from Miami) has hired Isiah Thomas and already has commitments from some 4 star players for next year (I’m sorry, but no way Florida International shoud be out recruiting the University of Miami!). If you start playing an exciting up tempo , high scoring games there, you telling me you couldn’t bring in some big time talent? South Florida would be going crazy….

3) DePaul – Help me out here. Why isn’t DePaul a national power anymore? Major University, located in a major city, great basketball tradition and in an area that might produce the best talent in the country (behind only NY City and that’s debatable.). They play in the Big East Conference, which is probably a downfall (as we discussed with Miami), but they have the ability to be an elite power and quite frankly should be. Why DePaul isn’t a top 20 power year after year is a mystery. With the talent this area produces, you’d think it would be easy for them to cherry pick a lot of the better talent coming up in Chicago. To me, this program not being better is a disgrace to college basketball. How you can’t win there is beyond me (currently this season, they’re last in the Big East at 1-15 with an overall record of 8-20. Needless to say, they’ll be a coaching vacancy coming up…..).

Over the years, a few coaches have taken bits and pieces of this, implemented it, and been successful. John Calipari, when he was at UMASS, went after a lot of these types of players and went up tempo. He mined the NY and New England talent and turned that program into a national power (look where they’ve gone since he left). Later, while at Memphis, he started drawing the 5 star players and evolved the system. This is basically the footprint Pitino previously used. While at BU and Providence, he couldn’t get the top elite players, so he went more up tempo in order to counteract a negative. At Kentucky, that wasn’t a problem, so he changed some things around. Now however, look at his Lousiville teams. You’re seeing a lot of athletes 6’3” to 6’10”, and he’s pressing and forcing an up tempo game to create turnovers.

If I had to describe my ideal player, it would be someone like Stacy Augmon (The Plastic Man!). 6’8”, lanky, long arms and could run all day (couldn’t shoot worth a shit though…..). He was a 3 time winner of the College Basketball Defensive Player of The Year award. He could cover a point guard or a slow, plodding 6’10” center. Just a beast, who was tailor made for an up tempo system. Give me 7 guys with his defensive skill set. Now, granted, he was a high level recruit, but there are a lot of guys out there with similar athletic make up who you can use.

As I said at the beginning, if I had to do it over, I wish I’d taken the advice of some people and taken my career a different way. As you can tell, I’ve spent a time thinking about this and it’s fun to think how things might have turned out differently. In the mean time, I think about college basketball and wonder why some of these midlevel programs don’t roll the dice and give this style a shot. Are you going to win a national championship playing this style? No, you’ll become exposed playing the top schools (but you're not going to win a championship anyway....), but in the right situation, you could be consistently successful, and you’d be entertaining as hell to watch. I guarantee you, teams would dread playing you.

And yes, in case you're wondering, the title is from Dr. Strangelove!

Bill

DodgerTown Classic

Got a chance on Sunday to watch the DodgerTown classic at Dodger Stadium. Saw some great college baseball in a beautiful stadium in some unbelievable weather (sunny and 70).

The first game featured Vanderbilt versus Oklahoma State. Vanderbilt jumped out early and survived a late scare by Oklahoma State to win 7-6.

For Vanderbilt, I was impressed with 1st baseman Aaron Westlake, who went 2-4 with a 2 run double and a 2 run home run. Also impressive was Brian Harris and Curt Cassall who each had 2 hits to lead the 10 hit attack. The neatest thing for me though was seeing Freshman outfielder Michael Yastremski. "Yaz" is the grandson of Carl Yastremski and was a draft pick of the Boston Red Sox last summer. He elected to go to Vanderbilt instead of signing. On the day he was 0-3 with a walk, but still it brought back childhood memories for me to hear the P.A. announcer say " now batting, Yastremski".......

The second game featured cross town rivals UCLA and USC, and as you might imagine, this is what the announced crowd of 14,500 was there to see.

Some great early starting pitching by both clubs took us into the 5th before either side got on the board. USC scored first when Freshman Cade Keuter doubled to left, followed by a Mike O’Neill double to left center. The Bruins answered back in the bottom of the inning when Brett Krill doubled down the left field line to drive in Cody Keefer.

In the 7th, UCLA scored twice and then another 3 in the 8th on a Niko Gallego home run and doubles by Steve Rodriquez and Keefer.

The final score was Bruins 6, Trojans 1. On the year UCLA is now 6-0 (best start since 1997) and the Trojans drop to 3-4.

An interesting note here, which I think depicts the state of the two programs. Out of UCLA's 33 kids listed on their roster, 31 were from California (other 2 from Arizona). For USC's roster, only 20 from California, with the others a mixture from Arizona, Washington, Oregon, Colorado, Nevada, Georgia and Florida. In recent years the Bruin program has been on an upswing with the USC program struggling since Chad Kreuter took over 3 years ago (I believe they're 85-87 over his tenure). Obviously John Savage and UCLA have done a better job "mining" the California and specifically the Southern California talent. Any major college program in any sport gets the homegrown talent first. Take football as an example. Here in Southern California, if you're a 5 star athlete and if you're staying home, you're probably going to USC. Look at the rosters of Texas, Florida, Alabama, etc.... A high percentage of their roster is from their home state (like 97%). If Kreuter has a bad season (or even another average one), I think he might be out of a job. When does Mike Garret pull the plug? This is (or at least was...) one of the marquee programs in the country. Now? I think I saw the other day where they were expected to finish next to last in the Pac 10 by the coaches vote..... That's now NOT a national power.

Anyway, it was a great day of baseball and I'm looking forward to going again next year.

Bill