LJ baseball: Lookin' ahead

The Vikings' Arman Sanchez-Mohit (R) moves
to the first base line to field a bunt that goes foul.
La Jolla's starting catcher got a stint on the mound
at mid-game. (Photo by Ed Piper)
 

By Ed Piper

At the Padres' season opener yesterday (March 29) against the Brewers, a gentleman nearby said at one point, "They (the Padres) are looking ahead to 2021."

With the Padres' young talent and commitment to developing through their own system, rather than buying high-priced stars in the free agent market like they tried three years ago--and found it utterly failed, with clubhouse chemistry poor and effort by some veterans lacking--manager Andy Green and the San Diego management are taking the long view. This is a position-by-position build.

I thought today how apropos this model is to Gary Frank's baseball program at La Jolla High: After an initial burst of three wins in their first four games in the Sweetwater Invitational, the very young Vikings hit a Lions Tournament week the past three days (actually Monday-Tuesday-Wednesday, March 26-28) that bumped and bruised them.

Such a thing is going to happen. But the hope-springs-eternal spirit that began the season at the beginning of the month with the 25th Annual Alumni Game lives on in the new arms and bats that are embodied among the two freshmen, five sophomores, and eight upperclassmen populating this year's roster.

I traveled a long way in a Buick, as Dick Howser used to say (and I don't even like the Yankees, which he managed), for Wednesday's final pool-play game in the Lions tourney at faraway Sage Creek.

This is a high school so new (completing its fifth year in existence) that they are just now putting the finishing touches on a humongous Performing Arts Center facing on the front parking lot. The baseball field is the furthest-most element on the whole campus, way back in the back, nestled against some hills. Really a nice view where I took a snapshot from across the way: the school and the ball field set out literally in the sage, at the end of Cannon Road. There is nothing beyond it. Enough tumbleweeds to knock over a car, I imagine, at the right time of year.

But these are no hicks. To enter the campus at 1:50 p.m. (for a 3 p.m. opening pitch), I had to type my name into a handy monitor at the front desk, then frame and click my own self-portrait to print out a visitor's pass. Quite the deal.

Well, lefty junior Blaise Gimber--who I'm coming back to for quotes; the guy is a veritable quote machine speaking in paragraphs!--got roughed up pretty bad in the first inning on his slow control stuff. Six runs in the bottom of the first. Some balls were thwacked pretty hard to the left- and centerfield fence.

Two runs came in when shortstop Cooper McNally, the new shortstop, wasn't able to cleanly glove a short pop behind second base. Score it as you will, a hit or an error. Cooper, asked before the game if he has been a shortstop for long: "I never played it before."

Not that I'm putting the sophomore down. He can play. And Gary Frank has definite ideas about where he wants to play certain people, according to their abilities and the team's needs. And the left-handed batter, filling the third slot in the lineup, can certainly hit. He is carrying a pretty good batting average right about now.

Too bad on the first inning, because Blaise went on to record good second and third innings before giving way to other hurlers.

And the host Bobcats didn't do much more the rest of the day. They only added one more run the remaining five stanzas.

Process. The Philadelphia 76'ers have made that a motto: The Process. The Padres are doing it. The Vikings have to do it, because they had so many openings on the team after last year's seniors graduated in June.

The players are young. Gary sees something in them. He's got Alex Monell and the other seniors to help "bring them up".

I like the human aspect of sports. The team is an incubator for learning. These guys have been exposed to Tom House, the professional pitching guru, who visited in February. They have their own resident pitching specialist, Jake Grosz. Bob Allen has seen a campaign or two--stand with his wife during a game. She will fill you in on what's going on. She knows her baseball.

It's trite, but this is truly a family. All coaches preach it. You have to have guys who care about one another and the team. Frank made a comment about Yered Teodosio: A guy who will take buses from his home on a non-school day all the way up to University City really wants it. The others see that. Commitment. These are good words. These are good values.

Living it now. And looking ahead. Both are part of the experience.