[Updated w/ Stats] OV Bested by Beckman, Falls to .500

Just as OV gained some momentum, the Patriots take it away. OV fell to the Patriots today by the score of 8-4, but statistically, one could make the claim that OV played “better” than the Patriots. Pitching-wise, OV had a lower ERA (3.86 to Beckman’s 4.00) and a lower WHIP (1.714 to 2.143), OV also had a higher OBP (.457 to .424), hitting average (.296 to .269), and even had more hits than the Patriots at 8 hits to 7, but the box score is only for show; the Patriots won in the line score and that’s what counts.

You have to give credit to the Seahawks as their bullpen only allowed another two runs after surrendering 6 runs in the first two innings.

The turning point in the game came early: two outs, bases loaded in the bottom of the first- Will Barring swings on a 1-2 pitch and sends a chopper to third as Freddy Sepulveda throws the ball across the diamond and it one hops the backup first baseman Chad Hackworth and bounces past him, yielding two runs and opening the door for another 2 runs to score in the first.

First mistake goes to OV, first capitalization goes to Beckman.

OV loaded the bases on walks, and looked like they would answer right back in the bottom of the 1st, but back to back punch outs sent OV back into the dugout, and Alex Knowles’ 1.1 inning performance spiraled out of control as Justin Hazard hit a monstrous double to left-center bringing in another run. Forest Turner quickly shut the door, but OV couldn’t over come the huge 6 run deficit that Beckman gave them early on.

Again, Beckman would score another 2 runs again late in the game, but they were just for insurance as OV could only draw themselves within two.

OV stranded a whopping 10 men on base, often with the bases loaded- last year, it didn’t hurt the Seahawks, this year, it did. While the score didn’t indicate the true competitiveness of the game, one could say “what if Freddy had thrown Will Barring out to strand the bases loaded and end the 1st inning?” Alas, two competitive baseball teams have traded wins with that same principle- taking advantage of mistakes.

OV Hawks Podcast Episode 2

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Familiar Faces: OV to Face Beckman in CIF Quarterfinal Rematch

OV Hawks Podcast: Episode 1

The last time the Patriots of Beckman High School walked off the field after facing Ocean View, you could sum up the reaction of the South-County Powerhouse in one word: shocked.

The previously 27-1 Patriots were all but guaranteed to take advantage of a relatively weak bracket and march right on to 2010 OC Varsity Coach of the Year Kevin Lavelle’s first CIF Championship. Ocean View, on the other hand, had some other plans. You can read all about the game here and here.

Last year, though, was last year. The differences between the two ’10 and the ’11 teams are rather trivial though. Let’s start with Beckman- the Patriots lost two of their biggest offensive tools- Reyn Araki in Center-Field, and Brandon Trinkwon at Shortstop. As documented in the past, Ocean View lost the biggest piece to last year’s team Aaron Delgado at Shortstop and Center-Field, but also lost Nick Schulenburg, and Kevin Nance at the corners.

But as I’ve said in the past here, Robert Fogarty and Colton Johnson fixed the holes that Aaron left offensively and defensively.

That being said, expect a very similar game compared to last year’s matchup.

Ocean View has lost games here and there, one to El Dorado after getting 1-Hit, Westminster after getting 3-Hit, and when they’ve faced superior pitching, they have struggled offensively. However, when they aren’t ice cold, OV has the same offensive potential as any team in the division.

Beckman, at the very least, just isn’t undefeated on paper, they lost to CDM in the Newport Elks Tournament after starting the “B Team,” and lost the second game in their double-header against Katella, again, clearing the bench in that night game.

Let’s look into individual unit match-ups after the jump…

OV Baseball Preview: San Juan Hills @ OV – Newport Elks Tournament

Ocean View didn’t qualify for the playoff portion as CDM and Beckman both emerged from their respective pools undefeated. So, OV will try and make some positive come up in the consolation bracket.

San Juan Hills is also 2-1, and will have the tough task of facing Freddy Sepulveda in his first start of the year. Right-Fielder Blake Hitchcock is out for two weeks as he undergoes ortho-scopic knee surgery.

The Seahawks and Stallions are slated to play at 3:00pm at Gibbs Field.

Lost Opportunities, OV Drops its First Game to Brea

In a dogfight, OV came up short by the tally of 8-5. The game started off like any blowout would- Travis Sparks Jackson makes quick work of the Wildcats in the Top of the 1st, going 1-2-3 to start the game. OV then loaded the bases, but only brought 2 runs in off of Robert Fogarty’s single- no big deal right?

Travis went through the middle of the Wildcats lineup unscathed, but in the 3rd inning, a 2 out rally followed by a 3 run homerun put OV in a 2-4 hole. OV got another run in off of a Freddy Sepulveda single. Travis pitched a short 3+ innings, but Forest Turner finished off the 4th inning no-problem. In the bottom of the 4th, OV tied the game up at 4-4. Forest allowed 1 run in the top of the 5th, but yet again, OV fired back and tied the score at 5-5 in the bottom of the 5th.

The game was broken open when Alex Knowles came in to pitch in the 6th inning. The situation at hand really called for Freddy Sepulveda or Colton Johnson- someone that can get outs quickly while sacrificing stamina. Alex allowed back to back hits, but finished the run in just 4 batters. OV’s offense didn’t respond in the bottom of the 6th, despite getting two runners on. Alex allowed a home run to start the 7th inning, but got back-to-back strikeouts and a ground ball to finish the day.

When it was all said and done, Ocean View came up with too little, too late. The good news, it wasn’t the “real rotation” with our pool of the Foothill Bracket clinched, Coach Borowski may have wanted to “save” Freddy and Colton and Blake for the upcoming playoff portion of the Round Robin, but the bad news, OV’s backup bullpen wasn’t exactly stellar. Travis showed some flashes of dominance, and as the season progresses, he should fill in to his “ridiculous upside.”

This loss was painful, ending one of the most exciting win-streaks that OV Baseball has ever had, but compared to last year, OV is head-and-shoulders beyond the escapades of OV’s 2009 early season struggles.

OV Baseball Preview: Brea Olinda @ OV – Newport Elks Tournament

Sorry no preview today, but OV does take on Brea Olinda at Gibbs Field today at 3:30pm.

Ocean View will start Travis Sparks Jackson and the Wildcats of Brea Olinda will start Grant Bishop

HEAD OVER TO iscorecast.com for a FREE, live score cast of today’s game. Use the PIN: 7817715AEC

OV Opens Gibbs Field with a Dominant Victory

Bob Gibbs, long time hitting coach and Orange County Baseball Legend, was honored today with the dedication of Ocean View’s home field in his name. Now named “Gibbs Field,” the home of the Seahawks was anything but welcoming to Troy.

Troy started out the game with a run off of an error, but that was it. Blake Walker (1-0) settled into the game and shut the Warriors down- Walker struck out two, and allowed only 1 hit in his 4 innings work. His WHIP? A solid 1.00. Colton Johnson really closed the door though, striking out 6 in 3 innings, and not allowing a single baserunner in that time. And that was supposed to be the weaker of the two rotations! OV has made a name for itself as a top notch pitching team.

Offensively, OV played smoothly, jumping on Ochoa early for 4 runs in the 1st. After that, a stream of productive innings wore down Ochoa and let OV score two more runs before he got the hook. It was not an explosive afternoon, but OV was extremely efficient throughout.

OV faces Brea at Gibbs Field on Tuesday in the final pool game of the Newport Elks Tournament.

OV Baseball Preview: Troy @ OV – Newport Elks Tournament

After defeating Irvine yesterday 6-3 (W: Alex Knowles), OV returns to Huntington Beach for a contest with Troy High School. Plenty of pregame festivities are planned to welcome back the 2010 CIF Champions and another, big surprise.

Troy last played OV on their opening day a year ago, and demolished a not-yet-formed OV team. They finished the season 15-11 last year, and just above .500 in league at 8-7.

The Warriors are led by their Senior Shortstop, Dakota Wix, who batted .440 last year, and accounted for 15 RBIs. Right behind him is his Junior Catcher, Stephen Sauter. He batted .360, and brought in 13 RBIs. Their bullpen, much like Ocean View, was led by underclassmen last year, with Seniors Cameron Ochoa and Michael Gregory both returning as the two starting pitchers. Ochoa and Gregory boasted ERAs of 3.00 and 4.60 respectively.

One Down, and The Road Begins: OV 6, Irvine 3

The 2011 season is officially underway, and it started as perfectly as anyone could have asked for. OV topped Irvine 6-3, with only 1 of OV’s runs allowed counted as “earned runs.”

Offensively, the game started very similarly to how games started last year- hit, RBI, hit, RBI. Colton Johnson reached first to start the season off, stole 2nd, then Blake Walker opened his Senior season with a Triple and an RBI. Hitchcock also started off with a single and an RBI. Timmy Robinson led the team with 3 RBI’s, followed by Walker’s 2, and Hitchcock’s 1.

While some innings had their cold parts, the offense seemed to pick up right where it left off.

The real story of today’s game though was Alex Knowles- throwing 5 innings, striking out 3, and only 1 hit. Also, no earned runs. Alex’s biggest problem last year was leaving pitches up, but this year, Alex seems to have much better command of his pitches, getting tons of ground-balls, and all around is just a better pitcher. Sure, the competition wasn’t high, but Alex is no longer a liability while on the mound.

Freddy pitched in the 6th, and he allowed two hits, but struck out 2 and didn’t allow the runners to score. He was having “an off day” to say the least, but still retired the side. Freddy hasn’t lost his touch to say the least.

Forest Turner pitched in the 7th, but he allowed 1 run to come around. He wasn’t in command from the beginning, so I’ll mark that off as a bad outing, as Turner didn’t record an out.

Colton Johnson finished the deal off  in 13 pitches, and that was all she wrote.

Ocean View faces Troy High School tomorrow at 11:00 am. Be sure to head over to Ocean View High School for Opening Day, there is a special event planned that you won’t want to miss.

[Updated] OV Baseball Preview: OV @ Irvine – Newport Elks Tournament

[OV's line is -3 over Irvine today]

In the opener to the 2011 season, OV start the Newport Elks Tournament with a game against the Vaqueros of Irvine High School at 3:00 pm. Usually teams from South county can put up a fight against the teams in the north, but this Irvine team has struggled for quite some time. They won a mere five games last year and the intramural team from the Pacific Coast League has been the stomping mat for teams like Beckman for the past few years.

Irvine’s flaws really were magnified when Irvine’s best player, Brennen Leitao, transferred to Woodbridge this past season. Aside from that, the biggest returner for Irvine is their Junior middle-infielder Cole Moeller. Moeller batted .358 last year, and behind him is Matt Russell, a Senior 3rd Baseman/Pitcher who batted .333 last year.

The bottom line is, Irvine isn’t very good and should be vouching for the 4th or 5th place spot in the PCL (out of 6), OV should start the season 1-0, and hopefully the position players can shake off some rust in this game before competition escalates.