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.
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…
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.
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.
There really should be an asterisk after the word “split” in the title. The second game of the doubleheader was held without umpires, and there were debatable calls after every batter, so the first game was really the only one that “mattered.” OV won that matchup 5-3.
Let’s start with the best unit: to no surprise, OV’s front end of rotation is an elite one- Freddy, Alex, Blake, and Colton are a special unit. Freddy got the ball to start, he pitched 2 innings, and had .5 Runs against- he also K’d 3 and allowed 1 hit in 31 pitches. Next came Alex Knowles- he pitched another 2 innings, and allowed 1 hit, and no runs. Blake Walker pitched third getting into trouble in the 6th inning after a 1-2-3 5th inning. Blake allowed 2 runs, and 3 hits, but also picked up a strikeout. Since OV rallied in the top of the 7th, Blake got the “W”. Colton finished the game out with a 1-2-3 bottom of the 7th.
We learned a lot in the first game from the bullpen- Freddy is still dominant, Alex has really stepped it up and was very impressive in his limited time, Blake showed flashes of brilliance, and Colton picked up right where he left off. We should be perfectly fine when it comes down to pitching this season.
The next best unit was the hitting- Some hitters had a fair share of rust (Colton, Freddy, Trey etc.), but others really flourised- Robert Fogarty, and Luke Fell were nice surprises, and Fogarty’s ball-to-the-wall hit was the best of the day. Timmy Robinson and Blake Hitchcock seemed to pick up right where they left off.
The worst unit, was the defense. OV combined for 5 errors and a very poor 84% fielding average. Blake Walker, who takes over Aaron Delgado’s vacated shortstop spot, committed 3 errors and had a 40% fielding average. If OV goes away from fundamentals, that should be their only weakness late in the season. Just ask Beckman how important a good defense is in the postseason.
OV’s opening day ceremonies will be on Friday, so check out OV’s first home game of the season as we welcome back the defending CIF Champions.
Another season, and five-part preview is in the wings as we look ahead to the 2011 OV baseball season, which will get underway on February 26th when the Seahawks take on Valencia High School. As we look to 2011, we started with Part 1, a general 2010 review and 2011 preview with a look at the schedule and key notes. Part 3, the position players. Part 4 will preview the Golden West League and Part 5 will be a look at the country and where OV fits in the regional/postseason scene.
For the first time in my time here at Ocean View, there are no doubts about how good OV’s bullpen is this year. OV should return to its typical Wednesday-Friday 2 man rotation this year as OV will have two of the best pitchers in the GWL on their team in Freddy Sepulveda and Blake Walker.
Blake was the Postseason ace, starting in every game of the playoffs, and boasted a season ERA of 4.18 in a team leading 77 inning pitched. Freddy held a 2.62 ERA in 21.1 Innings pitched, having only pitched the final few innings of each of the games he played in, and missing the entire first half of the season due to injury, with the team best of a .198 batters faced average. During league play, Colton Johnson filled the “Friday” starter role having 43.2 innings pitched, along with a 3.69 ERA, Johnson trailed Freddy slightly with the team’s second best BA at .233.
But aren’t we missing anyone from last season? The answer, shockingly, is no. The astronomical ERA’s from the beginning of the season were either held by Seniors, players that aren’t on the team any more, or players that most likely won’t be warming up in the bullpen this season.
But this year bodes what could be a more “traditional” year for the Seahawks. Truth is, and I apologize to both of them, Blake Walker and Colton Johnson aren’t true pitchers, and unlike last year, the defense is arguably better with Walker at his natural Shortstop position. That mentality alone should leave the rotation to a limited Walker and Johnson along with a “Friday” Freddy, but the truth is, OV could possibly use Alex Knowles as their Wednesday starter.
Another season, and a five-part preview is in the wings as we look ahead to the 2011 OV baseball season, which will get underway on February 26th when the Seahawks take on Valencia High School. As we look to 2011, we’ll start here with Part 1, a general 2010 review and 2011 preview with a look at the schedule and key notes. Part 2 will look at the pitchers and Part 3, the position players. Part 4 will preview the Golden West League and Part 5 will be a look at the country and where OV fits in the regional/postseason scene.
OV opened up last season with a record of 2-5. During that seven game stretch, OV went through 6 pitchers, 4 didn’t throw another pitch for the remainder of the season, and 7 different lineups. On the contrary, OV pitched three different pitchers, 2 lineups, and won a CIF Championship in the final 7 games. The Seahawks were probably the biggest surprise in the league, without a doubt.
The season began with a loss, as Troy defeated OV 9-4, the starting pitcher? Alex Knowles, and in relief for him? Andrew Medrano. OV defeated Carter 7-6 a day later, but then dropped two games to CDM and Pacifica and got outscored by 19 runs in those two games. OV turned things around with a victory over Irvine, but then got swept by El Dorado in their annual double header. In out of league play, as mentioned before, OV went 2-5, and averaged 9.43 Runs Against.
League play was a different story though, OV won 8 consecutive league games before finishing 13-2 in the Golden West League. OV finished the regular season with two 10+ run victories over Saddleback.
Postseason time came quickly for the Seahawks, earning the #8 overall seed in the bracket poised for a first round match up with La Quinta High School. The Aztecs boasted a pretty good starting pitcher in Michael Hill, but OV overcame 5 errors to top the Aztecs 3-1. OV advanced to the second round against Bell Gardens.
The Bell Gardens game started off shaky for the Seahawks, as Bell Gardens opened up the game with 4 runs in the bottom of the 1st, but OV never lost focus and came storming back to tie the game and then take the lead in the top of the 5th. OV scored another 4 runs in the top of the 6th, but Bell Gardens responded with a 2 run bottom of the 6th. OV was held off the scoreboard in the top of the 7th, and in one of the most dramatic finishes of the season, held off Bell Gardens for the final score of 9-8. Ocean View squeaked by… with the then 27-1, top seeded Beckman Patriots coming up next.
Alex Knowles (0-1) had a tough outing today giving up two homeruns, but added 5 strikeouts in his 4 IP. From the get go, Knowles seem to have command of most of his arsenal, especially for a Junior. With the exception of the more talented batters for Troy, Knowles and Medrano (2 IP) did fairly well for their first game and situation.
Offensively, Timmy Robinson went 2-3 with two doubles down the left field line. Robinson also became the first Seahawk under Borowski to call a complete game as a Catcher, and he’s only a Sophomore.
Freddy Sepulveda also rejoined the lineup after shoulder surgery. While he won’t be able to throw or pitch until late in the CIF time-frame, he needs to shake off the cobwebs before he will do real damage offensively.
Ocean View is finally into baseball. Today the Hawks faced Coach Borowski’s old team- Valencia in an 8 inning scrimmage.
Matt Larsen pitched 2 innings, followed by Alex Knowles, Alden Matthews, Colton Johnson, Blake Walker, Nick Schulenburg and Andrew Medrano. Offensively, Andrew Medrano stood out with a 2 hit day, with 1 run scored.
Game over. Segerstrom - 0, Ocean View - 15. Go to http://iscorecast.com and enter 7817715aec in the Customer ID entry box to watch a full re 1 year ago
Segerstrom at Ocean View has started. Go to http://iscorecast.com and enter 7817715aec in the Customer ID entry box to watch the game live. 1 year ago
Top Sporting Events in My Time at Ocean View High School: #18 OV vs. Huntington Beach (Basketball) http://wp.me/pMVPN-bi1 year ago
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