2011 OV Baseball Preview Part 2: Pitching

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.

More after the jump

2011 OV Baseball Preview Part 1: General

 

Can OV defend their CIF Title in 2011?

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.

More after the jump:

[Updated] OV Baseball Gets a Flat Tire; Tissues Anyone?

[Update: Timmy Robinson returned to practice today, no word on the repercussions]

Ocean View, the defending CIF Champions, has had a tumultuous twist in the preseason plans today. Senior outfielder and experienced baserunner Andrew Medrano, reportedly quit the team this week, and then Junior starter Timmy Robinson reportedly was dismissed from the team earlier today, but will be meeting with the coaching staff later this week to reevaluate his position on the team. Let’s try to get to the beginning of one of the most dramatic preseasons in recent memory.

Will Timmy be in OV's starting lineup in 12 days?

First of all, the whole debacle began when Andrew Medrano attended a meeting at Golden West College for the upcoming Football season during an Ocean View baseball practice, failing to inform the Golden West College coaching staff that he was missing practice to attend a seemingly trivial meeting. GW’s policy with 2 sport athletes is that High School sports come first, the appropriate response and in compliance with NJCAA Contact regulations and early enrollment policies. The OV coaching staff proceeded to suspend Medrano indefinitely. Medrano responded by “quitting” the team.

Robinson, on the other hand, was reportedly dismissed from practice today for defiance, maybe emotions tied to Medrano’s departure aided him, but team captains speculate Robinson should rejoin the team as soon as tomorrow. The repercussions are unannounced so far.

This is not the first time Medrano and Robinson have had problems with discipline and OV Baseball, the two were suspended from the Saddleback game, a game that OV won 22-0, after being late to the departure time of the team vans.

It isn’t for me to say that all this is unnecessary, but one thing is clear: Ocean View only won so many games last year because of their team chemistry and ability to stay calm when the going-gets-tough. This drama is something that the defending champs don’t need- it’s something that teams like Saddleback, Westminster, and Segerstrom and other league bottom-feeders should have.

I’ve had enough of this Soap Opera, let’s play some baseball.

Final: Troy 9, OV 4

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.

OV Baseball is Underway!

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.