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.

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.

OV Splits Double Header with Valencia: Pitching Solid, Position Players Rusty

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.

2011 OV Baseball Preview Part 3: Position Players

 

Colton Johnson was a piece of one of the best middle infields around, how does the rest of the team stack up?

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. And Part 2, which covered Pitchers. 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’s batting lineup was easily one of the most intimidating in the county, its pretty easy to see that Ocean View was at points, carried by its offense and its timely effectiveness. But also, the Seahawk’s had one of the best defensive lineups in Division 3 Here was last year’s starting lineup (postseason version)

1. Colton Johnson, 2B
2. Blake Walker, P/SS
3. Aaron Delgado, SS/CF
4. Kevin Nance, 3B
5. Blake Hitchcock, RF
6. Timmy Robinson, C
7. Nick Schulenburg, 1B
8. Freddy Sepulveda (For Matt Larsen), DH/P; CF
9. Travis-Sparks Jackson, LF

Here’s what it looks like now, with no substitutions:

1. Colton Johnson, 2B
2. Blake Walker, P/SS
3. Blake Hitchcock, RF
4. Timmy Robinson, C
5. Freddy Sepulveda, P, (—-CF)
6. Travis-Sparks Jackson, LF

Let’s talk offense first, then adjust the lineup for the newcomers, and then adjust the defensive positions accordingly. Before we can introduce the newcomers, though, we have to fill the gaps in last year’s lineup.

It’s easy to just shift everyone up, but there’s a reason for that- Blake Hitchcock was the team’s best overall batter last year, batting a team leading .421 and bringing in 30 RBIs (highest aside from then team leading Kevin Nance who had 33) So assuming Colton and Blake will get a “500″ average combined to open the game, Blake is the best #3 hitter statistically. But Freddy Sepulveda is just as good to fit the 3 spot, batting .366 in his limited games, moving Hitchcock to the 4 spot. Either way, everything should be fine with Timmy Robinson in either the 4 or 5 spot. Timmy was batting around .500 going into the second half of the season when he hit a semi-slump, and finished with a .333 batting average, a team leading 6 HR’s and 28 RBIs.

Travis Sparks Jackson can either be a 5,6, or 9 hitter. He can fill all those roles effectively, since he is such a versatile athlete.

OV’s final returner is Senior multi-sport athlete, Trey Gourdine who has become a more complete hitter since last year. He’ll fit the final outfielder spot vacated by Matt Larsen.

But what about the rest of the lineup? Let’s meet our newcomers after the jump: