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 3 covered the position players will and Part 5 will be a look at the county and where OV fits in the regional/postseason scene.
League play has always been interesting for Ocean View, they usually have no problem handling teams, and even if OV plays “poorly,” they usually come out with a win. However, teams can upset Ocean View, but more on that later.
The most interesting story line for the GWL this year is the addition of Loara in exchange for Saddleback, and as teams have seen in every other sport, the Saxons usually have some talent. Last year, Loara went 11-16 (6-9) while still in the Empire League. Loara won a mere 3 games at home as well. From the looks of it, Loara should fit at the upper third of the division, but we’ll have to see how they pan out come league play.
OV’s most consistent competitor at the top of the conference is Orange though. Orange was a Senior heavy team last year, and will only return 1 key starter from last year in Keith Hernandez. The loss of the Stoecker brothers, and Steven Gerber will be huge for the Panthers this year, expect them to be in the top third as well.
Next on our list are the Westminster Lions. Westminster will have one star in Greg Mahle, their lefty ace, who boasted a 1.66 ERA last season. He’ll be an elite pitcher in the GWL this year. There isn’t much around him though, and Westminster will need to look for offense if they want a shot at dethroning Ocean View this season.
Segerstrom and Santa Ana are the last two teams in the conference. The Jaguars are the better of the two, but will struggle despite some Varsity experience to go around. Santa Ana should become the new “Saddleback,” but will actually knock off some teams this year with their home field advantage.
A note on home field advantage- Orange and Santa Ana have a very unique home field advantage, maybe because of field quality, but strange things tend to happen at both fields, perhaps the flock of rabbits at Orange, or the dirt-patched outfield of Santa Ana have something to do with the advantages.
After looking around at the league, if OV’s bullpen can be effective, OV should have a shot at an undefeated season in league play, frankly put. No team seems to have enough offense to keep up with Ocean View, but should the offense and defense get out of sync, and OV is on the road, there is less room for error.
Posted by Josh 
Josh
