Baseball 2008 Weekly Recap #1

"You always get a special kick on opening day, no matter how many you go through.  You look forward to it like a birthday party when you're a kid. You think something wonderful is going to happen."   Joe Dimaggio

"A baseball game is simply a nervous breakdown divided into nine innings."  Earl Wilson, baseball writer

The CPS Cougars opened the season on February 27 against Urban, after the most successful year in Cougar history in 2007. The Cougars were 17-9 and won their first North Coast sectional game in Cougar history. 

Led by the capable coaching staff of Duane McNeil, Josh Silva, and Jonathon Zucker, hopes are high for the 2008 team. The team returns four seniors, G. Feingold, catcher, A. Kuhner-Haber, outfielder and pitcher, A. Perez, outfielder, and J. Shyer at second base.  The juniors include K. Clemens, pitcher and infield, Z. Kenney at first and M. Peterson, shortstop. The large sophomore class includes, A. Bentz, pitcher, F. Camcho-Lovell, outfielder, S. Curran, third base, C. Diamant, outfield, D. Lopez, third base, J. Lucibello, outfield, and A. Parker-Guerrero, pitcher.  We also welcome a new sophomore, C. Goodman, and two freshmen, D. Eager and R. Healey.

Opening day was blessed with spring like conditions at Caldecott with  a large crowd of parents and vociferous CPS students. A. Parker-Guerrero (PG, as his teammates call him)  pitched masterfully, snuffing out rallies, keeping the Urban batters off balance all afternoon,  and limiting Urban to three runs in the top of the third. The Cougars responded with RBI singles by Gabe and Ari in the bottom half of the third, but the Cougars  battled each inning, only to lose a nailbiter,  3-2. 

Ari and Jason ("Loosh")  led the offense with two hits each.  Defensively, Justin was solid at second, handling every ball coming his way. The defense highlight of the day was a spectacular double-play.  With one out and runners at first and second in the fifth, Matt fielded a grounder to short and flipped the ball to Justin at second.  The Urban runner beat Justin’s throw to first, but Zane alertly threw a bullet to Gabe who tagged out the runner barreling down the line from third, to complete the double play.

The next week, the Cougars played Salesian and Oakland Tech, both larger schools who play in tough conferences. Salesian of Richmond, won Division V, (level A) in North Coast last year and return seven starters from last year’s team.  Kristian started the game and with excellent control and aplomb on the mound shut out Salesian for two innings before Salesian broke through for several runs and in the third and fourth. 

Although the final score was 11-0, the offense was more aggressive than the previous outing vs. Urban and hammered several balls hard, which had the audacity to head directly into the mitts of the capable Salesian defense. A. Perez led the offense with two line drive singles into center.  M. Peterson showed his defensive prowess by diving for a ball in the hole, scrambling to his feet and throwing out the runner.  Not far behind, Zane snagged a line drive over first in a tumbling catch, Gabe picked off a runner at second with a razor throw and Rourke made a fine  running catch on a short fly to right.

On Friday, CPS faced off against the Lick Wilmerding Tigers, at Skyline College in South San Francisco.  Over the years we all have heard the rumors of artic like conditions at Skyline from the Pacific ocean fog and wind, and all of us came prepared with down jackets and blankets.  Skyline is a terrific turf field and the loyal CPS fans, who braved the elements, were rewarded with another entertaining game. For those returning parents with players next year I highly recommend the trek!

The umpires started the game with the odd ruling that PG's glove had a white patch on it.  The white referred to the white letters in the Wilson emblem, about the size of a thumb. Josh came to the rescue by borrowing a sharpie, but this was a tip off about the umpires.  On several occasions they  made calls, then reversed themselves.   They called balks and missed balks. Even the normally calm LIck coach was undone by the Keystone Cop umpiring. The umpire's attitude could best be summarized by a Jim Bronsan quote,  "Umpires are most vigorous when  defending their miscalls."

Inspite of the ragged umpiring, the Cougars and Tigers engaged in a see-saw battle with the Cougars drawing first blood in the top of the first behind Matt Peterson’s ringing triple in the left field gap.  PG pitched ably as he de-clawed  the Tigers offense most of the afternoon (sorry about the metaphors – I couldn’t resist).  In the top of the 6th, behind 3-2,  Zane contributed a towering sac fly to tie the game, but the Tigers roared back with three runs in the bottom of the sixth. The Cougars rallied for a run, only to lose 6-4.   Matt ended the day with a single, double, and triple and one run scored, and Gabe had a single with two walks, a run scored, and two stolen bases. PG pitched another solid game in the loss.

While I did not attend, anonymous sources informed me that the JV boys beat Drake on Saturday behind Alex Bentz’s ("Benzo") five strong innings  and a homer by Rourke.

Next week the Cougars host Valley Christian at Caldecott on Tuesday, and play Marin Academy at 6:30 under the lights on Thursday, at Alberts Park in Marin.  To paraphrase the old Brookyln rallying cry: Wait Till Tuesday:  I hope to see a huge turnout next week as the boys seek their first win!

Bruce Feingold