Calabasas baseball set for Marmonte League after fruitful summer
By Wayne Harrison
Acorn Sports Writer

IN SAFELY-Ilie Kramer of Calabasas slides safety into second base during Saturday's game against Hart. The Calabasas baseball team seems ready to enter the tougher Marmonte League next spring.

The Calabasas baseball team appears ready to step up to Marmonte League action next spring after finishing its summer schedule with an impressive 22-8 mark. Last spring’s varsity team won the Frontier League title and was 17-9 overall.

Hart beat Calabasas 7-4 last Saturday in a game which decided who would advance to the championship game of the Valley Invitational Baseball League, which turned out to be Hart vs. Valencia.

Despite not making it to the title game this year—Calabasas lost in the finals of the VIBL summer league last year—the Coyotes coaches and players were pleased with how the team competed this summer, especially because standout John Henry Jacobs missed much of the season due to illness.

"We’re happy," said head coach Rick Nathanson "We were 22-8 overall, and that’s a heck of a summer. And if you add that to the fact that we were 17-9, that’s a 39-17 record, I think, over the last 56 games. This group of boys is winning about two and a half out of every three they play."

The loss against Hart came one day after Kevin Kohn pitched a two-hit shutout vs. Hart, a 1-0 Coyote win in which Kohn struck out eight and had a no-hitter through six innings of the seven-inning contest. That win kept Calabasas’ hopes alive in the VIBL playoffs.

Nathanson praised his team for hanging tough despite the loss of Jacobs the last month of the season.

"John Henry’s bat in the middle of the lineup and John Henry’s pitching is huge," Nathanson said. "If we have him, Kevin (Cohn) and Drew (Saberhagen), there’s nobody in this league that can match that three-man (pitching) rotation."

Nathanson and assistant Rick Allen, who were also assisted by Brett Saberhagen this summer, were pleased with what the Coyotes accomplished just prior to joining the Marmonte League.

"Our goal this summer was to come out and make a strong statement, which I believe we did," Nathanson said. "We played Marmonte League teams in this league (the VIBL), we played Mission League teams and we played Foothill League teams, as well as city schools.

"Overall I’m proud of the boys," added Nathanson, "and I think they’re going to take a good attitude into the fall and then into our first year in the Marmonte League. We feel confident, we’re ready, we’re tested."

The Coyotes will have 12 seniors returning to play varsity next season and the players feel the team is executing and playing fundamentally sound baseball as it heads toward the 2003 campaign.

"We’re doing the little things that we need to do next year in the Marmonte League," said veteran catcher Aaron Lowenstein. "Get the bunt down, sacrifice, hit and run. We’re doing all the little things that we need to be doing."

Brett Waxler had two hits in the loss Saturday vs. Hart and he helped keep the Coyotes in the game with an outstanding fielding play at second base late in the game.

"Our goal this summer was to basically show the Marmonte League that we could play," Waxler said, noting that he’d hoped for a Westlake-Calabasas championship game, although neither Marmonte League team made it to the VIBL title game.

"We played really well throughout the whole summer," Waxler said. "We need to work harder in the winter to try to come in first or second-place, try to get to the playoffs next year. We’re really looking forward to the challenge."

Waxler added, "Everybody does their part of this team. Our pitchers are great, our defense is playing really well and we’re starting to swing (the bats) really well."

Centerfielder Ilie Kramer batted around .460 this summer—including 2-for-4 vs. Hart last Saturday—after hitting around .280 during the spring season as a junior.

"I felt confident this summer," Kramer said. "And I feel confident going into the senior year, after a kind of disappointing regular season."

About the Coyotes’ team play, Kramer added, "We came together very well this summer. We had a lot of team unity and hopefully it will carry over into next season. I think we have good chemistry. I’m looking forward to facing quality teams in the Marmonte League."

Lowenstein was 1-for-3 vs. Hart and as usual, played solidly behind the plate.

"We feel we can play with any team out there," Lowenstein said. "We’re going to be a contender for first place and go on to the playoffs. I feel that we can beat any team at any time."

In the loss vs. Hart, Brett Bossuk (four innings) and Justin Klipp (two innings) did solid jobs in relief for the Coyotes.