Westlake baseball team completes VIBL season

The Westlake baseball team finished its summer season with an 11-13 record, which included a two-games-to-none playoff series loss in a best of three vs. Sylmar last week.

Head coach Josh Eby, who’ll coach the Warriors varsity for the second season next spring, was satisfied with his team’s output.

"We struggled at times this summer," said Eby, whose Westlake team finished first in the Marmonte League during his first season as head varsity coach last spring. "But we played in a pretty good league, the Valley Invitational Baseball League (VIBL). We use it to allow ourselves to see our younger players, guys that played JV and freshmen, to come in and get an opportunity to play."

The VIBL is in its fifth year. It offers local teams an alternative to American Legion baseball which fields teams such as Agoura, Newbury Park and Thousand Oaks.

"There are teams from Santa Clarita and San Fernando Valley," Eby said about the VIBL, which he said includes teams from Moorpark, Simi Valley, Royal, Calabasas, Crespi, Hart, Saugus, Valencia and Burroughs. The VIBL consists of 20 teams.

"We allow everybody to play—it’s more developmental," Eby said. "It was a time to allow our younger pitchers a chance to see what they could do."

Fundamentals, he said, were emphasized during the VIBL summer season.

"We spent a lot of time on things like bunting and base running, things that you don’t get a whole lot of time to spend on during the regular season. And learning how to play situational baseball—moving guys around and maybe seeing some guys at some different positions to see if they could help us somewhere else during the season."

Among the players who did well this summer, said Eby, were Randy Harmala and Jeff Rapoport, who will be Westlake sophomores next year, and Austin Oswalt, a junior who plays middle infield, shortstop and second base.

Rapoport, an outfielder, played varsity as a freshman last spring. Westlake won its fourth straight Marmonte League championship last spring. The Warriors won three in a row under previous head coach Chuck Berrington before winning another league title in Eby’s first year as head coach.

"It was a great year," Eby said, looking back. "Not everything went as planned. Quite a few pitchers got hurt, but a lot of guys stepped up, and the team played with a lot of heart and a lot of courage down the stretch to come through and win league.

"I don’t think we did it in the fashion that you normally do," Eby added. "We won a lot of high-scoring games and a lot of come-from-behind wins down the stretch, and that’s all you can ever ask of your team, is that they play hard. We never gave in to anybody."

Eby inherited a good nucleus of players from Berrington.

"He (Berrington) left me in a good position, with good players and a solid foundation," said Eby. "And I just tried to kind of build upon that and bring some of my own stuff to the table and the kids responded pretty well to a new coach."

The favorable reaction to Eby, who’d been an assistant under Berrington, led to the positive outcome.

"Realizing that I do some things slightly different (compared to Berrington), they took those things well—they didn’t try and question," said Eby.

He cited some of the differences: "We played a little more during the winter," Eby said. "And I think we spent a little more time working on defense. (Berrington) worked a little more on offense, on hitting. Also, I like to steal a little more, while he would wait for the home run a little more. Things like that— just small things."

The Warriors will be led by five veterans next spring when the team will vie for its fifth straight Marmonte League championship.

"We’ll return four three-year starters in Michael Notaro, Kyle Brockett, Steve Bralver and Kyle Griffith," said Eby. "And then Garrett Cuneo is a also a returning starter."

Tough to replace will be Jake Brin and Konrad Thieme—‘‘Two very, very good catchers," Eby said. "We’re not sure who’s going to fill that role." Thieme was drafted and is expected to sign with the Montreal Expos.

Eby summed up his first year as Warrior head coach. "I learned a lot during this first year," he said, "about how to deal with the players and strategy-wise during games. And how to do things in the offseason, as well. I’m just excited to come back and do some more good things."