Longtime Calabasas baseball coach pleased with summer progress

Drew Saberhagen

Though the Calabasas baseball team will have lost seven starters from last year’s team, head coach Rick Nathanson is confident—after a very productive summer— that the Coyotes will again be a force to be reckoned with next season.

With Rick Allen, an assistant during the spring, doing the primary job coaching this summer, and Nathanson as the assistant coach, the Coyotes finished 20-12 in the Valley Invitational Baseball League (VIBL) this summer.

"Knowing that we were going to have to replace seven starting guys, including (Aaron) Lowenstein, whose been like a coach on the field and such a stud for four years, if somebody would have told us that we would win 20 games—which is more games than the varsity won during the regular season—I think both coach Allen and I would have said ‘We’re ecstatic,’" Nathanson said after a loss vs. Crespi in the VIBL semifinals last Saturday.

Crespi needed to beat Calabasas Saturday and Sunday to make it to Tuesday’s VIBL championship game and Crespi accomplished that, beating the Coyotes again Sunday.

Rick Nathanson

The Coyotes played the final two games without senior-to-be Drew Saberhagen who’ll have a leadership role next season.

"This is Drew’s year to step up and be a captain," said Nathanson, who noted that Brett Waxler, John Henry Jacobs and the catcher, Lowenstein, were captains last spring, which was Calabasas’ first time competing in the Marmonte League.

"John Henry (Jacobs) and (Aaron) Lowenstein had both been four-year players on the varsity and Waxy (Waxler) is just a classic, team leader type guy," Nathanson said. "So Drew (Saberhagen) was sort of an unofficial leader last year as one of the only juniors who started, along with (Tony) Bonelli.

"This is Drew’s year to jump up, be a captain and lead these guys, and they look to him to lead them," added Nathanson.

Still, the Coyote coach said Calabasas did well when Saberhagen wasn’t available this summer—and that should bolster the team’s confidence.

"As important as Drew is to our lineup, we’ve done pretty darn well without him. Guys like Spencer Silverstein, Ryan Selan and Brendon Kotler have all stepped up and showed that they could beat decent teams without Drew here, which just gives us the added luxury when he is here," Nathanson said.

The Coyote coach added, "It does a lot for their confidence and their character to know that they can still go out and be competitive. To get to the (VIBL) semifinals even with their big guy (Saberhagen) out, I think that’s going to help in the long run."

Saberhagen will primarily play first base and will be a left-handed pitcher for the Coyotes next season. He will also play some center field when senior Daniel Hirsch, the usual center fielder, pitches.

Selan, a 6-foot-5 senior right-hander, will do some pitching, play some first base when Saberhagen pitches, and DH.

The Coyotes have three middle infielders that also pitch. Bonelli, a senior, will play shortstop when not pitching, and juniors Carter Whitman and Milan Kacar will fill in at shortstop and second base when Bonelli pitches.

"It’s a nice trio of guys, it’s a nice rotation for us," Nathanson said.

Also rotating between center field, pitcher and first base will be Saberhagen (he’ll play all three), Hirsch (center field and pitcher) and Selan (first base and pitcher).

"It’s kind of a nice situation for us," Nathanson said. "It makes substituting a little bit easier because you can just kind of rotate guys around. We’ve gotten good efforts from everybody."

Nathanson was pleased with the summer.

"To be here, one of the final two teams in the bracket," Nathanson said, "I think we’re both (he and Coach Rick Allen) really happy about that. These guys had a good summer. They’ve had a good season. They’re one game away from going to the championship."

Looking ahead to next year’s Marmonte League, Nathanson said, "The league lost a lot of quality players. Simi (Valley) has got a couple of real good guys coming back and Moorpark’s got some good guys, but a lot of the teams are building from within, like us, so we feel pretty good about our chances."