Nathan Rowe, the pressure’s on your shoulders and the ball’s in
your right hand. Go get ’em.
Nathan Rowe, the pressure’s on your shoulders and the ball’s in your right hand. Go get ’em.
Hollister High’s Rowe (8-3) has the unenviable task of putting the clamps on the best offense in the Central Coast Section. The seventh-seeded Balers (21-7) meet No. 2-seeded St. Francis (26-7) Saturday in the quarterfinals of the Central Coast Section Division I baseball playoffs at PAL Stadium in San Jose. Game time is 4 p.m.
Baler first baseman Gordon Ross spoke for the eight seniors, who are either playing their last game or advancing to Wednesday’s semifinals.
“In the playoffs, you always have to play like it’s your last game,” said Ross. “If you assume you’re going to win, you can get burned. If we play seven innings of baseball the way we are capable of playing, we can hang with them. We always get fired up playing WCAL baseball teams and that caliber of baseball.”
The Lancers, co-champs of the West Catholic Athletic League with Serra, will be tough to contain. They 10-runned Silver Creek in Wednesday’s first-round game 14-4 in six innings getting home runs from Josh Lansford, Daniel Descalso and Jonathan Lieberman. For the season, they have 32 homers, which surely leads the CCS.
Baler pitching coach Bryan Humphreys said Rowe, who sports a fastball, curve and change-up, has the moxie to pull through an arduous challenge.
“Nathan’s aggressive,” said Humphreys. “And he’s fairly confident. He throws in the mid-80’s. If he throws as hard as he has the last couple of outings, he should do fine. He’s been popping the ball lately. The key could be his curve. He has to have a sharp-breaking curve and not let it hang. Location is also important.”
The Lancers are led by senior Lansford, famously known for being the son of former American League star Carney Lansford. Josh leads the team with nine home runs and – going into Wednesday’s contest – led the team in average at .400. He has already signed with San Jose State, but is expected to be a first or second round draft pick in the Major League Baseball June amateur draft.
Other top St. Francis batters include Ryan Lee (.386, 25 RBI, 3 triples) and Descalso, who is batting .384 with 17 RBI’s. Clean-up hitter Lawrence Ng and leadoff hitter Kyle Spraker, who quarterbacks the Lancer football team, should also be feared. The Lancers are strong up and down the lineup. There is no weak link.
“This is one of the best hitting teams I have ever had,” said St. Francis head mentor Chris Bradford, in his 30th season. “I usually have three real good hitters, three pretty good hitters and three not so good hitters. Every one in my lineup can hit. There is no break for a pitcher.”
Should Rowe get in trouble, junior Kelly Kramer would be next out of the pen for the Balers, according to Humphreys.
On the mound for the Lancers will be Alex Perkins (5-0).
“His big pitch is his curveball,” said Bradford, who will play at Division III Pomona-Pitzer Colleges in Claremont. “He’s a solid pitcher.”
The Lancers also have lefty Mike Grolle available for duty. Descalso, the Lancers No. 1 starter, pitched five innings on Wednesday.
The Hollister High softball team is still alive in the CCS Division I playoffs and faces Independence Saturday at 10:30 a.m. at the Salinas Sports Complex in a quarterfinal contest.
