Nick Bakich has seen the light, whether he wanted to or not.
Bakich, and all-Monterey Bay League baseball player for San Benito
High, graduating in 2001, was at church last week in Shawnee,
Oklahoma. Why there, you ask? Because Bakich, a First Team
All-Coast Conference third baseman at Gavilan College last season,
earned a partial ride to NAIA Oklahoma Baptist University, home of
the Bisons.
Nick Bakich has seen the light, whether he wanted to or not. Bakich, and all-Monterey Bay League baseball player for San Benito High, graduating in 2001, was at church last week in Shawnee, Oklahoma. Why there, you ask? Because Bakich, a First Team All-Coast Conference third baseman at Gavilan College last season, earned a partial ride to NAIA Oklahoma Baptist University, home of the Bisons.
“They make you go to church every Wednesday,” said Bakich. “If you don’t, you get put on probation.”
Bakich, who is Catholic, was at the school’s Baptist Church last week when lightning struck the building. The building was quickly evacuated.
“Some bird’s nest on the roof caught on fire and fire trucks came,” said Bakich. “Other than that, there wasn’t much damage.”
Bakich’s coach is named, ironically, Bobby Cox, the same name as the Atlanta Braves skipper.
“We ran four miles the first day of practice,” said Bakich. “The next day we ran sprints and I puked. The third day we ran three miles. Let that be an eye-opener for all those kids playing high school baseball if they want to play in college.”
Bakich played his first year of JC ball at Monterey Peninsula College before transferring to Gavilan. Three other former
Baler players who stuck it out at MPC were rewarded with some money to play at four-year institutions.
Willie McGee is now a University of Hawaii-Hilo Vulcan; Kalev Betancourt is off to Graceland College in Lamoni, Iowa, home of the Yellowjackets; Daniel Barone, who was drafted out of high school by the Chicago White Sox in the 41st round but didn’t sign, ended up at Sonoma State in Rohnert Park. Somewhere over the years, the school changed its nickname from the Cossacks to the Seawolves. And they didn’t even tell me.
Put up your Dukes! Rick Dukes, assistant athletic director at San Benito, is perfectly capable of hiring the right baseball coach to replace Neal Andrade without any outside help. Two recent letters to the Free Lance’s Citizen’s Voice have registered opinion on who the new Baler skipper should be. FYI, Dukes is not the only person with a say on who gets it. The applicants – of which there are officially two as of now – will have their background screened. Those chosen for an interview will sit in front of a panel, of which Dukes will be a part of.
Dukes, the head Baler baseball coach in 1995-97, knows that this will be a big decision.
“But no letters to the letter, especially unsigned ones, are going to influence me or the panel one way or the other,” he said. “We get unsigned letters from parents at school we just throw them away. We’re going to pick the best candidate who fits the job and the school.”
Applications are still being accepted through next Wednesday. Interviews will probably be conducted in late September or early October.
Happy hunting and keep an eye out for lightning, Nick.
