The aftermath of the Baler boys’ trip to Morgan Hill to play
Live Oak in hoop last Friday is unveiling a cheesy plot.
The aftermath of the Baler boys’ trip to Morgan Hill to play Live Oak in hoop last Friday is unveiling a cheesy plot.
Seems some Acorn enthusiasts sprayed Cheez Whiz over the two Baler school vans which carried the boys to the game. Should have arrived in a bus and then some Acorn fan would have had to have made a quick run to Safeway for more ammunition.
What, no crackers? At least the Acorns could have supplied some nuts. Well, maybe they did. Turns out not much love was given the Baler players, who were booed during the pregame and then were taunted complete with profanity during the game.
What is this? Salinas-Palma?
It wasn’t a good week for Baler-Acorn relations. Hollister Athletic Director Dave Tari rearranged a trip for the Baler freshman girls hoop team to play at Britton Middle School in Morgan Hill on Thursday. When the girls arrived, they were told that they were playing on Friday at 5:30 p.m. That meant not only did they have to make another trip, they couldn’t watch the Baler girls varsity, which was playing on the Live Oak campus at the same time. That game was switched with the varsity boys crowd to accomodate Live Oak’s homecoming.
The Baler frosh boys played on Saturday, which meant a headache for Tari, who didn’t know which team was coming or going cheddar.
Meanwhile, the spring sports are in full swing, especially in baseball, softball, boys tennis, boys volleyball and boys golf (yuk! yuk!). Sorry, no hammer throw event in track and field. Speaking of which, boys track coach Randy Logue expects a record turnout. And expect both Baler boys and girls to contend for inaugural T-CAL titles.
The annual Red and White meet is Feb. 26, a Wednesday.
Baseball coach Neal Andrade returns for his third season after taking the Balers farther than they ever had gone before last season. Hollister made it to the semifinals of the CCS Division I before losing to Serra after leading the baseball-rich Padres 4-3 in the eighth.
“We want to add the first T-CAL banner on the right field fence,” said Andrade, pointing to the three MBL banners.
It will be interesting this season with only six teams in the league. Each team will play each other three times with teams meeting each other twice in a week the first 10 league games. The Balers open up with Live Oak at home on March 12, then go to Morgan Hill on March 14. Then it’s Gilroy, North Salinas, Salinas and Palma in that order before the Lions Tournament at PAL.
Andrade plans to keep 18 to 19 players on the roster. He has 17 out now. Eight players return from last year’s varsity. The Balers are strong at most positions, but there are question marks.
Nathan Rowe, a part-time starter last season as well as a closer, will start full-time. Second baseman Eric Diaz will pitch when he’s not at second, while Justin Patton and Brett Fulgoni, who sat a lot last year on the varsity as sophomores, will get their chance to take the hill this season as starters.
The Balers won’t have the benefit of a quality lefty, which could hurt. They had two last year in Scott Woltzen and Chris Fisher, now at San Francisco State.
Josh Badillo is “a rock in center,” according to Andrade, but competition for left and right field is open for business.
Andrade retained his assistants from last season – Bryan Humphreys and Derek Barnes. Barnes and his wife, Allison, welcomed daughter Aislinn Elizabeth to the world on Jan. 29.
Chris Moore is back as JV coach and will be assisted by Randy Villa and Richard Bugg. Mark Kraus is back as freshman coach and will be assisted by Robert Hopkins, President of San Benito County Babe Ruth.
Henke Mao returns as boys volleyball coach. Mao has 12 players at practice and will have four returning varsity players.
“We’re rebuilding this year,” said Mao. “We lost our setter and middle blocker from last season, big parts of our team.”
Mao does expect to have enough for a JV team.
Allen Barker is back in the swing as boys tennis coach. Barker has 20 players at practice and should end up with about 24 or 25. Last year he had just 14 players. Barker’s top player, Glenn Morris, is back for his senior season.
“Glenn is playing great,” said Barker. “He practiced all summer.”
First non-league match is today vs. Watsonville at 3:30 p.m. at Ridgemark. Talk about diving in.
How about the Baler boys and girls swim teams, speaking of diving? Derek Kisling, girls coach, reports all is well. Joel Sims, a member of the 1980 U.S. Olympic Team according to aquatic enthusiast Larry Barr, returns as Baler boys coach.
March 14 is the opening meet and will be against Live Oak at the Baler Splash Center.
Big news with the boys golf team. Mitch Thomas, starting his third year as head coach, expects his Balers to contend for the T-CAL title. This is Thomas’ best team with seven of the top eight players being seniors. Thomas has been holding qualifying at Ridgemark. Senior Ian Hudson is faring best.
“Ian’s hitting the ball a ton,” said Thomas. “I expect him to be one of the top three players in the league, along with Kevin Brownfield from Gilroy and Erik Justensen from Live Oak. Ian’s playing real well.”
Sophomore Zach Zgragen isn’t too far behind Hudson.
The league features a new format this season with three teams playing a round-robin rotation. Palma, Salinas and the Balers open things up on Feb. 27 at Ridgemark the first of three matches the Balers host.
Meanwhile, Thomas is no longer an assistant pro at Ridgemark GC after accepting a similar post at Salinas Country Club. Thomas’ first day at SCC is March 4.
Got a “things are going good” from varsity softball coach Scott Smith Wednesday. Smith is missing some top players from basketball and soccer, but the Balers should be ready by March 8 and the Watsonville Tournament. First league contest is March 20 at Live Oak. Each team plays each other three times. Three games vs. Notre Dame and North Salinas? A softball fan’s delight..
On a polo note, seniors Nik Barr and Greg Henneman were part of a West Valley College touring side a couple weeks ago. The team went to Canada and played in the British Columbia Open, taking home the gold in the process. Barr had 10 goals, including a hat trick in a 6-5 win over the defending champ, a team from Tualitin, Ore. Henneman had five goals. Both are swimmers on the Baler swim team.
Henneman is looking to playing polo for West Valley College in the fall. The Vikings have one of the top juco programs in the state, year in and year out. Barr is looking at partial rides to Cal, Loyola Marymount University, Santa Clara, Pepperdine and Brigham Young U. First choice is Cal.
Three ex-Balers are playing baseball for Gavilan College – Nick Bakich, Nick Buzzetta and Logan Doglione. Buzzetta and Bakich transferred from Monterey Peninsula College.
There is your Baler update. I’m going home to have a cheese sandwich.
