BANNER SEASON AHEAD?; WESTLAKE HAS FEW WEAKNESSES.Byline: Heather Gripp Daily News Staff Writer Combine a powerful offense, a steady defense and solid pitching, and the result should be an unbeatable baseball team. That's what Westlake High coach Chuck Barrington is counting on and the rest of the Marmonte League The Marmonte League is a high school sports league primarily made up of schools from Ventura County. The Marmonte Leauge is part of the CIF Southern Section. Click here to view the league schedule. is fearing. With 12 seniors and seven returning starters, Westlake is the favorite to win the league title after a third-place finish Noun 1. third-place finish - a finish in third place (as in a race) finish - designated event that concludes a contest (especially a race); "excitement grew as the finish neared"; "my horse was several lengths behind at the finish"; "the winner is the team with the last year. ``We're pretty strong,'' said Barrington, who is hard-pressed to find a weakness with his Warriors. ``We're pretty well-balanced. Our hitting is second to none and I feel our defense is the same way.'' Among those expected to have the biggest impact for the Warriors is third baseman/pitcher Kevin Howard Kevin C. Howard (born June 25, 1981 in Hinsdale, Illinois) is a infielder in Minor League Baseball who plays for the Jacksonville Suns in the Double-A Southern League. . ``Kevin Howard is probably one of the best players around,'' Barrington said. ``He's up there with the best in the state and maybe even the nation.'' The 6-foot-2, 175-pound junior hit .512 with five home runs and 36 RBI RBI abbr. Baseball runs batted in Noun 1. rbi - a run that is the result of the batter's performance; "he had more than 100 rbi last season" run batted in last season. He provides more than just a big bat, though. The Warriors put Howard's strong arm to use on the mound and haven't been disappointed. ``He's going to be counted on as a starter and reliever,'' Barrington said. ``We'll probably bring him in to close the door on people. He's got a live arm.'' Jeff Boyle, Nate Lieberman, David Williamson, J.R. Pullen and reliever Brandon Del Vecchio Del Vecchio is a surname, and may refer to:
Williamson is out for at least a month with a shoulder injury and Boyle is recovering from an ankle injury, but Barrington is not worried. ``Boyle is our No. 1 guy,'' he said of the senior who posted a 7-2 record and 2.95 ERA last year. ``He's a control pitcher A control pitcher is a pitcher who succeeds mostly by using accurate pitches, as oppose to a power pitcher who relies on velocity. By issuing a below average number of bases on balls he exhibits good control of his pitches. . He keeps the ball down. He's not overpowering, but he's smart. He gets a lot of ground balls for our defense.'' As for Lieberman, Barrington said he has ``a decent fastball and pitches with a lot of guts. He's very smart. We're hoping he'll keep us in the game until we can get to Howard.'' Senior shortstop Scott Dragicevich should also be a force for a team loaded with potential stars. Dragicevich batted .365 with four home runs and 27 RBI last year. ``He's ranked the 56th-best player in the nation,'' Barrington said of the Stanford-bound three-year varsity starter. ``He's the best shortstop in the area. He's our team leader on the field and in the dugout dugout: see canoe. .'' Center fielder Joey Cuppari should also be an offensive and defensive leader. ``He's probably the best center fielder in the league,'' Barrington said of his leadoff man. ``He's got a lot of speed and I think he's gonna steal a lot more bases.'' Senior second baseman second baseman n. Baseball The infielder who is positioned near and to the first-base side of second base. Noun 1. second baseman - (baseball) the person who plays second base second sacker Ryan Cope, who had a .485 average, seven home runs and 30 RBI, also returns, as does clutch hitter n. 1. (Baseball) a batter who hits safely more frequently when men are on base or the team is behind in the score. Clutching at the phantoms of the stock market. - Bankroft. Mike Brin. One of Westlake's few question marks is behind the plate. The Warriors plan to use freshman Michael Nickeas to fill the void left by last year's catcher, Chris Parker Chris/Christopher Parker is the name of:
``He's come out and shown that he can play,'' Barrington said. ``I'm the type that I'm not going to put a freshman on varsity unless he deserves to be there and I know he's going to contribute. He's very mature for his age. We'll look and see in the first five to 10 games how he handles it and see if we need to make any changes.'' The Warriors know they are good, but they also know better than to rely on their reputation to win games. ``We're gonna be ranked pretty high,'' Barrington said, ``but that doesn't mean anything, at least not at this point in the season. It's very, very tough in our league. We just need to stick together. If we can get to CIF (1) (Common Intermediate Format) A standard video format used in videoconferencing. CIF formats are defined by their resolution, and standards both above and below the original resolution have been established. The original CIF is also known as Full CIF (FCIF). playoffs - which I'm sure we will - we should go far.'' PROGNOSIS: WESTLAKE Head coach: Chuck Barrington 1997 record: 17-8-1 overall, 9-4-1, third place in Marmonte League. Players to watch: Jr. P/3B, Kevin Howard; Sr. SS, Scott Dragicevich; Sr. 2B, Ryan Cope; Sr. P, Jeff Boyle; Sr. CF, Joey Cuppari. Analysis: With 12 seniors and seven starters back, the Warriors are favored to win the Marmonte League title. In addition to experience, the balanced Warriors have probably the league's best offense. CAPTION(S): Photo, Box PHOTO Shortstop Scott Dragicevich hit .365 with four home runs and 27 RBI for Westlake last year. Terri Thuente/Daily News BOX: Prognosis: Westlake (See text) |
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