BASEBALL PREVIEW: CALABASAS IN TROUBLE?; STREAK MAY BE IN JEOPARDY.

Byline: Kirby Lee Special to the Daily News

It's been a rough start for the youthful Calabasas High baseball team. The Coyotes' are 1-4 with their first three games stopped because of the 10-run mercy rule.

Now, the real test begins when the Coyotes open Frontier League play Friday at Malibu.

On the line will be the Coyotes' 47-game unbeaten streak in Frontier League play.

``This year the focus is on Frontier League and keeping the streak alive,'' senior second baseman Marc Wilson said. ``It's going to be tough. It's going to be a challenge but we don't want to be the ones responsible for losing it.''

This year's team, however, has little resemblance to last year's 26-3 squad, which went 15-0 in league play and advanced to the Southern Section Division IV quarterfinals.

Calabasas will start four sophomores. Wilson and seniors Matt Jackson and Tom Lookabill are the only Coyotes with significant varsity experience.

Wilson earned second-team All-Frontier League honors as a junior, batting .400 with 32 hits and 12 runs-batted-in. He also stole 21 bases.

Jackson, a 6-foot senior right-hander was a Southern Section Division IV second-team selection, compiling an 11-0 record with a 2.37 earned-run average. Lookabill was 3-0 with a 1.06 ERA, splitting time on the mound and in center field.

Senior shortstop Austin Richter, the team's only other returner, batted .530 in 15 at bats.

The rest of the squad, with the exception of freshman pitcher Scott Nasby, will be comprised of players elevated from the junior varsity.

Sophomores Randy Curtis and Tony Sulser will be at first and third base with junior Dallas Enoch behind the plate. Junior Brian Millman and sophomore Tony Sulser round out the Coyotes' lineup in the outfield.

The Coyotes' inexperience has been evident this season, particularly with heavy rains which have limited crucial preseason practice time. Calabasas lost its first three games in the Daily News Invitational, each cut short by the 10-run mercy rule by a combined score of 34-0.

Calabasas has shown signs of improvement. The Coyotes rebounded for a 4-3 victory over South Gate for their lone victory on six strong innings by Sulser last week. In a 4-3 nonleague defeat to Agoura Tuesday, Calabasas took a 3-1 lead into the fifth before losing.

``We are getting better each game,'' seventh-year Calabasas coach Rick Nathanson said. ``The players have been resilient and I am proud of the way the guys have been bouncing back. Tradition and pride is important to us and hopefully, it will carry us through league.''

That could be a difficult task with Moorpark, which has seven returning starters, and Nordhoff, which has eight starters back.

``We're starting from scratch,'' Wilson said. ``In years past, we used the preseason to prove ourselves. This year we're trying to prove to ourselves we can play.''

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2 Photos

PHOTO (1) Calabasas seniors, from left, Matt Jackson, Marc Wilson, Tom Lookabill and Austin Richter hope to lead their younger teammates.

Bob Halvorsen/Daily News

(2) Calabasas' John Voita tries to beat a dropped third strike to first during Coyotes' loss to Agoura.

David Sprague/Daily News