HE'S FINDING HIS PLACE CANYON'S ALMANZAR DELIVERS ON MOUND.Byline: Nevin Barich Nevin Barich (born August 6, 1979) is a former American sports journalist now working as the Senior Editor of The National Notary, a trade magazine based in Los Angeles with a circulation of more than 300,000 nationwide. Staff Writer Before this season, Sergio Almanzar had hardly even stepped onto a pitcher's mound. Now, it's the one place you can be sure to find him. Almanzar, a senior on the Canyon High baseball team, has been a solid No. 2 pitcher for the Cowboys this season, going 8-2 with a 3.11 earned run average earned run average n. Baseball Abbr. ERA A measure of a pitcher's performance obtained by dividing the total of earned runs allowed by the total of innings pitched and multiplying by nine. Noun 1. to lead the team to a berth in the Southern Section Division II finals. He is scheduled to play in the 26th Bernie Milligan Daily News All-Star Baseball All-Star Baseball is a baseball video game series developed and published by Acclaim Entertainment. The series began in 1998 with the release of All-Star Baseball '99. Game Saturday at Birmingham High in Lake Balboa. Prior to 2002, Almanzar had played most of his high school career in the outfield. Having barely pitched in live competition since little league, Almanzar had been unsuccessful in previous attempts to pitch for Canyon. As a freshman, he had an informal tryout with the freshman team coach in the bullpen, throwing an array of curveballs and fastballs. According to according to prep. 1. As stated or indicated by; on the authority of: according to historians. 2. In keeping with: according to instructions. 3. Almanzar, he was unimpressive and was sent to the outfield. As a sophomore, Almanzar didn't even bother trying out for a spot in the pitching rotation with players like Chris Seddon Christopher Jon Seddon (born October 13, 1983 in Northridge, California) is a Major League Baseball pitcher for the Florida Marlins. He was called up and made his Major League debut on September 3, 2007. External links
Chris Palmer (born October 16 1983 in Derby, England) is a professional footballer. He currently plays for Wycombe Wanderers. . Almanzar knew there probably was no room for him as a pitcher and stayed in the outfield to get more playing time. In his junior year, Almanzar got to see some live competition. However, it was during the summer league and when he went in, it was for only an inning or two at a time. As his senior year approached, it looked as if Almanzar wouldn't end his high school career as a pitcher. Though Seddon and Palmer graduated, Canyon had Jake Coash (the team's ace) and Eric Ashbrook as its two main starters. However, when Ashbrook injured in·jure tr.v. in·jured, in·jur·ing, in·jures 1. To cause physical harm to; hurt. 2. To cause damage to; impair. 3. his shoulder and couldn't pitch full-time, the Cowboys needed someone to back up Coash. Enter Almanzar. ``Our pitching coach (Mike Digiacomo) had me pitch for the Angels' scout team In sports, the scout team, also referred to as a practice team or practice squad, is a group of players on a team whose task is to emulate future opponents for the featured (or starting) players. over the winter,'' Almanzar said. ``After I pitched a few games for him, I guess he kept me in mind because when Eric got hurt, they decided to have me pitch.'' In Almanzar's first start, he threw a no-hitter against University of West L.A. As the year went on, Almanzar proved his success wasn't a fluke fluke, parasitic flatworm of the trematoda class, related to the tapeworm. Instead of the cilia, external sense organs, and epidermis of the free-living flatworms, adult flukes have sucking disks with which they cling to their hosts and an external cuticle that as he won seven of his first nine starts. ``I'm not surprised at all,'' Canyon coach Adam Schulhofer said. ``After watching Sergio pitch, we knew pretty early on that he could be good. I saw him throwing curveballs and I figured that if he could throw those, he could also throw fastballs and changeups. ``Sergio came along at the right time. We needed someone who could back up Jake. We want to be able to win twice a week rather than split with every team.'' Schulhofer credits Digiacomo for much of Almanzar's success. ``Our pitching coach has done a fantastic job in getting our pitchers ready,'' Schulhofer said, ``and he did an especially good job with Sergio.'' Almanzar doesn't want his pitching career to be a one-year wonder. He will attend UCLA UCLA University of California at Los Angeles UCLA University Center for Learning Assistance (Illinois State University) UCLA University of Carrollton, TX and Lower Addison, TX in the fall and try out for the team as a walk-on. ``The UCLA coaches saw me pitch one game and then had me come to UCLA to see them play,'' Almanzar said. ``I hope I get to play there. We'll see.'' ALMANZAR FILE Name: Sergio Almanzar Year: Senior Team: Pitcher, Canyon baseball team Quote: ``Sergio is a very talented pitcher. He's a good kid with a great arm and tremendous composure. He's got the will to win every time he's got the ball.'' - Coach Adam Schulhofer CAPTION(S): photo, box Photo: Sergio Almanzar of Canyon has made the successful move from the outfield to the pitcher's mound. Hans Gutknecht/Staff Photographer Box: ALMANZAR FILE (see text) |
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