SOUTHPAW STAYING HOME INJURY KEEPS FORMER CANYON HIGH ACE OUT OF ROOKIE BALL.

Byline: Lauren Gustus Staff Writer

SANTA CLARITA - Former Canyon High pitcher Jake Coash is taking a mandatory break from baseball.

Instead of joining the Detroit Tigers' minor league rookie team in Florida after graduation as he had planned, the left-hander, who was drafted by Detroit in the 18th round, will put his star arm on the shelf for at least two more months.

Coash, who will throw for College of the Canyons in the spring, played all of his senior season unaware of a stress fracture in his throwing arm, and doctors only discovered it after the season was over, when they also determined he had a torn ligament.

According to Coash, the ligament was first aggravated in the CIF-SS Division II Championship game at Edison Field in Anaheim. He last pitched on June 8 in the Bernie Milligan All-Star Game.

``If I had known my arm was hurt, I probably wouldn't have pitched in that game at all,'' Coash said.

Coash visited with doctors Tuesday, and they prescribed two more months of rest.

``It's healing,'' Coash said. ``It's growing back together, but it's going to take a little bit longer. They want it to set for another month or two. After that they'll put me into physical therapy.''

The injury was not serious enough for doctors to consider surgery, Coash said.

The pitcher will concentrate on conditioning, rather than throwing mechanics, this fall.

``I'm going to be doing lots of running,'' he said.

In a typical outing, Coash, who led the Canyon High pitching staff with 109 strikeouts and a .241 ERA, threw close to 100 pitches per game. When asked if this was typical for other pitchers at Canyon, he said he didn't think anyone was throwing anything different.

``I didn't ever want to throw less,'' he said, adding that how many balls a pitcher threw often depended on how he was doing that day.

College of the Canyons manager Chris Cota would liked to have seen Coash in Florida, but is happy the leftie will be on his team in the spring.

``He was definitely a guy that I actively recruited and we're excited to have him,'' Cota said. ``It wasn't a surprise that he got drafted. Speaking with him, college was his other option.''

Cota thinks that Coash's chances to play professionally someday will not be hurt by his short stint at College of the Canyons. Coash will have a solid rehabilitation period in the fall and if all goes well he will pitch again in the spring - and he'll finish a year of college.

``There's no doubt he has the ability to pitch professional baseball,'' Cota said. ``Right now it's about maturity and obviously the arm.''

Cota figures that Coash should be a starter in the spring if his rehab is a success. Coash will work with pitching coach Dennis Moller on a limited pitch count as soon as he is cleared by doctors to begin throwing again.

``We think he's very capable of being one of our starters,'' Cota said. ``Of course, we'll have to see how his injury works out and how he does in the fall.''

Coash plans to re-enter the draft next year, and it's possible that his position could improve if he has a strong spring at College of the Canyons. Before he was taken by the Tigers, Coash worked out with the Dodgers, Angels, Braves and Phillies, among others.

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(color) Former Canyon High pitcher Jake Coash will throw for College of the Canyons after his arm heals from a torn ligament and stress fracture.

John McCoy/Staff Photographer