Catcher Works His Way Up The Ranks

It was a long and extremely tough summer for seemingly everyone associated with the Calabasas High baseball team, particularly Daniel Wilkin.

For one, the Coyotes didn't fair nearly as well as they would've liked during the Valley Invitational Baseball League. Making matters worse, Wilkin was stuck behind standout senior catcher Jordan Bass on the Calabasas depth chart.

All, however, is was not lost.

When Wilkin was given the opportunity to prove that he was capable of contributing to the Coyotes during VIBL play, he delivered. In doing so, Wilkin caught the attention of a Calabasas coaching staff member looking to the future.

"Wilkin is a good kid who has improved a lot since he was a freshman,'' Calabasas coach Ed Edsall said. "He is the type of player that is never saitisfied which is a good thing.'' 

The Coyotes (7-10) struggled with chemistry during the early stages of the VIBL, losing seven consecutive games at one point. They did end up rallying at the midway point to make a rather unlikely push toward the postseason.

When it appeared as if Calabasas had finally righted the previous wrongs, the unthinkable happened, an 18-1 loss to Lake Balboa Birmingham in the opening round of the VIBL playoffs. Strangely enough, the setback came a mere two days after the Coyotes defeated the Patriots, 6-4, in the summer league finale.

As much as Wilkin would have liked to be a part of the initial summer turnaround for Calabasas, or done something to reverse the the way the season ended, his role was limited to the occasional appearance.

"It was frustrating at times, sitting on the bench, but I know that my time will come, and when it does, I'll be ready," Wilkin said. "You have to think that way. No one likes to watch the game. Everyone wants to play."

Back in June, Wilkin had the chance to show what he could do when Bass went down with an injury. In 10 games, he hit .294 for Calabasas. More importantly, Wilkin did a good job with the pitching staff and committed only one error.

"He's a really good catcher, Daniel has a real good understanding of what's expected of him," Bass said. "He could do a good job of controlling this pitching staff if the coaches needed him to do it. When I leave Calabasas, I think we're going to be set with a catcher for a long time.''

Bass doesn't stand to lose much, if any, playing time to Wilkin once the regular season rolls around in the fall. Bass, after all, started a majority of Calabasas' games as a junior and ended up hitting .313 in 23 games.

It should be noted that Trevor Weiss, an underclassmen similar to Wilkin, could also come into the mix behind the plate.

"Jordan is a great player, the job is his right now, so I've been going with the flow this summer,'' Wilkin said. "I'll be ready to help out whenever the coaching staff needs me to. All I need is a chance to show what I can do.''