Coyotes Suffer Tough Loss To Royal, 1-0

Alex Rubanowitz tried.

Jordan Pollack did too.

Kevin Khalili gave it his best shot.

Same goes for guys like Mitch Margolis and Jordan Bass.  

Everyone on the Calabasas High baseball team attempted to get hit off of Cody Buckel. Problem was, the senior right-hander from Royal was on top of his game Friday in 1-0 Marmonte League victory over the visiting Coyotes.  

"Give Cody some credit, he had absolutely everything working out there on the mound against us,'' Calabasas coach Ed Edsall said.  

If not for a Kevin Lerner double in the second inning, Buckel would have finished with a no-hitter.

Ultimately, he settled for a one-hitter with 14 strikeouts in a complete-game effort against the Coyotes (13-12 overall, 5-6 in league).  

"It was one of those normal type of outings for Cody,'' Royal coach Dan Maye said. "And we'll take those efforts from him every single time.''  

Buckel struckout the first five batters he faced.  

Jacob Camhi, however, had other ideas in his first plate appearance in the second inning.

The sophomore wasn't the least bit intimidated and crushed a fastball to left-centerfield.

Unfortunately, his shot ended up as a long out.  

"Jacob just missed a homer,'' Edsall said. "He hit the ball far, must have been like 360 feet, but it needed to travel 365 feet. He took a good approach at the plate, and as coaches, that's all we can ask for from our players.''  

Buckel's counterpart, Jacob Fields, kept the Coyotes close against Royal (19-5, 10-1), which sits in first place, atop the league standings. He went the distance for Calabasas, giving up three hits along the way.  

"I felt pretty good out there,'' Fields said. "I could have pitched another seven innings. I could have thrown 20 innings today.''  

Fields ran into trouble in the first inning when the Highlanders ended up loading the bases. He managed to get himself out of the jam though.

Sheldon Ekstrand stepped up to the plate and Fields struck him out to end the threat. 

Fields didn't have as much luck in the third inning.

He hit Nick Kinsman with a pitch and the sophomore moved over to third base following a pair of sacrifices.

Kinsman scored the game's only run on a Justin Greco double.  

"Fields did a good job, he did everything he could to keep us in the game,'' Edsall said. "We just ran into an incredible pitcher today.''

It's worth mentioning that Buckel could choose to play at just about any NCAA Division I school in the country.

However, he appears destined to drafted in the upcoming MLB Draft, perhaps as high as the third or fourth round.  

"After the first inning, I felt like I could dominate,'' Buckel said. "It seemed like I was hitting all of my spots out there today.''  

Calabasas made one last ditch effort to tie the score in the sixth inning.

Rubanowitz reached base on a walk, but Fields struck out.

On this day, against an overpowering Buckel, a victory wasn't meant to be for the Coyotes.  

"We were prepared for Cody, about as prepared as you can be for kid with great stuff like he has,'' Edsall said. "He's got a great future.''