Falcons Squads Eye a Return to the Top of the Pacific League

After winning eight consecutive Pacific League championships from 2001 to 2008, the Crescenta Valley baseball team has gone through a rebuilding phase that is set to pay off. The Falcons will return All-Pacific League players Elliot Surrey, Troy Mulcahey and Nate Rousey, who are all still underclassmen.

“We’re experienced, but young,” said 14-year Crescenta Valley coach Phil Torres. “Most of these guys have been playing varsity since their freshman year. Hopefully they’re ready to take a step forward." 

The Falcons will open their 2011 campaign this week with games against Claremont, Charter Oak, and Lucerne in the opening round of Glendora’s Clint Harwick Tournament.

“Our roster is pretty much set, but we’re going to mess around with the pitching rotation quite a bit,” Torres said. “Two years is our longest drought without a championship so it would be nice to get it going again.”

Torres is looking forward to seeing the CIF’s strict new bat regulations applied for the first time this week. Under the new CIF rules, all bats must meet BBCOR (Batted Ball Coefficient of Restitution) standards that would prevent a ball from leaving an aluminum bat any faster than that of a wood bat.

“I think it’s good for the game and it will make a huge difference at the high school level,” Torres said. “The fields will all play about 10 feet larger and we’ll see outfielders playing very shallow.”

Stengel Field in Glendale, where the Falcons play their home games, measures 330 feet down each foul line and 380 feet in center field. These spacious dimensions, coupled with bats with less pop, pave the way for a ballclub that sees pitching as its strength.

“We should be pretty tough on the mound,” said Torres. “Surrey and Mulcahey were each great last year. Kyle Murray will step into our rotation and Kyle Pomeroy is back after being injured the last two years.”

Offensively the Falcons have more question marks. Surrey and Mulcahey can each hit as well as pitch and Rousey offers solid pop from the infield, but the team still must replace nine graduated seniors from last year’s squad. Cole Currie, who received honorable mention last season as a freshman, will likely step into the starting shortstop role.

“I can’t tell how many runs we’ll score until we start playing,” Torres said. “It’s the same group of kids, just a year older, so hopefully they’ve learned a few things.”

The Crescenta Valley softball team also looks to regain its spot atop the Pacific League standings after finishing just one game back of Burroughs last season as the result of a narrow-defeat at the hands of the Indians in the league finale.

“We were right there and could’ve won it, so I don’t think we need to improve anything in particular,” Crescenta Valley coach Dan Berry said.

Berry is in his 29^th season at Crescenta Valley and led the Falcons to nine straight league championships from 1998 to 2005.

The Falcons will return three all-league seniors this season – first baseman Sydney House, catcher Kelly Bako, and pitcher/infielder Erin Ashby. Ashby led the Pacific League in hitting two seasons ago and was elected the league’s MVP last year when she totaled 13 wins and 137 strikeouts.

“Erin’s a combo player and maybe the best player in the league,” Berry said.

The softball team also opens up its 2011 campaign this weekend in the Duarte Tournament.

“It’s a brand new team this year, so last year’s results don’t matter,” said Berry.

The Crescenta Valley baseball team will play at Claremont at 7 p.m. on Saturday, while the softball team will host South Pasadena at 1 p.m. on Saturday.