Sports
Titans Baseball Looking for Palomar League 4-Peat
Poway falls to Mission Bay for its first loss of the spring, but big things are still expected from the perennial powerhouse.
After a 3-0 start, the Poway High baseball team now has its first "L" after falling 9-1 to Mission Bay High. The Buccaneers (2-2) had everything going for them on Tuesday, getting a solid outing from starting pitcher Leslie Cabiling and batting around in the fifth inning for seven runs.
“I was hyped up for this game because I know how strong Poway is,” said Cabiling, who gave up just one run on three hits for Mission Bay. “I was ready for today. I wanted this game against them.”
The Titans (3-1), on the other hand, had a tough time getting anything going offensively and committed four errors. Their lone run came on a solo home run by Chad Smith in the bottom of the seventh.
“We need to learn from games like these and minimize the big innings in the future,” said Smith, who is committed to San Diego State in the fall. “It’s still early in the season. Our bats will get going soon. I still expect a CIF championship this year.”
The three-time defending Palomar League champion Titans have made three straight trips to the CIF finals, coming home with two titles in the process. Last year Poway fell to Rancho Bernardo in the championship game, but new players are going to need to step up this year to make it back to the championship.
Poway lost 14 players from last year’s roster, with only two returning starters back this season. Though the task at hand is a difficult venture, it's not out of reach for a Titans program that doesn’t rebuild but reloads.
“We have the talent and the players to do it, we just need to work together as a team,” said Poway infielder Conner Joe, who is committed to USD. “This game shows us how hard we need to work to reach our goal.”
Joe is coming off a year in which he hit .375 for the Titans. He'll be a huge factor in the offense again this year. Joining him in the battle for another league championship will be returning starting pitcher Andrew Dages, who finished 2010 with a 4.01 ERA, and starting catcher Derek Hassenbeck, who batted .351 last season.
Kevin Newman joins the varsity as last year's most valuable player for the junior varsity team. Newman already is making his presence felt with his defensive play at shortstop and will be a solid addition for the Titans. Other players to watch this season include Smith, Nick Sharpe and Chris Dennis, who will be playing for Northwestern after graduation.
“Most of our guys don’t have varsity experience, so every game is a learning experience,” said head coach Bob Parry. “But if we play the way we’re capable of, we can compete with anybody.”
