When Jeff Dufek left a successful baseball program at University City to pick up the coaching reins of ruin at San Marcos three years ago, he was definitely starting from scratch.
No championships yet, but his Knights have made some positive strides.
The latest San Marcos standout is senior southpaw pitcher Tim Berry.
Berry, who has a baseball scholarship to Oregon in hand, put together back-to-back impressive starts in two of his latest outings.
A 6-foot-2, 155-pound left-hander, Berry pitched a no-hitter and struck out 17 in a 5-0 win over Calexico. In his previous start he coined a six-inning one-hitter with a dozen strikeouts in an 11-0 shutout over El Centro Central Union.
La Costa Canyon hurler Garrett Hughes is 3-0 with 1.24 ERA.
File photo by Kirk Winter
Dufek, himself a pitcher at
San Diego State University a year ago, believes
Berry is overpowering hitters.
”He just has really dominant stuff right now,” Dufek said.
Baseball: Playing the heavy at La Costa Canyon
Senior pitcher Garrett Hughes, a 6-7, 240-pound left-hander, has posted three wins in as many decisions. He’s compiled a 1.24 ERA while logging 25 strikeouts in 17 innings for the Mavericks (7-0), ranked No. 2 in the San Diego Section.
More Baseball: Power-hitting Titan
Josh Anderson, a junior first baseman at Poway, went 7-for-9 with three home runs, two doubles and six RBI as the Titans (5-1) reached the finals of the Hilltop Tournament in Chula Vista. Anderson hit four home runs in his first six games.
Softball: Horizon pitcher dealing in strikeouts
Cassidy Coleman, a junior pitcher at Horizon, spun four shutouts to improve her record to 13-0 for the Panthers (15-0) who won the Friar Classic championship. Coleman did marathon work on Saturday (March 21), tossing three shutouts and striking out 18 in a 6-0 victory over Monte Vista in the finals.
For the week, she struck out 61 in 28 innings, including 20 in a 1-0 non-league win over Bellarmine Prep (Seattle, Wash.).
More softball: Falcons third baseman corners the market
At 8-1 Torrey Pines is off to its best start in school history. A primary reason behind that surge is sophomore third baseman Mary Lee, who collected eight hits in 10 at-bats during Falcons victories over Ramona, San Dieguito Academy and Vista.
Other Top Performances
– Jennifer Bingham of Spring Valley’s Steele Canyon took over the section lead in the shot put when she hit 40-2 in a dual meet. That mark is four feet farther at this time of the year than the junior hit last year. Her best is 43-5 1/4.
– Keegan Ryan of Carlsbad darted to a section early-season best of 48.95 in winning the 400 meters at the Torrey Pines Falcon Relays, setting a meet record for his effort.
— Chatsworth baseball coach Tom Meusborn, who received the Tommy Lasorda Lifetime Achievement Award prior to the season, is closing in on the 500-win mark. In his 20th season as coach of the Chancellors, Meusborn has posted 498 wins (as of March 21).
— Shortstop Amanda Grable of Santee Santana established a school and Grossmont Conference Tournament record by recording 8 RBI after batting 4-for-5 with a pair of home runs against Spring Valley Monte Vista.
— Foothills Christian, a Division IV baseball team in the CIFSDS, battered San Pasqual Academy 37-0 in a game called after four innings. That run total is the fourth highest in section history.
— Ken Raedel of Escondido’s San Pasqual Golden Eagles won the 1,500-meter run in 4:04.90 and the 800 in 1:58.65 at the Torrey Pines Falcon Relays.
— Senior Laura Nelson of Mount Miguel struck out 17 in a six-inning 10-0 win over El Cajon Valley.
Coming Attractions
The traditionally star-laden Mt. Carmel Invitational track meet will be conducted Saturday, March 28, at 11 a.m.
Dickens Dealings
Seems some sports in the high school ranks would rather argue about what is a hit and what is an error instead of who wins the game.
We’re talking about softball here. And that is why the majority of metropolitan newspapers do not bother compiling statistics for this sport.
Traditionally speaking, solving this dilemma comes down to which team is the “home book.”
The trouble behind that practice is the “official scorer” is usually a parent of one of the prominent players. Not to chastise every parent scorekeeper from being objective, because many of those with pencil and scorebook in hand do have a clue.
Yet, arguments break out on a weekly basis. And that’s sad since the basis of the bickering involves only the parents.
Those among the disgruntled actually believe college scholarships are awarded to those who have the lowest ERA, the most strikeouts and the highest batting averages. That’s why parents believe scorekeepers have so much power.
This is basically nonsense. College coaches know what they want and what they see regardless of the numbers.
The bottom line though – those who log the stats for the various high schools have little if any power as to what occurs in the future. Too bad the parents don’t believe that.
Bill Dickens has been an award-winning journalist in San Diego for more than three decades. E-mail him at EastCountyScribe@aol.com.
