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After 10 seniors graduated last year, it would be reasonable to assume that the varsity baseball team is significantly weaker, but like many other facets of the school, the team is outstanding.
The team has an overall record of 4-4 this season. And though the team is quite inexperienced, with few players that started last season, the Cardinals won every one of their league games.
On March 12, the team smashed June Jordan, winning 30-0. “These games against the weaker division provide an opportunity for us to give the players that don’t normally get into the games a chance to play,” pitcher senior Eitan Neumark said.
On March 11, they beat Burton High School by a score of 17-0. The Pumas only got one hit off of pitcher and short stop junior Chris Chen. Like the June Jordan game, the team had a side benefit of giving the less experienced players more field time.
On March 9, the team destroyed O’Connell High School 21-0. The game was won by the mercy rule, which is called only when a team is leading by more than 10 runs after the fifth inning.
In their out-of-league games, the team beat Stuart Hall High School 9-2. Pitchers junior Sam Mallonee and Nate Gilchrist both pitched in the game. “It was good to pick up a win out of league,” Neumark said.
Their strong record, however, suffers when facing stronger opponents. The Cards lost 1-3 against Archbishop Riordan High School on Feb. 21, 2-7 against Washington High School of Fremont on Feb. 28 and 6-10 against Saint Ignatius College Preparatory on March 10. “The loss doesn’t matter as much because the team is pretty inexperienced, but I’m a little disappointed because the team didn’t do as well out of league as we had hoped,” Gilchrist said.
The Cardinals took a blow to their roster when they lost one of their best hitters, junior first-baseman Brian Wong. Wong transferred to Lick-Wilmerding High School mid-year. “We will miss him offensively, but the team will find others to make up for it,” Neumark said.
The team has also faced difficulties because of the recent rain, which has created many delays in their season schedule. “It’s frustrating because games keep getting cancelled and we can’t practice on a real field,” first baseman and pitcher senior Narin Leininger said.
The team also has new coaches to help them. The two new assistant coaches, class of ’01 alumni Nick DeCampli and Russ Graham have been helping all of the players improve. “Coach DeCampli is benefiting the pitchers a lot because he used to be a pitcher at Lowell and he knows what it’s like,” second baseman sophomore Oscar Gates-Kent said.
Graham also played baseball at Lowell and both coaches played in college. “He spends a lot of time with each hitter on their swing, helping them get the exact timing down,” Leininger said.
Coming up on April 6-8 is the 56th annual Mike Morrow San Diego Lions Club tournament. . “These are some of the best teams we’ll play all year,” varsity baseball coach John Donohue said. “It’s always nice to go to tournaments and play against good teams.”
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