Coyotes Look to Finish Strong

The Calabasas High boys' baseball team might not have a chance at winning the Marmonte League title.

The Coyotes, however, have plenty to play for this year.

Royal is in first place in the league, a comfortable two games ahead of Moorpark and Newbury Park in the standings with six games remaining in the regular season.

Thousand Oaks is three games behind the front-runners, followed by Westlake and Calabasas.  

Nevertheless, the Coyotes are focused on finishing up strong. In doing so, the hope is that they'll position themselves for a postseason run.  

"We're not done yet,'' Calabasas coach Ed Edsall said. "We have some more baseball left in us, a lot of baseball left in us. We have something to prove.''  

Indeed they do have something to prove.  

The Southern Section playoffs are right around the corner, about one month away in fact.

A couple more victories figure to go a long way for Calabasas (12-11 overall and 4-5 in league), which could qualify for a Division I at-large berth.  

The first test for the Coyotes comes today against visiting Simi Valley at 3:30 p.m. Oddly enough, the Pioneers (8-13, 1-8) have struggled this season after developing a reputation as one of the league's premier programs in recent years. 

A loss against Simi Valley would not bode well for the Coyotes, especially considering that they were beaten by the Pioneers, 5-0, back in late March.

Another loss would be devastating. Another loss would be unacceptable.  

"We have to take things one game at a time from here on out,'' Edsall said. "We've got a great bunch of kids on this team, kids that want to win.''  

Calabasas has three players hitting better than .300.

Kevin Khalili leads the way with a .367 batting average. Alex Rubanowitz is hitting .360 and Jordan Bass isn't far behind at .358.  

It's also worth noting that Mitch Margolis and Kevin Lerner are hovering right around the .300 mark, and both could improve with good days against a struggling Pioneers pitching staff.  

Beyond Simi Valley, a showdown against Royal looms Friday for Calabasas.

An upset of the Highlanders (17-5, 8-1) would provide added confidence.  

"Every game is important now,'' Edsall said.

Calabasas closes out the season with crucial games against Moorpark (16-7, 6-3), Thousand Oaks (12-11, 5-4) and Newbury Park (16-6, 6-3).

Victories in two of those three games are, seemingly, a must if Calabasas is to reach postseason play. But first things first.  

The focus is on Simi Valley today and Royal on Friday. Looking too far ahead would be a foolish thing for the Coyotes to do.

There's too much at stake now, namely a playoff berth that would make things worthwhile.