Early Runs, Lack Of Offense Hurt Calabasas

When the cat's away, the mice will play.  

Such was the case on Wednesday when the Calabasas High baseball team took the field for a game against Kennedy of Granada Hills without their head coach, Ed Edsall, who was unavailable due to prior commitments.  

Without the head honcho around, assistant coach Chris Sale took over the skipper's responsibility of directing things from the dugout.  

And while the Coyotes played fairly well for stretches at a time, ultimately, they were unable to overcome an early deficit and suffered a 6-1 loss to the visiting Cougars in a Valley Invitational Baseball League game.  

"The kids played hard today, they always play hard for us coaches, that's the way they've been taught to do things,'' Sale said. "It doesn't matter is it's me or Ed calling a game, our guys aren't going to roll over.''  

Problem was, starting pitcher Aaron Landecker got roughed up early on as Kennedy scored three runs in the top of the first inning. By the time the second inning rolled around, the left-hander was done for the day.  

"Aaron couldn't find the strike zone and that happens to everyone once in a while,'' Sale said. "Normally, we would have left him in the game and allowed him to deal with the adversity. He was on a pitch count though.

''Landecker is a good natured kid, he'll bounce back. We're not worried about him. He'll be out on the mound before he knows it.''  

Brett Bachelis relieved Landecker and was a calming presence for the Coyotes. He gave up two runs on two hits in four innings of relief.  

"Brett did a good job. He did what was asked of him,'' Sale said. "He went out there and threw some strikes. He let the defense behind him work and that's what those guys, his teammates, are out there on the field to do _ work.''  

Calabasas got on the board in the bottom of the fifth inning when Adam Luther and Trevor Weiss walked and Anthony DiCosimo followed with a bloop single. One batter later, Luther came around to score on a Cougars' error.  

That was it for the runs, however. "It was just one of those day when we were hitting the ball hard, but it was right at people,'' Sale said. "Not much you can do about it.''  

Ian Sales ended up taking over for Bachelis in the top of the sixth inning and Kennedy promptly greeted him by scoring another run. The Cougars added an insurance run in the seventh for the final margin of victory.  

Calabasas, losers of three in a row and five of the last six, will be looking to turn things around on Friday against host Granada Hills.  

Edsall is expected to miss the game against the Highlanders as well, meaning the Coyotes will have another chance to win one for Sale.  

Whether that happens or not remains to be seen. "This team, we're like family. We joke around together, we win together, we lose together, coaches and players alike,'' Sale said. "You must have a short term memory in baseball. Good thing is that we have another game on Friday to get things done. If I know these kids, they'll play well against Granada Hills.''