Ehrlich Pulling Double Duty At Calabasas High

Josh Ehrlich had a busy sophomore year at Calabasas High.  

He carefully balanced his numerous responsibilities as president for his class and was still able to find an ample amount of time to make a contribution for the Coyotes baseball team, although an finger injury limited his playing time.  

And with school at Calabasas resuming on Sept. 1, Ehrlich is healthy and prepared to pull double duty once again.

This time around, he'll be junior class treasurer and the starting center fielder and leadoff man for the Coyotes.  

"What more can you say about Josh? He takes care of business on and off the field,'' Calabasas coach Ed Edsall said. "When you think about someone who represents our school really well, Josh immediately comes to mind.''  

With such a packed schedule, one might think that the summer months would be a good time for Ehrlich to take a break. But he was a mainstay in the lineup for the Coyotes during the Valley Invitational Baseball League, playing in 12 of 16 games. The only reason he wasn't in uniform for Calabasas was because of prior commitments with his travel team.  

"Nothing is going to keep me out of the lineup,'' Ehrlich said. "One thing I've learned is that there's time to do a little bit of everything. With things at school and baseball, some people might think I have a lot on my plate, but I like to eat.  

"Seriously though, being busy comes naturally to me. My parents taught me to be a well-rounded person and that's something I take great pride in. I do my best to be a leader for the Calabasas students and my Coyote teammates.''  

Ehrlich did his job at the top of the lineup, with a .509 on-base percentage, and his eight stolen bases were a good indication of just how disruptive he was on the base paths.

He hit .271, which could be the result of the broken finger he suffered on his left hand during his sophomore season. The setback sidelined him for quite a while, and as a result, he finished hitting .118 in 13 games.

"Missing time during my sophomore season wasn't ideal. Obviously, it was frustrating,'' Ehrlich said. "But I tried to make the most of it by shagging fly balls during practices, keeping the scorebook during games, just doing whatever it took to help out my team and remained involved in all aspects of things.  

"Right now, I'm back to feeling 100 percent,'' Ehrlich said. "Toward the end of the VIBL, I started feeling more and more comfortable in the batter's box. I'm ready to be back in the lineup on a daily basis.''  

On campus, Ehrlich carries a 3.9 grade point average and plans on taking four advanced placement courses this year while managing his time serving as a member of the ASB cabinet.  

"Honestly, I don't know how Josh does it all, but he does,'' Calabasas teammate Jacob Camhi said. "He means a whole lot to our school. Everyone, all the students, love him. And on our team, he's the man. Not a lot of people can do the things Josh Ehrlich does. Guess that's why there's only one Josh Ehrlich.''  

The Coyotes begin official practices the first week of September. Beyond that, winter ball starts in early November in preparation for the regular season in the spring. In between, Ehrlich figures to be busy both on and off the field.  

"I'd love to play baseball for the rest of my life, who wouldn't?'' Ehrlich said. "I know that playing professionally isn't in the cards for everyone though. That's one of the main reason why I stay so focused in the classroom and I'm active in all of my other activities off of the diamond. That's just the type of person I am.''