2012 Less is More…

2012 Home Run Derby & Alumni Game Slide Show

Sometimes less is more, addition by subtraction so to say. The volume of home run derby participants was down from last year but it made for a more relaxed pace and made room for the newly added Dad’s division which had the largest number of participants (22) on the day. In the younger divisions, Drew Sommers and Charlie Dunlap ran away with the 12u and 16u divisions by more than doubling their next closest slugger’s total. The 14u division was stocked with talent; the champion John Murphy personifies that it’s not the size of the dog in the fight that matters. Craig Foster won the inaugural Dad’s division while alums Joe Nunez and Jeff Meyers had a hit-off for the silver and bronze tee shirts.

The alumni game followed suit with quality over quantity. In 2011 there were so many alums that not everyone got to participate and the game got a bit sloppy. This year a manageable 19 players returned home to form a strong and balanced opponent for the varsity squad. Mark Montgomery (’03) and Mike Frazee (’00) provide stellar defense up the middle and speed at the top of the order. Jon Talley (’07) anchored first and is a legitimate long ball threat, and the Carreon brothers (Robert ’84 and Paul ’99) brought the best cheering section. Tim Mulligan (’92) and Jeff Meyers (’89) still cover an impressive amount of ground in center field although Robert Carreon stole the show with a ‘not in front of me’ belly-flop catch with runners on in the second inning.

The alum battery was stocked well enough to compete for 9 innings with catchers Joey Tappon (’00), Tim Ganich (’88) and Joe Nunez (’83). Isidro Perez (’11) led a staff that included Troy Forester (’11), Lief Palmquist (’99), Tally, Carreon and even the Wizard Joe Pimentel (‘70-something) baffled the high school kids for a frame.

Varsity ace Thomas Eshelman started the game by striking out the side in the first two innings. Meanwhile his teammates turned doubles by Nathan Mann and Austin Avan into runs in the first and third innings and got a 2 out RBI single from Jake Baccay for another run in the second. The alum had runners in scoring position in the first, second and third and then broke through with an unearned run in the fourth to cut the varsity squad’s lead to 2 (3-1). The youngsters scored their own unearned run in the sixth and then plated Max Gough in the seventh after he opened the inning with a lead-off double.

In the seventh inning the alum were gifted a runner with a base on balls but Addison Domingo single handedly killed their rally by knocking down a line drive and turning it into a 6-4-3 inning ending double play. In the eighth inning with two runners on base, Kevin Menker turned a well struck ball up the third baseline into a 5 to 3 inning ending double play. In the alum’s final at bats, Frazee doubled and was platted by a Forester RBI single. Carreon then walked to bring the tying run to the plate with two outs. Cory Bice deftly picked a shot off the bat of Tappon that was headed for extra bases up the first baseline and turned it into a game ending unassisted put-out. Ball game. Youth was served once again by a final score of 5-2.

The vibe in the alum dugout and in the stands was extremely positive and appreciative. The kids will understand some day. There was a moment of silence before the game for fallen brother Joe Rodriguez (’74). Glenn Domingo and Sam Eshelman’s smooth job with announcements eased the pain a bit. There were countless volunteers from the Boosters club, and tons of help from the players that helped make this event a huge success in spite of not having a big turnout. If profit could be measured by a quality community event, this year’s effort would be a walk-off home run! Thanks to all!

All proceeds go to the Carlsbad Baseball Boosters and will be used to help achieve their mission of enhancing the environment of Carlsbad High School Baseball with emphasis on community, education, sportsmanship and fun!

2012 Raffle Prizes: a $100 gift certificate to Dick's, a Heath Bell authographed baseball, 4 tickets to a Padre game, Lake San Marcos golf foresome, a new glove from Rawlings, a one night stay at the Carlsbad Inn plus dinner and drinks at Norte Restaurant, a snowboard and lift tickets to June Mountain and a one night stay at the La Costa Resort and Golf for 4. Nice!

2012 Sponsors...

Tee Shirt Sponsors:

AMIGO CUSTOM SCREEN PRINTS; MARY FROLANDER / HOMELIFE VILLAGE REALTORS; SUE LIETHEN, DDS; THAT PIZZA PLACE; THE GRAND BAR & GRILL & WORKWAY

Raffle Prize Donations From:

JEFF BENSON @ MITCHELL INTERNATIONAL - $100 GIFT CERTIFICATE TO DICK'S; SMITH OPTICS SUN GLASSES; NORTE'S RESTURANT; THE CARLSBAD INN

Event Specialties:

AA TROPHIES; PROGRESSIVE GROWERS

2012 Less is More…

2012 Home Run Derby & Alumni Game Slide Show

Sometimes less is more, addition by subtraction so to say. The volume of home run derby participants was down from last year but it made for a more relaxed pace and made room for the newly added Dad’s division which had the largest number of participants (22) on the day. In the younger divisions, Drew Sommers and Charlie Dunlap ran away with the 12u and 16u divisions by more than doubling their next closest slugger’s total. The 14u division was stocked with talent; the champion John Murphy personifies that it’s not the size of the dog in the fight that matters. Craig Foster won the inaugural Dad’s division while alums Joe Nunez and Jeff Meyers had a hit-off for the silver and bronze tee shirts.

The alumni game followed suit with quality over quantity. In 2011 there were so many alums that not everyone got to participate and the game got a bit sloppy. This year a manageable 19 players returned home to form a strong and balanced opponent for the varsity squad. Mark Montgomery (’03) and Mike Frazee (’00) provide stellar defense up the middle and speed at the top of the order. Jon Talley (’07) anchored first and is a legitimate long ball threat, and the Carreon brothers (Robert ’84 and Paul ’99) brought the best cheering section. Tim Mulligan (’92) and Jeff Meyers (’89) still cover an impressive amount of ground in center field although Robert Carreon stole the show with a ‘not in front of me’ belly-flop catch with runners on in the second inning.

The alum battery was stocked well enough to compete for 9 innings with catchers Joey Tappon (’00), Tim Ganich (’88) and Joe Nunez (’83). Isidro Perez (’11) led a staff that included Troy Forester (’11), Lief Palmquist (’99), Tally, Carreon and even the Wizard Joe Pimentel (‘70-something) baffled the high school kids for a frame.

Varsity ace Thomas Eshelman started the game by striking out the side in the first two innings. Meanwhile his teammates turned doubles by Nathan Mann and Austin Avan into runs in the first and third innings and got a 2 out RBI single from Jake Baccay for another run in the second. The alum had runners in scoring position in the first, second and third and then broke through with an unearned run in the fourth to cut the varsity squad’s lead to 2 (3-1). The youngsters scored their own unearned run in the sixth and then plated Max Gough in the seventh after he opened the inning with a lead-off double.

In the seventh inning the alum were gifted a runner with a base on balls but Addison Domingo single handedly killed their rally by knocking down a line drive and turning it into a 6-4-3 inning ending double play. In the eighth inning with two runners on base, Kevin Menker turned a well struck ball up the third baseline into a 5 to 3 inning ending double play. In the alum’s final at bats, Frazee doubled and was platted by a Forester RBI single. Carreon then walked to bring the tying run to the plate with two outs. Cory Bice deftly picked a shot off the bat of Tappon that was headed for extra bases up the first baseline and turned it into a game ending unassisted put-out. Ball game. Youth was served once again by a final score of 5-2.

The vibe in the alum dugout and in the stands was extremely positive and appreciative. The kids will understand some day. There was a moment of silence before the game for fallen brother Joe Rodriguez (’74). Glenn Domingo and Sam Eshelman’s smooth job with announcements eased the pain a bit. There were countless volunteers from the Boosters club, and tons of help from the players that helped make this event a huge success in spite of not having a big turnout. If profit could be measured by a quality community event, this year’s effort would be a walk-off home run! Thanks to all!

All proceeds go to the Carlsbad Baseball Boosters and will be used to help achieve their mission of enhancing the environment of Carlsbad High School Baseball with emphasis on community, education, sportsmanship and fun!

2012 Raffle Prizes: a $100 gift certificate to Dick's, a Heath Bell authographed baseball, 4 tickets to a Padre game, Lake San Marcos golf foresome, a new glove from Rawlings, a one night stay at the Carlsbad Inn plus dinner and drinks at Norte Restaurant, a snowboard and lift tickets to June Mountain and a one night stay at the La Costa Resort and Golf for 4. Nice!

2012 Sponsors...

Tee Shirt Sponsors:

AMIGO CUSTOM SCREEN PRINTS; MARY FROLANDER / HOMELIFE VILLAGE REALTORS; SUE LIETHEN, DDS; THAT PIZZA PLACE; THE GRAND BAR & GRILL & WORKWAY

Raffle Prize Donations From:

JEFF BENSON @ MITCHELL INTERNATIONAL - $100 GIFT CERTIFICATE TO DICK'S; SMITH OPTICS SUN GLASSES; NORTE'S RESTURANT; THE CARLSBAD INN

Event Specialties:

AA TROPHIES; PROGRESSIVE GROWERS

2011 Alumni Game: Youth is Served...

2011 Home Run Derby & Alumni Game Slide Show

Oceans of thanks to the Carlsbad baseball community for jumping on the 2011 Home Run Derby and Alumni Game bandwagon; the only thing better than the quantity of people was the quality of people. There was a bunch of talented youngsters and most of the stars of days gone by were there too. Scott Karl, Brady Anderson, Jon Talley, Buck Taylor, Jordan Szabo, the Frazee brothers, Keegan Moore, Callan Dawson, Spencer Hardy and Ralph Cripe among others less renown but equally appreciated.

In the Home Run Derby a tip of the cap goes out to the 10U division. Winner Drew Sommers had 21 home runs [out of 31 total pitches], runner up Scott Anderson had 20 and 6 batters had 10 or more homers. Get some shades because the future is bright! Also noteworthy was CHS sophomore Slater Lee who won his second consecutive home run title, this year in the 16U division. Jon Talley’s work out partner, Brad Glenn swiped the Open division trophy taking advantage of batting righty while Talley and Brady Anderson (lefty’s) hit into the teeth of the prevailing ocean breeze. Funny, I think Glenn was just as stoked to get a trophy as Sommers.

In the Alumni Game youth was served as the Varsity team muscled their way to a 14 to 9 victory. The sentimental favorite Alumni squad parlayed a seeing eye, lead off single by Bob Porter into 2 early runs. Afterwards Bob told me it was a good thing he had 2 shirts on because his heart was beating so fast he thought it might pop out of his chest! But the Varsity team roared back with 6 runs in the second, 3 more in the third and coasted out to an insurmountable lead. Coach Greene played his part in getting an RBI. But it was the hard way; getting pegged by one of his varsity pitchers. When Greene initially stepped into the batters box, the alumni dugout was egging on the young pitcher by chanting, ‘peg him, peg him.’ But the bases were loaded and this kid is vying for a spot on the varsity team, so it’s not a good idea from any angle. So of course he plunks Greene and the entire alumni dugout is rolling and saying ‘oh my gosh, he pegged him!’ There were no hard feelings though and Greene showed his trust in the young pitcher by not taking his base and stepping back into the box to finish his at bat. The Alumni team finally tapped out in the 8th but vowed to return better organized and more competitive next year.

Special thanks to legendary umpires Dave Thompson and Bill Kemp for donating their services. One of the best lines of the day, and there were plenty, was when Thompson asked Alumni catcher Keegan Moore if he wanted another ball to through down [to second base] after he pegged his pitcher between the shoulder blades with his first attempt. It was that kind of a day.

Lastly, thanks to all the sponsors boosters that contributed to this event. Alone we can do so little, together we can do so much.

Below is a link to the Carlsbad Patch news network for another prosepective and more pictures...

Carlsbad Patch story & pictures

2011 Sponsors

AA TROPHIES; AMIGO CUSTOM SCREEN PRINTS; CARLSBAD INN; INDEPENDENT FINANCIAL; MICHAEL G. WILLES ORTHODONTICS; NORTE RESTURANT; PAT & OSCARS; PROGRESSIVE GROWERS; RAWLINGS; SUE LIETHEN, DDS; & THAT PIZZA PLACE