Some baseball coaches wince at the talk of weightlifting.
Baseball, they say, is a sport of precision and grace, not brawn.
Don't tell Art Bolen, though.
Bolen, Hueneme High's first baseman, attributes his transformation from light-hitting reserve to slugging starter to weighlifting, plenty of batting practice and more weighlifting.
Bolen guessed he hit about .180 last year, playing sparingly. But he has grown an inch and added 15 pounds of muscle this season, and was hitting .536 as the week began.
"He just made up his mind that he wanted to have a successful senior year and he's been doing that," Coach Reg Welker said. "He's done a lot of work in the weight room, and it's showing at the bat."
CHANNEL LEAGUE
Clutch Performances
To say that Buena left fielder Rick Guzman is a clutch hitter would be an understatement. The Bulldogs are 5-3, and Guzman has had the key hit in three of the victories.
-- March 4 at Chaminade, he singled in the winning run in the eighth.
-- March 10 at Chatsworth, he drove in a pair of runs with two out in the sixth, pulling Buena even in a game it would eventually win, 5-3.
-- March 18 in the league opener against Rio Mesa, he started Buena's comeback from a 6-1 deficit with a three-run home run in the fourth. The Bulldogs won, 13-9.
FOOTHILL LEAGUE
No-Hitter for No-Hitters
What better remedy for a team that isn't hitting than a no-hit game by its ace pitcher?
Burroughs senior Mike Bassett held Canyon hitless last week with eight strikeouts and two walks in the league opener for Burroughs.
It was a 1-0 victory. The Indians scraped together a run.
"Even in the no-hitter, we managed only three hits," Burroughs Coach Jose Valle said. "We've faced some really good pitching. But still, we're not taking good swings."
Bassett (6-foot-2, 185 pounds) brought an 8.15 earned-run average into the game after losses to Long Beach Wilson, Crespi and Montclair Prep.
FRONTIER LEAGUE
Blown Away
Santa Clara Coach Tom Humphreys said last week's softball victory at home over Moorpark was a survival act. Both teams were nearly blown off the field by strong winds.
"After 20 years in the Navy, I've seen some gale-force winds," Humphreys said.
"But I don't recall anything like this: 20 to 30 m.p.h., with stinging sand in your face. It was hard (for the pitchers) to throw any rise balls or any breaking balls because they would really take off.
"We had a towering fly ball to the outfield, but the wind blew it back to the infield. I've never been in a game like this in my entire life."
So what was the result? A typical low-scoring game? A no-hitter, maybe? No. Santa Clara won, 9-7, after Moorpark rallied for seven runs in the top of the seventh inning.
MID-VALLEY LEAGUE
Hard-Hit Average?
Poly's Jerry Delgado is batting a paltry .238, but sometimes averages don't tell the entire story, according to Poly Coach Chuck Schwal.
"He hits the ball hard," Schwal said. "He leads the team in hard-hit average."
Schwal actually keeps a "hard-hit average" for his players so he doesn't mistakenly take an unlucky hitter out of the lineup because of a mediocre batting average.
Despite his batting average, Delgadao isn't likely to get bumped from the lineup.
All five of his hits have been doubles and he leads the team in runs batted in with six.
NORTHEAST LEAGUE
Home Run Parade
Verdugo Hills Coach John Vera is delighted that his team has hit eight home runs in seven games. The second-year mentor said he doesn't know how many homers the Dons hit last year, but he's certain it was fewer than eight.
"We're hitting real well right now," he said. "We don't have to rely on the home runs, but hopefully it can continue."
The Dons hit three homers against Hollywood last week, including a game-winner by Kevin McCormick in the ninth inning of an 8-7 victory.
Still, the Dons can't keep pace with the school's softball team. The defending 3-A champions have hit 13 home runs in eight games.
MARMONTE LEAGUE
Jackpot
The Westlake baseball team did something unusual this week. The Warriors went to Las Vegas, fell behind, and left as winners.
Although they trailed in all five games they played, the Warriors won the Blazer Invitational. In the championship game Wednesday, Westlake trailed Las Vegas, 6-3, before scoring four runs in the sixth.
Westlake (9-3) allowed only 13 runs in the first four games, qualifying for the championship game ahead of Los Alamitos, which was also undefeated in pool play. The Warriors allowed fewer runs.
The pitching was handled primarily by Chris Flanagan (2-0 in the tournament), Todd Singleton (1-0 with a save in the championship game), and Rick Davidson (1-0) and Scott Morris (1-0).
The leading hitter was Joe Primack, who was eight for 13 with six runs batted in. Primack drove in the winning runs in three games.
"We feel pretty good," Coach Rich Herrera said. "We racked up some wins and we did some good things. We came back when we had to. We had timely hitting, timely pitching. We played as a unit."
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