Although St. Francis High isn’t losing many games, head coach Mike Oakland is losing a lot of sleep worrying about his baseball team.
While he’s satisfied with the way the Lancers are playing, Oakland is obsessed with making sure the 17-2 start doesn’t go to their heads.
“I stay up all night thinking about that,” he said. “I try to keep them humble and point out what they don’t do well.”
It’s a short list. The Lancers have hitters, plenty of power and pitchers, and good gloves.
“The lineup is solid one to nine,” said Oakland, in his fourth year as coach. “We have the ability to play real good defense – we’ve been pretty good so far, but we can do better – and our pitchers throw strikes.”
There is no staff ace, according to Oakland, but the starters “are all pretty good. I’m confident in all of them.”
Kevin Zhang has been St. Francis’ top pitcher, suffering his first loss Friday after a 5-0 start. The junior had a team-leading 1.08 ERA prior to the Lancers’ 8-6 setback at Serra.
“He’s done a great job,” said Oakland, whose team is 5-2 in the West Catholic Athletic League.
The coach has also been pleased with juniors Cole Baylis and Colin Reed (a lefty), and senior Derek Rodrigues.
And Kyle Clevenger, in his first varsity season, “has been a nice surprise,” Oakland said. The senior can take on any role – from starter to closer. Left-handed senior Mike Chavez closes as well, earning the win in that role April 13 against rival Bellarmine.
St. Francis beat the Bells 3-2 on a seventh-inning error. The host Lancers had the bases loaded with one out when Bellarmine booted Scotty Jarvis’ grounder, allowing Kyle Macey to score.
“It was kind of anticlimactic,” Oakland said.
The coach’s biggest concern was the amount of walks his team surrendered. St. Francis walked nine batters “but got away with it,” Oakland said. The Lancers weren’t as lucky March 23 at Mitty, walking 10 in a 5-4 loss.
“When we throw strikes, we’re in good shape,” the coach said. “If not, we’re in trouble.”
St. Francis has caused more trouble for opposing teams with its formidable lineup of hitters that Oakland expects to only get better as the season progresses.
“They’re not all clicking at the same time – it’s a different guy each time,” Oakland said. “If they all get hot at the same time, it would be really nice.”
Sophomore center fielder Braden Bishop, whom Oakland described as “a talented kid,” leads off. Senior left fielder Macey bats second and junior shortstop Alex Blandino third. On varsity since his freshman year, Blandino has emerged as one of the team’s top hitters and all-around players.
“It’s night and day,” Oakland said of Blandino’s improvement over last season. “He’s faster, has better arm strength and is a more confident kid.”
Third baseman Tyler Goeddel is in the cleanup spot, and the junior “has done a nice job,” Oakland said. “He hasn’t caught fire yet – Jarvis, either – but watch out when they do.”
Senior right fielder Jarvis bats sixth – right after senior catcher Chris Hoo, who slugged his sixth homer Friday to tie Blandino for the team lead. Junior first baseman Jon Nelson, senior second baseman Chad Hamel and junior designated hitter Jon Williams round out the lineup.
The Lancers ooze experience, with 14 returnees among their 22 players. Other than three sophomores, the roster is all seniors and juniors.
“A lot of them have played varsity for a number of years and have figured things out,” Oakland said, “and the guys coming up from JV have done a nice job for us.”
The team chemistry is strong, according to the coach, and he hopes that, along with the Lancers’ talent, depth and hard work, is enough to lead them to a coveted WCAL championship.
“Our only goal is to win our league. Winning the WCAL outright is one of toughest things to do – you have to win the round-robin (portion) and league tournament,” said Oakland, whose squad finished in a three-way tie for first last year, then lost in the league tourney semifinals. “That’s harder than winning the CCS title.”
The coach ranks Serra and Mitty, which beat St. Francis in the Central Coast Section Division I semifinals last season, as the biggest threats to the Lancers’ league-title aspirations.
St. Francis’ next league game is scheduled 3:30 p.m. Friday at Riordan.
Contact Pete Borello at [email protected].
