To be the best, you must play the best.
Upon finishing their fantastic season on May 21, the Malibu High baseball program took three weeks off and then went back to work on June 11 in the Valley Invitational Baseball League at Chatsworth High School, a City-section powerhouse that has won nine CIF City titles and two mythical National Championships.
What is Malibu, a small Division six program, doing playing against Division one power Chatsworth in a summer league game, you might ask?
It’s all about the competition. Weeks after recording a school-record 24 wins and claiming a Frontier League Title, Malibu coach Ari Jacobs decided to take the next step for his program by entering them into the 13th annual VIBL. The summer league features some of the Southland’s best baseball teams, such as Chatsworth, Crespi, Cleveland, El Camino Real, Harvard- Westlake, Notre Dame, Hart, Valencia and Burbank, to name a few.
“I think it’s big for us because our kids are competing in arguably the best summer league in the entire nation,” said Malibu assistant coach Phil Johnson, entering his third season on staff. “For these kids to see what it’s like to compete against the best shows them that we are right there and on the cusp of competing with the best.”
Malibu recently took the field against Chatsworth without the services of Chase Lambert, Andre Simoneau and Bronson Bard, who were a part of this past season’s successful team. The Sharks fought valiantly only to fall, 10-7.
“I like it a lot. It’s getting us ready. I don’t really care a lot about the wins,” said senior pitching ace Noah Simon. “I care more about the exposure that our team is getting to better competition and the playing time that everyone is experiencing.”
Experience is a buzzword for the Sharks, who boast a roster of 20 players, including a handful of kids who recently graduated eighth grade.
“The summer is more along the lines of development. We have eight or nine young guys that were just playing Pony baseball,” Johnson said. “We are also developing different arms so next year we don’t have to necessarily push our aces. It’s big for the younger guys to develop. The older guys are working on their craft and getting more consistent.”
Johnson provides all the players the opportunity to showcase their abilities, polish their fundamentals and build upon their weaknesses. The coaches hope the younger players will progress steadily with the opportunity to go up against elite programs without the pressure to win.
“It’s good to go against better competition. We haven’t done so well but that’s not the point,” said sophomore Ezra Allen. “We are getting more reps for all the younger kids who have come in and are getting ready for the season.”
Allen is using this summer to master the shortstop position, filling in for the injured Lambert, the 2013 Frontier League MVP, who is rehabbing from Tommy John surgery.
“It’s a bummer for us because we lost a really good player. I need to work a lot harder and try to get better,” Allen said.
Simon, Allen, senior catcher Chris Falk, junior third baseman Austin George and sophomore second baseman Dylan Ross will lead the Sharks during this difficult summer schedule.
Malibu has already faced Crespi (10-3 loss) and Cleveland (7-0 loss). While the wins may be few and far between right now, the experiences gained will be invaluable in the long run.
“We’ve played some really good teams and hung with them for the most part,” Falk said. “We want to play at the level they are playing at.”
Highlights from the early part of the summer include the emergence of senior pitchers Declan Lynch and Miles Tade and the surprising growth of junior centerfielder Troy Schlobaum.
“Declan and Miles are getting innings that they didn’t get against higher competition last year. Now they are facing the best of the best. Troy is going to be really good,” said Johnson. “Austin George is developing into one of the best hitters this program has ever seen.”
Upcoming road games against Notre Dame and Hart are on the horizon. Malibu has home games remaining on Thursday against Birmingham and on July 18 against Burbank. All games are at 5 p.m. VIBL playoffs begin July 20 for the 22-team league.