The High Desert Mavericks’ World Series connection

When you’ve had as many affiliations as the High Desert Mavericks have had over the years, they are bound to have connections with players from a multitude of organizations.
Since moving from Riverside in 1991, the Mavericks have had seven different affiliations, and are about to embark on their eighth, when the Texas Rangers come to town for 2015. And that doesn’t include the two years they were a co-op team in 1994-95 and had players from several organizations on their squad.

The California League is for players early on in their career path and that’s how two of this year’s World Series opponents: San Francisco Giants manager Bruce Bochy and Kansas City Royals slugger Billy Butler ended up there.

But Bochy was there in 1991, as a manager for the San Diego Padres’ affiliate trying to work his way up. He had a successful career as a player, but was just starting out as a manager.
It was actually his second season in the league, having managed the predecessor to the Mavericks, the Riverside Red Wave to a 64-78 record in 1990. In 1991, he was back, led the Mavericks to a decent but not overwhelming 73-63 record, then led them to an impressive playoff run (sound familiar?), by beating Mike Piazza, Pedro Martinez and the Bakersfield Dodgers (85-51) amnd then beating the Stockton Ports in the finals, who had beaten 92-44 San Jose in the semifinals.
I covered that team. It was my first real beat and I loved it. Bochy was patient with me (I was still in college and didn’t really understand how the minor leagues worked). While I was aware of how good Bochy was, most of my focus was on the rest of the team. But while Matt Mieske, Jay Gainer and J.D. Noland will be remembered by fans of the ’91 Mavs, they aren’t remembered for their careers. As it turned out, Bochy was the best prospect on that team.

Billy Butler was with the Mavericks in 2005, in their first season of a two-season affiliation with the Royals. Butler was a young 19-year-old kid with a ton of power (25 home runs in 379 at-bats), but no position to play. They tried him at third base, but that didn’t last long. He made 18 errors in 41 games at third, including four in one game that I witnessed personally. Shortly thereafter, they moved him to left field, where he could hit, but still couldn’t field: Among players with at least 18 games played in the outfield, he was last with a .932 fielding percentage. But he could still hit, and he had a decent eye, with 42 walks in 92 games and a .348 batting average his OPS of 1.054. As it turned out, his power was not High Desert-created. It was legit. And like Bochy, he was the biggest prospect on the team.

Now they’re facing each other. The 6-4, 245-pound Bochy and the 6-2, 225-pound Butler. Opponents in the World Series. Forever connected by Adelanto.

Cal League South Division scenario update with 3 games left

After Friday’s games, the three-team race for the final South Division playoff spot has gotten tighter with 3 games left.

The 66ers beat Lancaster 12-8, the Quakes beat Lake Elsinore 9-0 and San Jose beat High Desert 12-3.

The 66ers and Lancaster are tied for 1st in the second half race. It’s as simple as this for the 66ers: If they win 2 of the final 3 games against Lancaster, they are in the playoffs. They could still tie for the second half title with LE, but as stated in a previous post, that would be enough to get the Sixers in. There would be no 1-game playoff.

Should the Sixers lose at least 2 of the next 3 games, the last spot would go to High Desert or the Quakes. After Friday’s games, those teams are tied for the last spot.

They COULD have a 1-game playoff. And it would be at High Desert on Tuesday, because HD won the season series, 13-11.

Mavericks appoint new GM

The Seattle Mariners California League affiliate at High Desert will head into the 2014 season with a new general manager. Southern California native Ryan Cook has been appointed.

Cook has worked with numerous professional sports franchises, most notaby the NBA’s Los Angeles Clippers, New Orleans Hornets and Sacramento Kings. With both the Hornets and the Clippers, Cook set new records for monthly revenues for ticket sales and new business development.

Cook also has pro baseball experience, having worked for the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. Most recently, he has worked as an agent specializing in action sports for the Sports Syndicate in Newport Beach, California.

An All-American Water Polo player himself, Cook led the effort to develop an Olympic division at the Sports Syndicate, cultivating relationships with Olympic USA volleyball players, Team USA water polo players, Team USA swimmers, and USA water polo, the sport’s national governing body.

 

 

The announcement comes after the team and the City of Adelanto made major improvements to Mavericks Stadium in the spring of 2013.

 

The Mavericks open the 2014 season at home April 3, against Inland Empire.

66ers have clinched a playoff spot

It may not look like it on the surface but after emails with the league office and some computations, the 66ers have already clinched a playoff spot, entering play on Monday, even though they are only up on High Desert by 6 1/2 games and the Quakes by 7 games with 8 66ers games remaining. The top 2 teams from that group will make the playoffs.

Here’s how. If the 66ers lose their final 8, they are 67-73. Because the Quakes and High Desert play each other three times this week, they can’t both go undefeated. If one of them went undefeated and the Sixers went 0-8, the Sixers would still get in as the 2nd wild card.

If the 66ers went 0-8, the Quakes went 2-1 against High Desert and the Quakes and High Desert won all the rest of their games, there would be a three-way tie for two playoff spots, at 67-73.

What is the tie-breaker? Head-to-head against the other teams. Entering Monday, the Sixers are a combined 31-17 against the other two teams, giving them the tiebreaker advantage and leaving the Quakes and High Desert to play a one-game playoff next Tuesday for the final spot.

While that scenario is highly unlikely, a two-way tie between the Quakes and High Desert for the final spot is a very real possibility. The host team for that one-game playoff is based on head-to-head. High Desert leads the head-to-head 11-9, so the Quakes would have to sweep this week in order to get to host a one-game playoff.

Sixers’ Borenstein is league MVP

Inland Empire outfielder-designated hitter Zach Borenstein, 23, has been named California League Most Valuable Player.

Borenstein is leading the league in hitting (.332) and slugging percentage (.628), is second in home runs (25) and fourth in RBI (87). He was on the disabled list for a month with a hip injury which possibly cost him a shot at a Triple Crown.

He has notched career highs in every offensive category except doubles.
Borenstein is the first Sixer to earn MVP honors since Carlos Santana in 2008, Santana played in San Bernardino when it was a Dodgers affiliate and is now the starting catcher for the Cleveland Indians.

Borenstein led a group of four players from Inland Empire who earned All-Star team. The others are second baseman Alex Yarbrough, first baseman Michael Snyder and pitcher Mark Sappington. All are still with the Sixers except for Sappington who was promoted to Double-A Arkansas three weeks ago.

The lone representative for Rancho Cucamonga is outfielder Scott Schebler who is hitting .307 with a league-high 23 home runs and eighth in RBI (83) and is hitting .274.

Rodney Linares of Lancaster is the Manager of the Year. His team is 75-54 overall. The JetHawks won the South Division first half and have a seven-game lead in the second with 11 games left.

Dan Winkler (12-5, 2.97) of the Modesto Nuts is the Pitcher of the Year.

Here’s the whole list of honorees:

MVP – Zach Borenstein, Inland Empire

Manager of the Year – Rodney Linares, Lancaster

Pitcher of the Year – Dan Winkler, Modesto

Rookie of the Year – Addison Russell, Stockton

Catcher – Ryan Casteel, Modesto

First base – Michael Snyder, Inland Empire

Second base – Alex Yarbrough, Inland Empire

Third base – Matt Duffy, Lancaster

Shortstop – Addison Russell, Stockton

Utility – M.P. Cokinos, Lancaster

Designated hitter – Zach Borenstein, Inland Empire

Outfielder – Scott Schebler, Rancho Cucamonga

Outfielder – Andrew Aplin, Lancaster

Outfielder – Travis Jankwoski, Lake Elsinore

Pitcher – Mark Sappington, Inland Empire

Pitcher – Ty Blach, San Jose

Pitcher – Dan Winkler, Modesto

Pitcher, Andrew Barbosa, Visalia

 

 

 

Quakes outlast Mavericks 18-16 in 13 innings

Even in a place that is prone to crazy games, this one was especially crazy.

The Quakes rallied from an eight-run deficit, blew a three-run lead in the ninth inning, before scoring four times in the top of the 13th and held on for an 18-16 victory over the High Desert Mavericks before 738 fans in Adelanto late on Wednesday night.

The victory moved the Quakes (59-69) to within a half game of the Mavericks (59-68) for the South Division’s final playoff spot. The runs and the hits (22) were both season-highs for the Quakes. The game took 5 hours, 8 minutes.

Continue reading “Quakes outlast Mavericks 18-16 in 13 innings” »

Colvin goes to disabled list

Right-handed pitcher David Colvin of the High Desert Mavericks has been place on the disabled list by the parent Seattle Mariners.

Colvin, 24, had appeared in 31 games, 30 of those out of the bullpen. He had a 5-0 record and 2.38 ERA in 56 2/3 innings. Those are pretty impressive numbers given the hitter-friendly California League venue in which he pitches.

Colvin has not pitched since July 27 but was only recently placed on the disabled list.

Colvin was a 27th round draft pick by the Mariners in 2011.

His loss is big for the Mavericks who are trying to hold off Rancho Cucamonga and Lake Elsinore for the final South Division playoff spot with the season over in less than two weeks.

Players of the week named

High Desert's Patrick Kivlehan drove in 16 runs over six games last week.

Tanner Peters of Stockton and Patrick Kivlehan of High Desert earned weekly accolades in the California League this week.

Kivlehan, a 23-year-old third baseman out of Rutgers, went 13 for 25 (.520) with three doubles, three home runs and 16 RBI.  Kivlehan’s week was highlighted in a 5-for-7 showing in a 30-8 win over Lancaster on Friday. The Mariners prospect, who was the MVP of the Northwest League last summer, is hitting .328 with 39 RBI in 49 games since joining the Mavericks.

Peters, 23, came within two outs of throwing a perfect game on Friday against Modesto. He retired the first 25 batters he faced before yielding a one-out double in the ninth. Peters struck out a career-high 14 batters to give him 132 on the season — second-most in the A’s organization and third-most in the Cal League. He has won his last four decisions to improve to 11-5..

Tanner Peters ranks among the Cal League leaders in wins, ERA and strikeouts.

Quakes, Sixers back in action

After a day off both local California teams are back in action.

Rancho Cucamonga will host Lake Elsinore while Inland Empire will be traveling to High Desert. Both games are set for 7:05 p.m.

The Quakes (52-62) will send (4-6, 5.03)Lindsay Caughel to the mound while the Storm (50-63), a Padres affiliate, will counter with John Barbato (2-4, 5.19.

Meanwhile the Sixers will start Orangel Arenas (6-5, 4.98), who has been nearly unhittable at home but struggled in road games.  Jordan Pries (6-6, 5.07) is slated to start for the Mavericks.

Sixers, Quakes back in action tonight

The Inland Empire 66ers and Rancho Cucamona Quakes both return from an off day in pursuit of a California League playoff berth and will start a head-to-head three-game set at 7:05 tonight at San Manuel Stadium.

The Sixers (58-50 overall, 21-17 second half) finished second to Lancaster in the first half and are second in the second, two games behind that same opponent. They are in good position to make the postseason as a wild card if they don’t win the half at 4 1/2 games better than Seattle affiliate High Desert and eight better than the Quakes for the second playoff spot.

If Lancaster, a Houston Astros affiliate, wins the second half too, the two teams with the next best records would advance.

The Quakes (50-58, 19-19) have been a much better team in the second half and come into the set having won seven straight series. They are four games behind Lancaster for the half and 3 1/2 behind High Desert for the second wild card, assuming Lancaster wins the second half.

The Sixers are led by reigning Cal League Player of the Week Zach Borenstein while outfielder Scott Schebler has spearheaded the Quakes resurgence.

Carlos Frias (2-3, 4.11) is the scheduled starter for the Quakes while the Sixers counter with All-Star Mark Sappington(10-4, 3.42).