Upland baseball standout Drew Cowley commits to Cal Poly Pomona

Upland baseball standout Drew Cowley has committed to Cal Poly Pomona.

The school has a good baseball program and it’s close to home which were both big factors in that decision. He also plans to major in engineering, another factor that led him to make the decision.

“I’m close to my family and they’ll be able to come to my games,” Cowley said. “It just was the right fit. All the pieces of the puzzle came together.”

Cowley, a first-team All-Baseline League selection last spring, also visited Cal and was considering a handful of other schools including UC Santa Barbara.

He was invited to a summer showcase at Cal Poly Pomona and the Broncos heavily pursued him after that.

“I am going to go there and work hard and maybe I can get some playing time as a freshman,” he said.

 

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A.J. Garbick gets head baseball job at Upland

Upland has a new baseball coach for the first time in more than three decades as A.J. Garbick has been named successor to Mike Alonso.

Garbick, who turns 37 on Friday, previously served as head coach at Charter Oak in Covina the last three years.

He is no stranger to the area, having previously served as head coach at Colony.
Garbick is a resident of Ontario and a 1997 graduate of Damien where he helped that school to a CIF title his senior year.

“My wife teaches in the district and my kids go to school in the district so it was a natual fit,” he said. “Upland has had a great program. I have played against them so I know what to expect.”

There are other ties too. while at Damien Garbick played under coach Bobby Sheridan, who was an Upland graduate.

He currently works as a teacher in a home school program based out of Chino Hills but is hoping to eventually land a position in the Upland School District.

He said his philosophy of the game isn’t much different from that of Alonso.

“Upland teams have always played that hard-nosed type of game and that’s the genre I grew up with so that will be much the same,” he said.

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Upland pitcher Ryan Rodriguez commits to UC Davis

Upland pitcher Ryan Rodriguez has made a verbal commitment to UC Davis.

The 6-foot right-hander also visited to Pepperdine, Seattle University and Florida International but opted to go with the school offering the best combination of athletics and academics.

Rodriguez plans to major in pre-law.

The academic part was super important to me,” Rodriguez said. “It is a very good academic school so it was the best option as far as both go.”

Rodriguez visted UC Davis earlier this week which helped solidify his decision.

“I really liked the campus and it seemed like the right fit for me,” he said. “I also think I might have more of a chance to play earlier. That’s not usually the case with the bigger Division I schools.”

Rodriguez is currently playing with the San Gabriel Valley Arsenal with the last tournament of the summer coming up.

 

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Upland celebrates career of veteran baseball coach Mike Alonso

VIDEO: Seniors Raul Munoz and Skyler De Los Reyes talk about what their coach Mike Alonso meant to them.

This year here was going to be no changing of the mind.

Veteran Upland High School baseball coach Mike Alonso coached his last game today after 33 years heading the same program. The celebratory mood took a hit as the Highlanders had just lost to Rancho Cucamonga 7-2 at Memorial Park which cost them a playoff berth.

Festivities were held after the game. It was supposed to be a surprise. Alonso is one of those old-school types that doesn’t want any individual fanfare. The standing joke was that if the coach got wind of any special plans he wouldn’t have shown up.

So mum was the word. But no one was about to let him walk off without a proper send off. So they had one despite his wishes.

Alonso said the only moment that made him think something might be up was earlier in the week when he was speaking with Chaffey College coach Jeff Harlow who was expressing his disappointment that he was going to be unable to be at the final game and the festivities.

“I’m thinking, it’s no big deal, It’s just another game,” Alonso said.

A large gathering of coaches, former players and parents of players past and present were on hand to offer their thanks for the impact Alonso had on their lives.

Alonso said he had planned on the 2015 season being his last but since wife Annie had just retired he wanted to “give her one more year without him around.”

He told his team around December that he had made a definite decision and this time his mind wasn’t changing.

“The time was just right,” said Alonso, who finished with 599 career wins. “I like this group of senior kids and at the same time we have some really good juniors coming back. So the coach coming in will have a good place to start. I didn’t want to leave a bad situation for the person coming in after me.”

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Battle of Baseline baseball games loom huge

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It is once again it is time for the big Battle of the Baseline League with all six teams playing on the same day in the same venue – LoanMart Field in Rancho Cucamonga.

It is always a memorable experience for the players involved but the fact that these games are so important in the league race will make for an even better day.

Here’s the schedule and a look at each game:

Damien (8-13, 6-6) vs. Los Osos (9-13, 6-6), 11 a.m.
These two teams are currently part of a three-way tie for third. Few probably expected Damien to be in this position after the Spartans got off to a 3-11 start on the season but the Spartans have won five of the last seven games to surge into contention.

Sophomore right-hander Isaiah Paige will be on the mound for Damien which has wins this season over Los Osos by scores of 3-1 and 1-0.

The Spartans have also gotten steady production from sophomore third baseman Harrison Spohn, senior catcher Andrew Garcia and junior outfielder Daniel Benedict.

Senior Kyle Robeniol (.440) has been the top hitter and pitcher for Los Osos and will be on the mound. Senior third baseman Niko Navarro (.323) is the other big contributor.

Etiwanda (16-5, 8-4) vs. Chino Hills (14-8, 7-5), 2 p.m.

The Eagles are in first place, one game ahead of the Huskies so this one will either give Etiwanda a two-game lead or allow Chino Hills to pull even with two games left.

Chino Hills will have ace Bailey Falter (4-1, 0.93) on the mound for the first time since April 15. He has been away from the team for disciplinary reasons.

Senior right fielder Chris Ceballos (.379, 14 RBI, 6 HR) and senior designated hitter Konnor Zickefoos (.500, 6 HR, 21 RB) have been the catalysts of the offense.

Etiwanda will have Aaron Sheridan (3-2, 4.14) on the mound. Sophomore Tyler Freeman (.400) and senior Kyle Isbel (.381, 24 RBI).

Chino Hills beat Etiwanda 6-4 in eight innings on Wednesday while Etiwanda won the first game between the teams 10-9.

Upland (14-9, 6-6) vs. Rancho Cucamonga  (13-11, 3-9), 5 p.m.
Upland is the third team in the three-way tie for third while Rancho is the only team not playing for anything but pride. The Cougars did pull the 6-4 upset on Wednesday while Upland won the first game between the two 1-0.

The biggest problem for the Cougars has been offense. Junior Tyler Lawson (4-5, 2.29) will be on the mound though and he doesn’t need much when he is on.

Upland will also have its top pitcher on the mound in senior Jeff Kross (4-4, 3.76). Connor Shepherd (.468, 17 RBI) and junior Skyler De Los Reyes (.358) are catalysts of the offense.

 

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