Phoenix is an immortal bird in Greek mythology, so it’s fitting that the Calabasas High baseball team’s increasing chances of winning the Marmonte League title can be attributed to the play of a center fielder named Phoenix Call.
Call’s batting average hovers around .500 and he had two big catches in the seventh inning Monday to preserve the Coyotes’ 6-4 win over Newbury Park. Calabasas is 15-4 overall and 7-2 in the league under second-year head coach Shaun Kort, and having successful young brothers is critical to the Coyotes’ success.
Call and right fielder Sam Grunberg studied with their older brothers, Chase and Ben. Chase and Ben are now outfielders at UC Irvine and Loyola Marymount, respectively, and will be in the starting lineup Tuesday when their varsity teams play. Their younger brothers used them as inspiration. Sam, a senior, has seven home runs. Phoenix fired up the Coyotes’ offense.
“They always beat us when we were younger,” Phoenix said as a founding member of the younger brothers club. “They make us better. »
Against Newbury Park, Calabasas had three hits from Jordan Jaffe, including a two-run double in the bottom of the sixth that gave reliever Lee Atkinson a three-run cushion. Starter Jordan Kingston struck out seven batters in five innings. The Coyotes inflicted the loss on junior Cole Miller, a UCLA draftee who struck out seven.
Kort is also a younger brother. He remembers being bat boy at Dodger Stadium when his brother Jason was playing for the City title with El Camino Real. Jason is now a lawyer.
“My brother inspired me,” Shaun said.
Thousand Oaks 14, Westlake 1: Easton Rulli had four RBIs and Yahir Garcia contributed four hits to lead Thousand Oaks.
Crown 3, King 1: Ethan Schiefebein retired 13 to celebrate his 16th birthday and lead the Panthers.
Roosevelt 4, Corona Santiago 3: A goal-laden march late in the seventh inning gave Roosevelt the victory. Damian Hernandez pitched a full game.
Villa Park 3, Santa Fe 2: Gavin Grahovac scored an RBI double in the 11th inning to lift Villa Park. He also hit a home run.
Marshall 2, Bell 0 : Geo Hernandez threw a perfect game for Marshall.
Etiwanda 10, Chino Hills 1 : Austen Roellig finished with three hits while Mike Harrison and Tyler McEvoy each had three RBIs for Etiwanda. Freshman Brady Ebel allowed four hits in six innings.
Birmingham 8, Las Vegas 0 : Playing in Las Vegas, the Patriots won their first game. Gavin Taylor and Dom Cervantes each hit home runs. Ricardo Martinez pitched four shutout innings. Later, Birmingham were beaten by Arbor View 8-6. Taylor hit a home run and had two RBIs.
JSerra 8, Harvard-Westlake 3: Owen Fuller contributed four RBIs in the Lions’ win at USC.
