Baseball: Simi Valley’s Raskin is big man on campus in victory
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It’s safe to say Kyle Raskin isn’t the most imposing figure once he sets foot out on the diamond. That, however, didn’t prevent Simi Valley’s 5-foot-6 senior third baseman from making a big impact, perhaps the biggest, during Friday’s Southern Section-Toyota Division I quarterfinal playoff game.
Raskin reached base in three of his four plate appearances, hit a home run, scored two runs, had a pair of RBIs, and nearly started a full-fledged brawl for the fourth-seeded Pioneers in a 13-2 victory over visiting Valencia in a quarterfinal showdown in Ventura County.
‘We call him ‘Dirtbag’ for a reason. He’s scrappy, he gives 100%, 100% of the time,’’ Simi Valley Coach Matt La Belle said of Raskin, who led off the second inning with a walk and came around to score a couple of batters later to give the Pioneers a 3-1 lead.
Raskin was at it again in the fourth inning. He got things started with a solo home run to left-center field, and the floodgates opened shortly thereafter. Drew Sandler had a two-RBI single and Chance Cross followed with a two-run home run to spark an eight-run rally.
‘It’s my job to get on base, at all costs, whatever it takes,’’ Raskin said. ‘On that home run, well, honestly, I didn’t think I made good contact. I thought it was a double. I wasn’t mad when it went over the fence though. Hitting is contagious. My teammates got going after the homer.’’
Before the Vikings (22-8) knew it, they trailed 11-1. Raskin wasn’t finished though. Simi Valley (23-8) batted around in the fourth, and in his next time up, he bunted for a hit, much to the displeasure of Valencia and its fans. You could sense something was about to happen. And it did.
Valencia’s Dustin Lucas threw behind the next Pioneer batter, Nick Russo. The umpires stepped in immediately, and La Belle and Vikings skipper Jared Snyder did a good job of controlling both benches from getting too unruly. Play continued, though Valencia was demoralized.
‘All the talking and yelling back and forth was a heat-of-the-moment type thing,’’ Snyder said. ‘It’s over and done with now. That one incident should not be a reflection of my program or Simi Valley’s program. We have a mutual respect for each other. It is what is, or was what it was, I guess.’’
La Belle agreed wholeheartedly.
‘Kids see major leaguers retaliating and think it’s part of the game, but it’s not, especially at the high school level,’’ he said. ‘Kyle came up to me after the bunt and told me he was sorry. He was just going full speed, that’s the way he is. He wasn’t really thinking about the situation. He’s one of those kids that is always toned up for our games. We have to tone him down most times.’
Christian Lopes was one of the lone bright spots for the Vikings. The highly touted freshman hit a solo home run to left-center field on the third pitch of the game and had a solo blast in the fifth inning. Ultimately, his efforts came up short -- and there’s no pun intended if Raskin reads this.
-- Sean Ceglinsky