By Vincent Liu

Town Crier Correspondent

As the runner from third base trotted home on a sacrifice fly, the cheering from Pinewood School’s dugout reached a crescendo as if the team had just scored the winning run.

Not quite. Not even close.

That turned out to be the only run against Sacred Heart Prep which at the time was well on its way to a lopsided 18-1 victory last Friday at the Los Altos Hills Little League Field.

Despite falling to 1-7 in the Private Schools Athletic League, the Pinewood baseball team manages to stay positive under the tutelage of its second-year head coach Drew Hazard.

“There is no quit in this team,” Hazard said. “My players go up to the plate hacking no matter what the score is. We run the bases aggressively and we’re moving all the time.”

Reactions from the Panthers (2-9 overall) seemed to reflect their coach’s upbeat attitude as they kept up a chatter of encouragement toward each other while the runs piled up against them.

While being positive and cheerful builds character, it alone does not win baseball games - at any levels. Talent does.

The lack of players, particularly talented ones, continues to plague the Panthers. They suited up just 11 players for Friday’s game, which ended after five innings on the 10-run mercy rule.

“We’re in a tough spot drawing players due to a small enrollment. Pinewood is a Division V private school with a student body of approximately 150,” said Hazard. “With our 0-17 record last year, it’s hard to get kids to come play for us.”

It’s also a vicious cycle. Due to its player shortage, there is no junior varsity at Pinewood. As such, freshmen have to be rushed into the varsity squad and do not get the proper development that comes with JV competition. As a case in point, the Panthers on Friday got handcuffed by a sophomore pitcher just promoted from the Gators’ JV squad.

“We simply can’t compete against those big-name schools, such as Sacred Heart and Menlo, which have a JV and strong baseball program,” Hazard said.

To put a positive spin on the situation, the young coach also pointed out that his team has been competitive against schools with similar enrollment such as Fremont Christian, Redwood Christian, Harker Academy and Valley Dublin.

While sitting at the bottom of the eight-school Private Schools Athletic League, the Panthers have already exceeded last year’s success with a win over Fremont Christian earlier in the week. It was their first league victory since 1998.

So here comes the $64,000 question: how does one turn around Pinewood’s baseball program?

Hazard said the first step is building a sound foundation by improving the skills of his existing players.

“My players need to play baseball year around as all the good players in high schools do,” he said.

However, few Panthers do. One player who does play year-round is shortstop Darren Weiss, the team’s top hitter with a batting average over .400 and an all-league candidate.

Much of Pinewood’s offensive production is supplied by catcher P.J. Capin, who leads the team in RBIs, averaging two per game.

Senior leadoff hitter and centerfielder Kyle Scheppler is among the league leaders in stolen bases and carries a batting average of around .350.

Josh Hohl, who possesses a good curve to go with his fastball, is the team’s top pitcher, having earned the team’s two victories.

Weiss and Capin, both juniors, are keys to the second step of coach Hazard’s turnaround plan: to improve Pinewood’s record. The coach said only through a better record would the Panthers have any chance of drawing more baseball players to the school.