“Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness, that frightens us. We ask ourselves, ‘Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous?’ Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won’t feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It’s not just in some of us; it’s in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.”
Marianne Williamson published these words in 1992 and in 2005, they were popularized in American mainstream culture by the film Coach Carter, in which the character Timo Cruz (Rick Gonzalez) recites them at the movie’s climax, delivering the narrative’s theme.
That theme is simply this: Everyone in this world has something to offer, and that only by embracing our personalities and maximizing our talents — truly allowing ourselves to shine brightest — do we make the world a better place.
It was a quote and a sentiment that Westcliff baseball head coach David Shermet returned to time and again in 2023.
They’re not leaving.
It’s been an wildly unpredictable California Pacific Conference championship baseball tournament this week in Mesa, Arizona, where NAIA No. 15, Benedictine Mesa, is playing host at the Oakland A’s spring training facility, Hohokam Stadium.
The craziness started in the Game 1 when fifth-seeded Simpson upset No. 4 Embry-Riddle on the strength of an eight-run frame.
Simpson then followed that doozy up by shocking No. 1 Ben U with a five-run frame in the top of the ninth to waltz into tomorrow’s winner’s matchup with No. 3 Antelope Valley, who took out No. 2 Westcliff in Game 2, 7-4.
In Wednesday’s nightcap, the Warriors met ERAU in the loser’s bracket elimination contest, and the game lived up to its billing, with both sides pitching well in a thrilling 6-5 Westcliff win.
The Westcliff baseball team scored a crucial, walk-off win Saturday at the Great Park, 8-7, over Cal Pac leader Benedictine Mesa.
The game meant nothing in terms of playoff seeding, but it meant everything in terms of psyche and momentum.
It was a frustrating afternoon at the Great Park Thursday, where La Sierra thoroughly outplayed the Westcliff baseball team in a 12-7 finish.
The Warriors committed another four errors, and can once again blame their own mistakes for a loss.
No one call can dictate the entirety of a baseball game, but one bad call at the right moment can flip momentum and turn the tide of a baseball game.
From the Westcliff baseball team’s perspective, that’s exactly what took place Saturday at the Great Park, where Bethesda scored four in the top of the ninth to claim a 4-2 win.
With pitching coach Dylan Hoffman absent from the ballpark Friday morning, it was an emotional day, as the Westcliff baseball team had two eyes on the business at hand, and the mind’s eye alongside their missing coach and family member in the dugout.
But with Bethesda visiting the Great Park and Westcliff on the precipice of making school history, Friday’s games played on, with the Warriors capturing a pair of wins, 11-1 in the opener and 11-8 late.
Someone throw a bucket of water on Caleb Castanchoa.
The kid’s on fire.
Sunday was a day of offense at the Great Park, with the home team completing a sweep of Saint Katherine with wins of 10-9 and 15-4.
No bat reigned more supreme than Castanchoa’s, who did whatever he wanted.
It was good night for Eddies Friday at the Great Park where Eddies Rios and Rivero led the Westcliff baseball team to its ninth Cal Pac win in 10 tries, this time 8-0 over Saint Katherine.
Saturday at the Great Park was an interesting eight hours for the Westcliff baseball team.
The Warriors picked up their second Cal Pac sweep of the season, this time over Antelope Valley, a result not many would have predicted heading into the weekend.
But after winning Game 1, 8-6, and Game 2, 15-10, the Warriors left the park with a bad taste in their mouths having allowed the Pioneers to score eight runs in the final three frames.
The Westcliff baseball team picked up such an impressive 8-4 comeback win over fellow Cal Pac wins-leader Antelope Valley Friday at the Great Park, it’s hard to decide who to heap praise on the most.
The Westcliff baseball team backed up its Cal Pac-opening sweep of Providence by taking two out of three at Park in Gilbert, AZ., over the weekend.
Westcliff took Game 1, 10-6, and Game 2, 8-1 on Friday.
On Saturday, a crazy back-and-forth contest left the Warriors holding the short end of the stick, 10-9.
Days of baseball don’t get much better than this.
Saturday at Vanguard University, Westcliff played visitor to the visiting Sea Beggars from Pasadena, and came away with a doubleheader sweep, 19-0 and 23-0.
A year ago, the Providence Christian series marked the low point in a season the Westcliff baseball team struggled through emotionally.
Outscored 28-8 in three at America Park, tempers finally boiled over for the Warriors in Fullerton, and the series would long be remembered as rough, to put it politely.
So this weekend’s series against the Beggars of the Sea provided a unique opportunity for a little payback.
A chance for the Warriors to make Providence miserable.
How sweet it is.
Friday in Pasadena, the Warriors put it on Providence, 8-1.
The Westcliff baseball team’s late inning struggles reared their ugly head once again Saturday at the Great Park, where the Warriors surrendered a three-run lead in the final two frames to fall to Chapman 8-6.
The Westcliff baseball team swept away San Diego Christian Saturday at the Great Park, completing a four-game sweep with two wins — 14-10, and 4-1.
In Game 1, Eddie Rivero, Ulysses Duran, Nolan Wasson, Ray Moore, Jr., Evan Rocha and Zane Parmenter all collected two hits, and Daniel Esquada added a 13th as the Warriors went up 11-5 in the third.
There’s a thing in baseball called “the Schneid.”
Right now Westcliff is planted right on top of it, and unfortunately, things just won’t feel right until they get off it.
After two close, but winless, series against top-caliber clubs to open the season, Westcliff hosted Bethesda Saturday for a double-dip at Vanguard’s park in Costa Mesa.
Game 1, a 10-3 loss, was a tough pill to swallow, as another nightmare ninth doomed the Warriors for the second game in a row.
After a frustrating loss to start the day Saturday at Vanguard, the Westcliff baseball team finally leaped off the Schneid with a 7-0 win over Bethesda.
The Westcliff baseball team took it on the chin last weekend in a three-game home-and-home series with Vanguard to open the 2023 season.
The Lions won all three contests, 3-1 at home Friday, then 17-1 and 2-0 at the Great Park on a double-dip Saturday.
2022 was a trying year for the Westcliff baseball team.
Beginning with fall ball, and coming off a banner inaugural year that included wins over national champion Chapman, as well as Concordia, it looked as though the Warriors were poised to make noise in their first year of Cal Pac play.
But then tragedy struck over Christmas break, when starting pitcher JJ Sanchez — whom many considered the emotional heart and soul of the team — passed away as a result of an automobile accident in Northern California.
The loss of Sanchez devastated the team and the coaching staff, and although they played through it as best they could, it was obvious to anyone in and around the program that overcoming the loss would be impossible — the season seemed almost inconsequential.
Time has done a lot to heal those wounds.
Duran Named NAIA All-American Honorable Mention
June 07, 2023
