By Brandon HENSLEY

With the fall portion of the high school baseball season over, the Village Christian boys’ team is looking toward the winter season before the real stuff begins in late February. The VC Crusaders hosted Agoura High School at Tujunga Little League on Dec. 16 in the fall finale, and are now taking in vacation time before jumping back into preparing for the season.

Agoura, which is led by Head Coach Anthony Cheveria, a former assistant with Chris Casey on the Glendale College team, is a Division I school, and Casey said his team held its own.

“Our players went at. It was good. It was a good battle,” he said.

The game featured a larger than usual crowd for this time of year. Casey said the atmosphere was akin to a playoff game.

“It’s abnormal for a fall ball game. You normally have a couple of parents there,” said Casey, who noted there were several college coaches recruiting for both teams.

The Crusaders played their fall season from October to December, and had games during the week and weekend. Aside from top teams like Agoura, they also played opponents outside of their league, such as Burbank High School, Sierra Canyon and Cathedral. In all, Casey said they played about 25 games. The outcomes of those contests, however, didn’t really matter to the coaching staff.

“We don’t really keep score,” Casey said. “It’s about development. We won a majority of our games, if you want to look at it that way, but that’s not what the purpose is … We all want to win, but the purpose is to teach our kids how to play the game; situational hitting, fundamentals, playing the game right.”

Casey said his team’s hitting didn’t come around until late in the fall ball season, but he loves pitching and fielding from his guys. The Crusaders won the Olympic League last year, Casey’s first season at the helm. They went 21-6 overall, 10-2 in league, and won their opening playoff game. The team lost six seniors, but still has a solid core that has Casey excited. Pitcher/infielder Tobias Plotkin and pitcher Eric Oseguera were all All-League players in 2017 – they were the top two players in earned-run average, and will help guide the team this spring.

Danny Veloz, who is committed to San Diego State University, will play shortstop. Nick Walker, a transfer from Notre Dame High School, Kenny Aceves, Lorenzo Benefield, Aiden Holly and Burroughs transfer Ricky Perez are all players who can make an impact.

“This group is very talented,” Casey said.

The team is focused on conditioning currently, and will come back after winter break and begin a slate of preseason games against teams like Arcadia and Burbank.

VCS’ season starts in the Southern California tournament Feb. 24 vs. Parcelet. It hosts Heritage Christian on March 16, which opens up play in the Olympic League.

Basketball season ready for league tip-off

The CVHS boys’ basketball team hosted the Pasadena Bulldogs on Wednesday to open up the Pacific League portion of the schedule. The Falcons were 7-6 coming into the game. They lost three in a row last week in the Palm Springs Tournament. Despite the losing streak, Austin Novak and Arman Pezeshkian were named to the All-Tournament team. In the previous tournament, in San Fernando, Pezeshkian and Chris Arzoumanian received those honors. The Falcons are at Hoover High School on Friday at 7 p.m. On Monday, they host Glendale at 5 p.m.

The CV girls’ team was 9-4 entering league play on Wednesday at Pasadena High School. They travel to Hoover on Friday at 5:30 p.m., and on Monday they are at Glendale at 5 p.m.

  Brandon Hensley