Using wooden bats, Novato High beats aluminum-bat swinging Dougherty Valley

Thursday, May 27, 2010
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  Novato High pitcher Matt Mendelsohn fielded Dougherty Valley leadoff hitter Andrew Ramos' comebacker the same way he always has. He fielded a good hop, planted his foot and threw to first to record the out.

  In the moment, the fact that the ball came off an aluminum bat didn't matter. All it was to Mendelsohn was another baseball play.

  The ongoing debate of whether high school baseball teams should use wood or metal bats took center stage Wednesday when Dougherty Valley hosted Novato in a North Coast Section Division III first-round game.

  The Hornets, using wood bats, ultimately won the game 3-1. What made the game noteworthy was the fact that across the diamond, the Wildcats did what most East Bay teams did Wednesday, using their normal aluminum bats.

  "We've been playing with wood for a while, but we knew everyone in the East Bay and the rest of the country has been playing with metal," Novato coach Bob Scheppler said. "(Dougherty Valley) was put in a tough spot today. With our league going with wood, it was tough for everybody."

  The decision to use aluminum or wood was left in the hands of coaches when the North Coast Section Board of Managers voted on April 26 not to impose a ban on aluminum for the playoffs.

  The Marin County Athletic League, already using wood bats in the wake of the injury to Marin Catholic's Gunnar Sandberg from a line drive to the head in a March 11 scrimmage, pledged that it would continue to use

  wood throughout the playoffs. The league said it would leave the decision on whether or not to use wood to its opponents.

  After discussing it with colleagues from Alhambra - another school that had to make the choice for its game Wednesday vs. San Marin-Novato - the Wildcats coaching staff elected to stick with the bats they'd been using all year.

  "Our thing was it went to NCS, there was a vote, and we're going to go with the vote," Dougherty Valley coach Brian Freitas said. "We were very sensitive to the issue but at the same time, you saw today it was baseball. If they hit the ball well, it's going to fall in for a hit."

  Any advantage that Dougherty Valley might have had was negated by Mendelsohn, who allowed just three hits in six innings. He wore a helmet while pitching, and easily fielded the three balls that were hit to him.

  "It's not the major leagues. It's tough for them to hit with wood bats," said former A's and Giants outfielder and current Dougherty Valley assistant Darren Lewis. "Today we didn't hit a ball out of the infield with aluminum bats."

  While Scheppler and Freitas were both understanding of the situation, some coaches have argued more strenuously to impose the ban. Drake-San Anselmo coach Adam Farb lodged a formal protest before his team defeated El Molino-Forestville 4-3 on Tuesday, and voiced his opinion after the contest.

  "I think the fact that this game was played under these circumstances is an embarrassment to the MCAL, for the NCS, for me, for (El Molino). It just shouldn't have happened," Farb told Marin Independent Journal reporter John Swartz. "To some extent, it's a disgrace that it happened. The fact that we won doesn't change that."

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