‘What just happened?’ Power surge for McClatchy baseball team now includes fences
It used to be that home-run blasts at McClatchy High School required a full-on sprint around the bases, otherwise it might just be an “I’m gassed!” triple.
McClatchy installed outfield fences late this season, a project long in the making. It marked the end of a full-gallop era and the dawn of a new one for a storied program. What remains constant is the joy of going yard, of sending a pitch so far out there — with or without fences — that it adds a jolt to the scene.
“My favorite part of practice is batting practice,” longtime Lions coach Mike de Necochea said as he warmed up his weary arm recently. “We’ve got some guys who can really mash. It’s just so cool to see.”
Leading that mash parade are two sluggers who look the part in Malcolm Moore and Ben Silva, both in the 6-foot-3 and 215-pound range for the 19-3 Lions. Moore is batting .500 with 25 extra-base hits and 45 RBIs. Silva is hitting .507 with 17 extra-bases and 36 RBIs.
That they have been pals since about the time they could swing a bat adds to the fun, in-house rivalry. Every practice day is a home-run contest. Moore and Silva keep score — who hammers the farthest, who has the most dingers. Moore has five in-game blasts and Silva four, and they might have more if not for a lack of fences on their home turf.
‘Big-time’ prospects
Silva ended a home game against Ponderosa — pre-fence installation — with a three-run homer. He hustled all the way around the bases and had enough energy to high-five everyone who wanted a slap. Silva is McClatchy’s steady senior ace, an infielder when not on the mound, and a budding college prospect waiting to be plucked.
Moore is a junior catcher, already on the Major League Baseball draft radar. He showcased his power as a freshman on varsity in a tournament in Southern California, earning nicknames from “The Natural” to “The Messiah.”
“You could tell then that he was big time,” de Necochea said.
Moore is also verbally committed to attend Stanford, which tells you about what sort of talent and student he is.
As the season winds down, including a home finale against Lincoln on Tuesday, the name of the game remains fun. There are no playoffs, so the Metro League championship is cherished, as are every extra-base hit. Silva admits in hushed tones while Moore was hammering away on practice pitches that he’s a fan, adding, “We may be watching him on TV in a few years going, ‘I know him!’”
Silva knows a good moment when he sees one. Earlier this season, in an intrasquad scrimmage, Moore unleashed on a pitch, and it sailed off into lore, or at least off the top of a metal storage container waaaaaaay out at the end of right field, before the fences rose out of the ground. The ball bounced off that shed, a country mile by any measure, and into the back of someone’s Land Park yard.
“When he hit that bomb to the shed, it was surreal,” Silva said. “Even Malcolm was a bit awed. We all went, ‘what just happened? There’s something exciting about a guy who hits a ball that far.”
What happened was a power surge that prompted de Necochea to have someone hustle to that shed and measure it. Oh, and to check to see the size of the dent on top of that shed. The ball traveled nearly 440 feet. The dent is there. The shed is still wincing.
“As good as Malcolm is behind the plate as a catcher, it’s his bat that they really like,” de Necochea. “You can see why. He’s also a great catcher. First guy I haven’t called pitches for.”
Comparisons to a legend
Moore’s blast that intrasquad day brought to mind another power slugger from 55 years ago. Leron Lee was a left-handed slugger for Grant in 1966, a prospect who caught the eye of scouts for his prodigious power. In a Metropolitan Conference game at McClatchy, Lee hammered a shot off of ace and fellow prosepct Pat Fall that went nearly 500 feet. That sent the outfielder on the run to try and catch up to a ball that landed in someone’s yard.
Bill Sayles was the supervisor of scouts for the St. Louis Cardinals then. He saw that blast, nearly dropping his notebook, and he urged his bosses to select Lee in the first round of the MLB Draft weeks later. Lee went No. 7 overall and logged seven big-league seasons, with a few more in Japan. Lee remains one of this region’s biggest sports names.
“The two longest home runs ever hit here were Leron Lee and Malcolm Moore,” de Necochea said. “Just amazing.”
An added bonus of the fences is pregame clarity.
For Lee’s blast in 1966, plate umpire Joe Duarte Sr. actually ruled it a ground-rule double, per the rule book, since the ball bounced out of play. Lee’s blast was a one-hopper that bounced over the neighborhood fence, though Fall, the pitcher, maintained forever it was the most legitimate home run he ever allowed.
“So happy to have these fences,” de Necochea said. “We go over the ground rules with umpires before games and have to remind them that guys have hit the ball that far, and they say, ‘No way!’”
McClatchy broke in its new fence during a 6-0 victory over River City on May 21. Fittingly, Moore and Silva each homered, and both enjoyed the trot around the bases without a coach frantically waving them in from third base to beat a relay throw. Junior Gabe Henderson allowed two hits and struck out 11 in moving to 6-1 on the season, clinching a share of the Metro with rival Laguna Creek. Henderson is hitting .455 at leadoff. Anthony Lopez is batting .412, Isaac Ortega .400 and Julian Carmona .381.
In practice, Henderson belts his share of home runs. They all do.
“Who doesn’t like to hit a bomb?” Moore said.