SANTA ROSA >> Justin Herrguth has learned his lessons well from his old coach. Now in his third year as skipper of the Healdsburg Greyhounds, Herrguth owns a 3-1 record with three straight wins against Lou Poloni, who he’ll face against today in the quarterfinal round of the North Coast Section Division IV baseball playoffs.
Unlike the four preseason games the teams have played dating back to 2014, the stakes in today’s 4 p.m. meeting at Sypher Field on the Santa Rosa Junior College campus couldn’t be any higher. The winner keeps its season alive and advances to the semifinals next Tuesday or Wednesday against either No. 2 seed Arcata or No. 9 Lick Wilmerding while the loser goes home, its year done.
Herrguth, a Healdsburg High School graduate, played for Poloni back in the mid-1990s when the current Kelseyville coach was skipper of the Greyhounds from 1995-97.
“He was one of my favorites,” Poloni said of Herrguth. “He’s a tough son of a bitch.”
Little did both of these teams realize way back in March that their first two meetings wouldn’t be their last. Healdsburg beat Kelseyville 6-4 on March 19 in Kelseyville. Three days later the Greyhounds pinned a 4-2 loss on Healdsburg at Recreation Park. The back-to-back losses dropped Kelseyville’s record at the time to 3-2. They are 19-2 heading into today’s playoff game, which is the first postseason meeting between the two schools since 2012 when Kelseyville won 6-5 in a first-round game. The Knights also won the only other playoff meeting, a 3-2 victory in 2011, also in the first round.
The two teams have met eight times in all dating back to 2011. Healdsburg leads the overall series 5-3, but all of the games have been competitive, the biggest margin of difference being a 5-1 Healdsburg victory during the 2011 preseason.
Herrguth has made strides to improve a Healdsburg program that wasn’t very good when he assumed control. He coached the Greyhounds to a 5-17 mark during his rookie season in 2014, but the team has improved each year under his guidance — 8-15 in 2015 and 13-12 this season.
“He’s one of those guys who really gets it,” Poloni said of his one-time pupil turned coaching adversary.
Needless to say, the two men remain on good terms. “He butters me up all the time,” Poloni said with a chuckle. “He tells me how good my team is and what a good job I’m doing. He’s really good at buttering you up.”
Poloni said he likes his Knights’ chances this time around because they are vastly improved from the team Healdsburg played more than two months ago.
“I really like the matchup … we’re a totally different team,” Poloni said.
An improved offense is one of the differences, according to Poloni.
“We left runners in scoring position in the 12 of the 14 innings against them (in March),” Poloni said. “If we do the same thing again (Friday) we’ll be in trouble.”
Noah Lyndall (7-1), the other half of Kelseyville’s pitching combination that also features Logan Barrick (12-1), draws the start today against the Greyhounds. He took the loss in the March 19 game at Kelseyville where the Greyhounds broke open a scoreless game with a five-run fourth inning. Lyndall left after five innings trailing 6-3. He allowed six hits, struck out six and walked six.
“I think Noah matches up very well against them,” Poloni said. “He’s excited and ready to go. I might have to give him a Valium.”
If the Knights can beat Healdsburg in postseason play for the third time in as many meetings, they’ll either be on the road early next week against Arcata in the semifinals or home to face Lick Wildmering.
Poloni said he hasn’t even thought about it and won’t bother unless the Knights win today.
“We’ve gotta take care of our own business first,” he said.
