KELSEYVILLE >> If Hollywood has taught us anything down through the years, it’s that sequels to hit movies rarely live up to the original film. That’s not the case with Kelseyville High School varsity baseball teams.
Take for instance Kelseyville 2017, the sequel to the blockbuster Kelseyville 2016. It not only received rave reviews throughout the North Coast Section this past season, but the same guy directed both mega-hits from the confines of the dugout and third-base coaching box at Lloyd Larson Field. Veteran coach Lou Poloni topped a 20-3 campaign in 2016 with his sequel 24-2-1 smash hit this past season, and while he won’t be in contention for a Screen Actors Guild Award or an Academy Award, he is the Lake County Record-Bee’s Coach of the Year in boys sports for the 2016-17 sports season.
The graduation losses Kelseyville absorbed following the 2016 season were considerable but didn’t slow down the Knights at all in 2017. They went 16-1 against other teams that reached the sectional playoffs and had a 23-game winning streak before falling 4-0 to St. Joseph Notre Dame of Alameda in the North Coast Section Division IV semifinals. The Pilots went on to win the sectional championship.
More telling to the Knights’ dominance was a second straight 14-0 run through the North Central League I standings.
Kelseyville’s lineup wasn’t stacked with stars from top to bottom, which makes the team’s run all that more impressive. The Knights certainly had two legitimate big-time players in pitcher Logan Barrick and shortstop Kyle Ellis and a supporting cast of solid veterans and varsity rookies, nearly all of whom came through at some point during the season in critical situations, but other Kelseyville teams during the Poloni era have boasted more offensive firepower and not done nearly as well as the 2017 squad, which choked out opponents with airtight defense and a solid pitching rotation anchored by Barrick (13-0), who won more games in a single season than any other Lake County pitcher.
Poloni just completed his 10th season as head coach of the Knights. His overall record stands at 153-93-1 (.621) and his league record is 84-32 (.724).
“It’s really tough to get here, really tough to get back here,” Poloni said of reaching the semifinal round of the Division IV playoffs in back-to-back seasons. “It’s kind of like the white whale I’m continually chasing. It would have been nice to get into the championship game at least once.”
Poloni said he definitely enjoyed the 2017 team and all the players who made it special.
“I would roll with this group until August or September if I could,” Poloni said.
Following a 20-win season in 2016, Poloni said he wasn’t sure his 2017 club could duplicate that kind of success let alone win even more games..
“Earlier in the season we were excited if (Jason) Gentle (pitcher/outfielder) fouled off a pitch let alone hit the baseball somewhere,” Poloni joked. “We didn’t think (Junior) Gonzalez could play first base. And Randy Pfann really came a long way as our catcher. All these younger guys getting better is pretty exciting.”
