Team will lean on its pitching

By Dean Wong

Last season the Ballard Beavers baseball team became the first Seattle high school to make the KingCo playoffs and their success earned Kevin Miller Coach of the Year honors in KingCo.

The Beavers finished the season with a 13-10 record. They beat Lake Washington in the playoffs to earn fourth place in the league. The Kangeroos were favored and went down 9-7 to the Beavers.

In the first game of the season, Ballard lost to Juanita 4-3. The second game, the Beavers played on its new home field and were defeated by Redmond 6-3.

The season is still young and the Beaver's strength in 2008 is on the mound.

"We should be pretty good. We have two junior pitchers (Nick Palewicz and Nico Van der Ven) and a senior pitcher (Craig Brinkman) that have established themselves as being game ready," said Miller.

Palewicz threw the baseball 92 miles an hour during the summer. Van der Ven, at six feet, six inches tall is left handed.

On defense, the Beavers are expected to be tough on their opponents.

"I feel pretty good about our team speed. Up the middle we are good. We have good mid-fielders and out fielders. We will play good defense and should be able to run and play fast," said Miller.

Although the team has plenty of speed, they do not have a power hitting lineup.

Ballard will have to contend with the usual cream of the crop schools like Woodinville, Redmond, Bothell and Lake Washington.

Miller is a former Beaver who was the Metro League Player of the Year in 1995 and went on to play professional baseball with the Oakland Athletics.

Each spring brings back the fond memories. "I love it. It is so easy for me to come out here and do this. This is where I played. It feels good to be part of it," said Miller.

Ballard fans and school staff turned out at Soundview Park for a ribbon cutting and ceremonial first pitch on the school's synthetic turf field.

"Voice of the Beavers," Jim Vatn was the master of ceremonies for the pre-game event.

Ballard alumnus, Class of 1957 Mick McDonald received the honor of cutting a black and red ribbon strung between the two dugouts. McDonald played baseball as a student and came back to coach from 1977 to 1989. Three of his players ended up in professional baseball.

Soodjai Kutrakun, Ballard High's popular Violence Prevention Specialist threw out the first pitch with principal Phil Brockman making the catch at home plate. He has been with the Seattle School District 29 years.

The School District funded the majority of the field improvements. The Beavers received donations from parents and the Ballard High Booster Club to add a ball return, new turf in the batting cages and a shed for equipment. In the near future, the dugouts will be covered with roofs.

"It's nice to have that support. It is appreciated," said head coach Kevin Miller.

The team moved the old bleechers from the high school to Soundview. "It feels like a home field," said Miller.

Despite a steady rain that began falling right before the ceremony, fans cheered on the Beavers while enjoying free hot dogs, chips and other snacks.

Dean Wong may be reached at deanw@robinsonnews.com