Holiday Season Was Success at Antelope Valley

LANCASTER — Conditioning might have prematurely ended the career of one Antelope Valley High pitcher but it has extended the lifeline of another.

The Antelopes entered the season with the best pitching duo in the region. Seniors Sean Douglass and Jeremy Holiday were a pair of veterans accustomed to success.

This was nothing new for the 6-foot-2 left-handed Holiday, who will pitch for the East team today at 3:30 p.m. in the Bernie Milligan All-Star baseball game at Cal State Northridge.

He has been a workhorse for the Antelopes since 1994, when he was 9-1 with a 2.31 earned-run average . . . as a freshman.

His sophomore and junior years were more of the same. The numbers weren’t as impressive but Holiday pitched in nearly every important game.

Which is part of the reason why he couldn’t understand the lack of interest from colleges and professional scouts.

Then during Scout League season last fall, his coach pulled him aside and told him what was wrong.

“He looked at me directly and told me colleges were scared off because of my weight,” Holiday said.

After an ankle injury late in his junior season, Holiday’s weight ballooned to nearly 230 pounds by the start of his senior year.

Holiday has always been stocky. As a 5-11 freshman, he weighed 222 pounds.

For the first time in his life, Holiday took conditioning seriously, doing plenty of running, sit-ups and push-ups plus changing his eating habits.

By the start of the season, Holiday shed 20 pounds and soon reaped the rewards.

He enjoyed his best season since his freshman year, going 10-5 with a 2.61 ERA and being named the Golden League player of the year as Antelope Valley tied Palmdale for the league title.

Most importantly, Holiday got the scholarship he was looking for, signing with the University of San Francisco last month.

It was a satisfying conclusion to a sometimes tumultuous year for Holiday and Antelope Valley.

Douglass, a highly regarded professional prospect, quit the team with three weeks left in the season in a much-publicized dispute with Coach Ed t’Sas over push-ups.

Several scouts had told Douglass that push-ups were detrimental to pitching. After missing practice for two days, Douglass left the team. He was drafted by the Baltimore Orioles in the second round of last week’s major league amateur draft.

Douglass and Holiday were on the varsity together since their sophomore seasons. While Holiday says the loss wasn’t devastating, there is a definite coolness in his feelings about Douglass.

“From a team standpoint, it didn’t really affect us until the playoffs, when we could have used another pitcher,” Holiday said. “It did hurt us as a team. I mean, how could he leave us with just a couple of weeks left?

“I understand why he did what he did. He had a lot of people talking to him. I would have shut them out of my head. But you could see it the last three or four weeks he was playing. He wasn’t totally into it. He had moved on.”

Ironically, Holiday believes the workout regimen--including push-ups--helped him stay at 205 pounds.

“One of Coach t’Sas’ best strengths is the ability to get that something extra out of players,” Holiday said. “He makes you work hard but he makes you a better player.”

T’Sas was among those impressed with Holiday’s physical improvement. Each year, he makes the Antelopes run a nearly two-mile cross-country type course.

Holiday took two minutes off his time and the weight loss hasn’t affected his pitching.

Always a strikeout pitcher, Holiday fanned 109 batters in 77 2/3 innings, while making a region-high 22 appearances.

He struck out a career-high 16 batters in an eight-inning game against Highland and pitched a one-hitter against Crespi.

“He looks a lot different but he’s still a great pitcher,” said Quartz Hill catcher Jo’Sean Lyles, a teammate for the Milligan game. “It’s like he knows exactly where the ball is going when he throws it.”

Holiday plans to take most of the summer off from pitching, but he plans to stay with the conditioning.

“Before I’d go to the workouts for about three weeks, then the next week, I’d say, ‘Naah, forget it,’ ” he said. “Now I know I have to keep up with it. I’ve got a little bit more baby fat to lose.”

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

All-Star Baseball

What: 21st Annual Bernie Milligan All-Star Baseball Game.

When: Today, 3:30 p.m. at Cal State Northridge.

Tickets: $5 for adults, $2 for children 12 and under.

Baseball Game Rosters

East

*--*

No. Player, School Pos. 2 Jeremy Holiday, Antelope Valley P 2 Clemente Ortega, Sylmar SS 3 Sean Harahan, Notre Dame 3B 4 Cody Joyce, Hart OF 4 Agustin Quevedo, Grant 2B 7 Mike Benedetto, Crescenta Val ley INF 10 Ethan Slimak, Verdugo Hills SS 16 Jo’Sean Lyles, Quartz Hill C 16 Bill Scott, Alemany OF 17 Merrill Dunn, North Hollywood P 17 Wes Hutchison, Burroughs P 18 Eric Horvat, Hart 3B 21 Bobby Graves, Hart P 21 Brent Pellico, Saugus OF 21 Fernando Rios, Glendale OF 22 Chris Mayberry, Saugus 3B 24 Cory Briggs, Palmdale 3B 33 Cesar Soto, North Hollywood 1B 35 Kevin Harmon, Palmdale C 44 Anthony Fabrizio, Burroughs 1B

*--*

West

*--*

No. Player, School Pos. 1 Tim Weigand, Chatsworth OF 2 Josh Miranda, Kennedy OF 4 Brian Fatur, Calabasas OF 7 Shaun Fishman, El Camino Real P 7 Ryan Hamill, Chaminade C 8 Alberto Flores, Birmingham P 9 Josh Goldfield, Calabasas C 9 Matt Pesso, Royal 2B 10 Andy Kroneberger, Camarillo 2B 11 Jeff Bannon, Camarillo SS 12 David Krewson, Simi Valley OF 15 David Lusk, Kennedy C 17 Brian Felten, Crespi P 19 Mike Schultz, Cleveland P 20 Jon Garland, Kennedy P 22 Ray Leduc, El Camino Real C 22 Alfredo Seanz, Reseda 3B 24 Joe Borchard, Camarillo OF 25 David Sark, Chatsworth 1B 51 Tyler Dersom, Chaminade SS 64 Chris Gray, Chaminade P

*--*

Garland and Rios will not play because they have signed professional contracts.