Thursday, April 11, 1996 | 11:59 a.m.
Make no mistake, Bishop Gorman baseball coach Tim Chambers really does like his team's position atop the Sunset Division. It's just that he realizes it's going to take a lot of work to stay there.
Gorman remained unbeaten at 19-0 and improved to 3-0 in the Sunset with a 7-3 victory Tuesday afternoon at Bonanza. The Gaels continue to build on the best start in school history, and have posted eight victories since being ranked 19th nationally by Baseball America in its most recent poll.
"I said earlier that I thought everyone in our division was better than they were last year except us," Chambers said.
"This division is so tough. These teams can knock some people around. Just look at Durango, Cimarron and Western -- there's three of the top six teams in the state right there. And don't forget Bonanza, they're right there."
Such strength throughout the division leads to fierce competition on the field and some sleepless nights for coaches off it. But Chambers said the parity also has its advantages.
"You can't overlook anyone," he said. "You can't save a guy just to throw him against us because the competition is so tough. If you hold back a guy looking to wait for the top team it can come back at you.
"There's not one day in our division when you can come out and relax, because you'll get nailed. Our players know that everyone is gunning for us, but you also know that they're gunning for everyone else as well. You just can't let down."
Chambers has put a team on the field which has managed to overcome graduation losses, injuries and an alleged youthful pitching staff.
"We were up in the air a little bit coming into this season," he said. "We lost some quality players from last year, including three pitchers who were drafted. Then, early in the year, we lost a guy who we thought was going to be our No. 2 hitter and third pitcher (Jason Van Meetren) to an ankle injury. (Tuesday) was actually his first appearance since then."
The Gaels also lost Travis Senninger (strained elbow ligament), slated to be their No. 2 pitcher.
"But what happened was that we had other guys who stepped up, played extremely well and filled those holes."
Sporting just one senior, the Gorman pitching staff may be young on paper, but has cut its teeth on quality summer American Legion competition.
"We really do have a young pitching staff, but we've been very fortunate in that area," said Chambers. "If you check the stats you'll see that we have 128 strikeouts for the season compared to just 69 walks.
"We went through the summer 55-12, and finished one game away from the (American Legion) world series. All these young kids played on that team and got a chance to participate."
While the Gaels have had question marks, one area of certainty has been the top of the lineup. The first four hitters in the batting order -- John Didier, Dom Bruzzese, Dane Ball and Curt Anthony -- are batting a combined .479 with seven home runs and 95 RBI through Tuesday.
"We come to the baseball field every day, write in the first four hitters and then talk about everything else," Chambers said. "That's the way we do it, and it's a great luxury to have."
While Gorman's remaining 11 games are sure to be a perilous stretch run, Ball, for one, likes his club's chances.
"We really didn't expect to be undefeated, but the fact that we are really doesn't surprise me," Ball said. "We have real good chemistry on this team. We practice very hard and everyone likes each other. We've really come together as a team."
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