Orange County Prep Review / Jim McCurdie : Coaches Question Stats of Batting Title Winner

Bobby Hamelin of Irvine High School fell a few hits short of winning an unofficial triple crown in the Orange County prep baseball statistics this season. Or did he?

According to statistics reported to The Times by county coaches, Hamelin led the county in home runs (9) and RBIs (38), but finished second to Cypress’ Jason Friedman in the race for the batting title.

But some coaches contend there is reason to doubt the accuracy of Freidman’s .582 batting average.

Statistical leaders--as reported by coaches--have appeared in The Times each Wednesday since the beginning of league play. Friedman’s name was not among them until two weeks remained in the regular season. On May 7, Friedman was reported as having 23 hits in 45 at-bats in 24 games for a batting average of .511. That placed him fifth among county leaders behind Troy Paulsen of La Quinta (.525), Hamelin (.521), Andy Escobar of Esperanza (.521) and Jason Rolish of Servite (.515).

On the next Wednesday, The Times ran it’s final prep baseball statistic lists for 1986. Friedman was listed first in the batting leaders with a .582 average. His numbers for 26 games, as reported by Cypress Coach Ty Cobb: 32 hits in 55 at bats. Hamelin was second at .514 (38 of 74).

Based on the above sets of statistics, Friedman would have had to have gone 9 for 10 in his last two games to finish the season 32 for 55.

Friedman was reported to have had two hits and three RBIs in Cypress’ final game of the season, a 9-4 win over Katella last Friday. The Centurions lost to El Dorado, 11-6, last Tuesday. El Dorado Coach Steve Gullotti said Sunday that he didn’t have his score book to refer to when asked how Friedman fared in that game, but added: “He didn’t get seven hits against us, I know that. I know he didn’t go 4 for 4, and I’d almost bet he didn’t get three hits against us.”

According to Cobb, Friedman went 3 for 3 in both games, which would have put him at 29 for 51 for the season. That would have given him the batting title with a .568 average, but those aren’t the numbers that Cobb reported last week.

“His mom kept calling me, wanting to know why his stats weren’t in the paper,” Cobb said. “The stats she had on him were different from ours. We went back and rechecked everything, and we had him at 32 for 55 for the season.”

The discrepancy has Irvine Coach Bob Flint--whose player was denied the unofficial triple crown--more than a little unhappy.

“If, indeed, those stats are wrong, that’s a terrible thing to do to a kid who could have won the whole thing,” Flint said.

“I questioned it, just because he hadn’t been around. That name just wasn’t in there for most of the season. It was Rolish and Paulsen and Hamelin. I wouldn’t think so much of it, but Bobby had a chance of winning the triple crown. There’s no award for that, but I think that’s a nice accomplishment for a kid.”

Cobb said there is no disputing Friedman’s ability as a hitter. “You can take my word for it right now,” he said. “Jason Friedman is the best hitter in the county, bar none.”

At best, the compiling of prep baseball statistics is an inexact science. There are no official scorers at prep baseball games; no wire services to provide weekly statistical leaders. Newspapers must rely on coaches for regular reporting of statistics, and that can leave some margin for error. Who’s to say Flint’s statistics are infallible?

“I could go through and count up all of Bobby Hamelin’s hits and, hey, maybe I’d find out I’m off one,” Flint said. “But there’s a difference between making an honest mistake . . . and being unethical.”

Empire League coaches surveyed didn’t seem to doubt that Friedman is a talented hitter, but some wondered whether his final statistics were legitimate. A couple of samplings:

Gullotti: “I have some doubts about the batting average, yeah. Maybe they keep score differently than we do.”

Esperanza Coach Mike Curran: “There was a lot of curiosity as to whether he did what they claimed he did.”

It is curious that Friedman’s name didn’t appear on the Orange County leader board until the second-to-last week of the regular season. Cobb said that is simply due to a policy he had about not giving his players individual recognition during the season, fearing that would detract from the team concept.

“It was just one of those things where we didn’t deserve the recognition,” Cobb said.

Said Flint: “It’s kind of like Wade Boggs, George Brett and Don Mattingly battling it out until the last week, and then having Mike Heath win it.”

Prep Notes The Empire and South Coast Leagues were the only Orange County leagues to go unbeaten in the first round of the Southern Section baseball playoffs. Here’s how the other county leagues fared: Century 2-1; Freeway 2-1; Sunset 2-1; Angelus 1-2; Garden Grove 1-2; Orange 1-2, and Sea View 1-2. . . . Western’s Kirk Ayres will compete in three events in the Southern Section 2-A Track and Field Championships next Saturday at Cerritos College. In the 2-A preliminaries held Saturday at Valencia, Ayres qualified for the finals in the long jump and the 100- and 200-meter runs. Mike Fritz of Anaheim qualified in the 200 and 400. Anaheim’s Yleana Carrasco, who set a 2-A record last year in the high jump at 5-10, will be back to try to break her mark. She qualified at 5-2. Chris Lugo of Valencia was the top qualifier in the two-mile run with a time of 9:38.49. Ocean View’s Debbie Orr set a meet record in the triple jump to highlight the 4-A prelims Friday at Gahr High School. Orr, who also qualified in the long jump and high jump, had a mark of 38-7 1/2 in the triple jump, breaking a record set by Alice Franklin of Santa Ana Valley in 1982. . . . Tustin High’s faculty will play members of the Los Angeles Rams in a benefit basketball game on May 28 in the school’s gymnasium. Tickets are priced at $3.50 and proceeds from the event will benefit the Tiller boys’ basketball team. . . . Tex Wallis, basketball coach at La Habra for 26 years, and Harry (Cap) Sheue, who coached various sports at Huntington Beach for 29 years, have been inducted into the Southern Section’s Hall of Fame. . . . Mater Dei will be host to a 16-team summer basketball tournament beginning June 26 in the Monarchs’ gym. . . . Former Mater Dei basketball star Matt Beeuwsaert, the Southern Section’s 4-A Player of the Year in 1983, has transferred from Notre Dame to Cal. Beeuwsaert will become eligible for the 1987-88 season as a junior. . . . Dave Bowen of Western has named Gordon Blakeley of Sonora and Mike Curran of Esperanza as assistants for the North team that will participate in the Orange County All-Star baseball game on June 10 at Glover Field. South Coach Ron Drake of Mission Viejo has named Dave Demarest (La Quinta) and Tom DeKraai (Fountain Valley) as his assistants. . . . Capistrano Valley’s three-sport star, Nathan Call, has been selected to play in the county football, basketball and baseball all-star games. . . . Lisa Houk, a former All-Southern Section softball player at Edison High, was named to the Division II All-American team. Houk, a senior, was the captain of Cal Poly San Luis Obispo’s softball team and batted .344. . . . The sixth Butch Carter-El Toro basketball camp is scheduled July 28-Aug. 1 at El Toro High. The camp is open to boys and girls from grades 3-12 and will run daily from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. For further information, contact Tim Travers at 586-6333, ext. 658.