Charles Rich
It will occasionally happen.
A once hotly contested rivalry loses its luster for at least several
seasons and reasons.
Neither squad can control it.
Major league athletes bolt via free agency or trade, interrupting the
landscape of a traditional pennant race.
At the high school scene, players graduate every four years.
The centrifugal force of the ripened rivalry between the Crescenta
Valley and Arcadia baseball teams left Stengel Field on Friday night
after Arcadia earned a 5-0 Pacific League victory in front of about 700
boisterous spectators.
CV (22-3, 13-2 in league) and Arcadia (22-3, 13-2) split the league
crown because they compete in different CIF Southern Section divisions.
Friday's battle might have signaled the last meaningful game played
between the two teams for at least the next several seasons. The pizazz
that's surrounded the two teams each time they meet will likely come to a
standstill.
Hopefully, the pending exodus from the battles won't fall into the
laughingstock category. Especially since CV and Arcadia have combined to
win or share the past five Pacific League championships.
It will be hard to match the three games played in 2002 between the
teams. Arcadia captured two of the contests, including a 4-3 victory that
lasted 12 innings and took more than four hours to complete April 19.
Arcadia Coach Mike Parisi said the rivalry might become one-sided and
favor CV for the 2003 campaign and possibly beyond.
"I've got almost all of my players graduating," Parisi said about 45
minutes before Friday's game. "Look across at CV's dugout. They'll be
losing several players, but they still have their nucleus coming back
next season, the year after and the year after that."
Parisi didn't harbor an ounce of jealousy. He admired the path CV
Coach Phil Torres took to elongate the rivalry.
Parisi must now figure out and stick to a plan to at least stay
competitive with the Falcons, the No. 1 seed in the CIF Division II
playoffs.
It doesn't figure to get easy for the Apaches, who enter the Division
I playoffs seeded third. Seventeen of their 18 players are seniors,
including pitchers Gary Kim, Aaron Anderson and position players Chris
Gelalich and Blake Lloyd. Only third baseman Nolan Bruyninckx will return
next season.
In sharp contrast, the Falcons biggest loss will be starting pitcher
Kris Krise (7-2). The right-hander will take his electrifying fastball to
UC Irvine in the fall.
Perhaps the next true rivalry will stay inside the Glendale Unified
School District.
