Photograph by Jacqueline Ramseyer
Running Home: Willow Glen High School graduate and former varsity baseball pitcher Matt Durkin is silhouetted against the summer sky at the school's baseball field. Durkin and WG resident Bobby Hobbs recently led the Rams to baseball victory.
Pitching duo rounds bases to future
Durkin and Hobbs hope for careers on professional baseball teams
By Kate Carter
Two members of Willow Glen High School's Class of 2001 are entering strike zones of their own as they pursue dreams of becoming professional baseball pitchers.
Willow Glen residents Matt Durkin and Bobby Hobbs, both 18, this year led the Rams to baseball victory in the Santa Teresa Division of the Blossom Valley Athletic League. They were eliminated in the second round of the Central Coast Section (CCS) Division II playoffs, but both say they are proud of their team's performance during their senior year.
"Everyone else underestimated us the whole year," Hobbs says of the baseball team that was 21-5 overall and 17-1 in league play. "We were the only ones who thought as well of us as we did."
"We had a heck of a season, and they were major contributors to that success," Head Coach Gary Rose says of Durkin and Hobbs. "They just did an exceptional job all around. We were really fortunate to have two pitchers like that."
The two pitchers' talent and work ethics not only helped the team but are taking them to the mounds of college and even professional teams. Hobbs will attend Pepperdine University in Malibu in the fall on both baseball and academic scholarships. Durkin is still trying to decide whether to accept an offer from the professional Arizona Diamondbacks team or to attend San Jose State University on a baseball scholarship.
Confident in their abilities and hopeful of their futures, the two still can't quite believe the opportunities becoming available to them.
"It's just fun to be out on the mound," Durkin says. "I never really thought it would open as many doors as it has."
Photograph by Jacqueline Ramseyer
Strike the Pose: Willow Glen High School graduates and former varsity baseball team pitchers Bobby Hobbs, left, and Matt Durkin, led the Rams to baseball victory in the Santa Teresa Division of the Blossom Valley Athletic League.
Born to Baseball
Hobbs and Durkin, both right-handers, are confident, tall and look like athletes. They seem a little surprised, but not displeased, by the attention being paid to them. Theirs are familiar faces in Willow Glen baseball--they played on Willow Glen Little League teams throughout their childhood summers and have played together for four years at Willow Glen High--and theirs is a story of a pair of hometown players and friends who have the rare chance to make good on the dream of playing professional sports.
Hobbs began playing Willow Glen Little League when he was five and played every summer between his school years at Willow Glen, River Glen and Reed Elementary Schools and Willow Glen Middle School.
He first began pitching when he was seven, he says, but played shortstop, second base and outfield on his little league teams. He didn't begin to concentrate solely on pitching until his sophomore year, his second year on Willow Glen High's team.
At 15 he played with the Willow Glen Colt League and last summer played on the Santa Clara Dodgers Palomino team. This summer he is the pitcher on the Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) California Giants team.
In his final season as a Ram, Hobbs had a 10-1 overall record and an 8-0 record in the league. He ended with a 1.07 earned-run average (ERA), striking out 118 batters and walking 20 in 71 and one-third innings. He was named the Santa Teresa Division's most valuable player and was named to the first-team all-Mercury News, which selects from players throughout CCS.
Durkin also began playing in the Lincoln Glen Little League when he was five, but was exposed to the game even before that.
"He was born with a ball in his hand," Hobbs says of Durkin.
Durkin's two older brothers, Sean and Ryan, were playing on Little League teams coached by their father, Bill, and Durkin spent his childhood hanging around baseball diamonds and playing catch.
He began playing on the AAU Willow Glen Red Sox team when he was 17 and traveled to Tennessee and the Junior Olympics. Last summer he pitched for the Santa Clara Red Sox, traveled to Japan and China, and led his team to victory in the Little League World Series at Santa Clara's Washington Park.
Durkin attended Schallenberger Elementary School and Willow Glen Middle School. He ended his senior year with a 7-2 record, three saves and a 0.81 ERA. He struck out 105 batters and walked 20 in 68 and one-third innings. He was named tfirst-team all-league as well as first-team all-Mercury News.
Both are talented in other sports, as well.
Hobbs played football throughout high school and was the Ram's starting quarterback his last year. Although the team completed the season without a win, Hobbs was the team MVP and was named first-team all-league. He also led CCS in passing, throwing 2,077 yards for the season.
"I would've traded them all in for a win," he laments.
Durkin played football his freshman and sophomore years and basketball his sophomore and junior years. He excelled on the basketball team as a power forward, and his junior year was his team's MVP and named first team all-league.
Durkin says he would have liked to play basketball again this past year, but he chose instead to spend the winter season preparing for his last year of high school baseball. The two say they wanted to make their senior year the best it could be--for themselves and their teammates.
"I expected a lot of myself this year," Hobbs says. "I had eight other guys trying their best."
Photograph courtesy of the Hobbs family.
League of His Own: Bobby Hobbs, at age 9, played for the Willow Glen Little League Dodgers.
Sacrifices and Rewards
Hobbs and Durkin agree that this year's team was the best it has ever been to play at Willow Glen, and maybe ever.
"We were so tight-knit off the field that we had chemistry on the field," Hobbs says. "We all knew what to expect from each other. We were nine men with one heartbeat--that's the best way to explain it."
Both knew they were being watched by college and professional scouts at every one of their games but say they didn't feel any extra pressure.
"It's just one pitch at a time," Durkin says.
It's also a lot of discipline and training in between. Their baseball season schedules had them heading to school and then baseball practice, then to the gym for weight training and running on the treadmill, then home for dinner and homework. After games they run and stretch to stay limber, and to build arm strength they "toss," throwing a ball between them at a distance of 200 or 300 feet.
The two admit they have rare inborn talent, but they point out that the only way to get as skilled as they have is hard work and self-motivation.
"No one needs to tell me or Matt to run the day after a game," Hobbs says.
"Working out makes such a difference," Durkin says. "It all pays off in the long run."
The intensive training pays off in their performance on the field, recovery from games and avoidance of injuries, but it leaves little time for part-time jobs, other activities or just hanging out with friends.
"You miss out on a lot of social functions," Durkin says. "But it's a sacrifice I'm willing to make. There will always be other parties."
Their greatest fear isn't hard work, they say, but injury.
"A line drive," Hobbs says when asked, referring to when a ball is hit straight at the pitcher.
Durkin nods next to him. "I have nightmares about it," he says.
They have both been hit, and Durkin even chipped a bone in his wrist when he was 12. But the two have avoided any major injuries, suffering only from tendonitis in their elbows and shoulders occasionally. The only way to recover is to do therapeutic work and take a rest, they say. They both say they refuse any kind of potentially harmful treatment such as cortisone shots.
They have both traveled throughout the United States and experienced things they never would have had they not played baseball, not the least of which is building lasting relationships.
"The friendships you make--to me, that's the best part," Hobbs says.
The two are confident in their abilities and enjoy being team leaders.
"I like it because you're in charge, you control the flow of the game," Durkin says. "You're the leader out there. I don't have a problem telling the team what to do."
"It's my second home on the mound," Hobbs adds.
Hobbs and Durkin both started throughout the season, with senior pitcher Nate McDonald performing well also. On any other team in the league, they say, he would have been the No. 1 pitcher.
As for them, there isn't any competition.
"We kind of push each other to do our best," Hobbs says.
And which of them is really better?
"I think the only two people who don't care are us," Hobbs says.
All Star: Matt Durkin, at age 6, while playing T-ball at Lincoln Glen Little League.
Photograph courtesy of the Durkin family.
Pitching Forward
This spring, their years of hard work paid off and fueled their hopes for long-term success in baseball and other areas of life.
Durkin was drafted by the Diamondbacks in the 10th (out of 50) round, and his agent is still negotiating a possible contract, he says. He was also recruited by colleges in California and Arizona and is considering a baseball scholarship to San Jose State University, where he would be coached by notable pitching coach Doug Thurmond and play with past teammates from his little league days.
"It's like a Lincoln Glen all-star team," Durkin says. "These are guys I've looked up to and now I'd be playing with them."
Hobbs says several professional teams were interested in him, as well, but he declined their offers of pre-draft deals. He was also recruited by several California schools.
Hobbs also applied to several University of California campuses, the University of Southern California, Stanford University, Ivy League school Dartmouth University and Pepperdine. Hobbs is an excellent student as well as athlete. He ranked seventh in his graduating class with an unweighted grade point average of 3.9. He earned a perfect 800 score on the math section of his Standardized Achievement Test and a 620 on his verbal section. He passed three Advanced Placement tests to qualify for college credit in calculus, biology and U.S. history and may be able to enter Pepperdine as a sophomore.
"Bobby's always been a very intelligent person. I consider him a well-rounded person," Hobbs' father, Bob, says and mentions his involvement on Willow Glen's mock trial team and in student government. "He's always strived to be the best he can be. By no means is he perfect, though. He has a hard time driving slow."
Hobbs credits his family with reminding him that "baseball is second to school."
He says playing on sports teams and doing activities helps him improve his grades.
"Doing both keeps you more focused," he says.
Hobbs says he chose to attend Pepperdine because it offered him the most money and because it has excellent baseball and academic programs. The team often places in the top 20 of the NCAA's Division I West Coast Conference, he says, and is coached by Frank Sanchez who is well-known for developing pitchers.
Hobbs and Durkin hope their college and professional experiences will prepare them to make a career out of baseball, and in so doing, "put Willow Glen on the map."
But they mostly want to keep playing the sport they love.
"It's great to do something that you love to do and be able to make money, and make friends," Hobbs says. "It's just amazing what a game can do for you. I just have a love for the game."
Willow Glen, California Since 1992
