His Teammates Get in the Way of Record Quest

The county’s second-leading all-time stolen base leader steps off first base. He doesn’t take his eyes off the pitcher.

The pitch. Teddy Ehrhardt is off.

Crack .

A line-drive out and the inning is over.

“He would have had it stolen,” said Bonita Vista High Coach Ron Pietila about his speedy senior center fielder.

That is a typical situation Ehrhardt has encountered this season. It is one of the reasons his stolen base total is only 16 this season, after he accumulated 57 in his first two years. But that isn’t the only reason.

“The major reason is our seven, eight and nine hitters are getting on base quite a bit and he seems to have people on base in front of him a lot,” Pietila said. “The opportunity to steal bases hasn’t been there that much this year.”

Still, Ehrhardt’s offensive output this season has not been limited. His average, currently .423, is 69 points higher than his previous career high. He has 17 runs batted in, 2 home runs and 32 runs scored, all career highs.

“He’s been very productive in other parts of the game,” Pietila said. “Teddy, for all his talents, has not reached nearly his potential as a baseball player, including as a base stealer. When someone really works with him to get his lead and get a jump, he’ll be a much better base stealer. He just has tremendous speed. He’s just so gifted.”

Ehrhardt, who is 5-feet 7-inches tall and weighs 150 pounds, has a 3.8 grade-point average and plans to play at San Diego State next season.

He has never been timed in the 40-yard dash, despite being an All-Mesa League receiver on the football team. He was timed at 3.1 seconds from home to first once as a junior.

“They want to leave it a mystery or something,” he said.

As a sophomore, Ehrhardt stole 31 bases, tied for sixth in the San Diego Section. He was also the team’s second-leading hitter with a .354 average.

“I hit the ball really good,” Ehrhardt, 18, said. “I wasn’t trying to be the star; I was just trying to keep my spot. My stolen bases were unbelievable. I would steal two a game, almost. I wasn’t looking for it.”

The record of 95, established from 1983-85 by Granite Hills’ Frank Carey, seemed reachable. But Ehrhardt’s stolen bases dropped to 26 and his average slipped to .300.

“My junior year, that’s when you get kind of edgy,” Ehrhardt said. “People are saying ‘Go for that record,’ and you start thinking about it. I was doing pretty good at the beginning of the year, but the last seven games, it was really getting to me. I couldn’t concentrate and wasn’t getting on the bag that much.”

Although Ehrhardt thought he had a shot at 38 steals this year, which would have tied the record, he had other goals.

“I wanted to have a little better offense than just hitting and the stolen bases,” he said. “I had a real good defensive year and pretty good stolen-base year last year, but my hitting was (.300). I wanted to bring that up. This is my senior year, and I wanted to hit the ball pretty good.”