Bumbling Stops When Witkow Gets the Ball

Brandon Witkow’s relatives hail from Russia, but the State Department has nothing to worry about. He is no threat to national security. When it comes to cloak-and-dagger stuff, he is part Columbo, part Clouseau.

The Taft High senior right-hander is always attempting some prank or stunt. He just never gets away with it.

During a tournament last month in Las Vegas, Witkow tried to pull a fast one on Coach Rich McKeon. Witkow called McKeon on the hotel phone, pretending to be a sportswriter from the Las Vegas Review-Journal.

Witkow: “So, tell me about your game, Coach.”

McKeon: “Well, it was one of our better games, we played pretty well and we. . . .”

McKeon droned on for a couple of minutes, then Witkow asked another lame question. A light bulb flashed over McKeon’s noggin.

Bellowed McKeon into the phone: “Wit, get in here!”

“I guess he figured it out,” Witkow said. “Other guys on this team are always doing stuff, and they always get away with it.”

Maybe it’s Witkow’s karma.

During practice Monday, Witkow somehow lost his glove--in a dugout that measures only about 20 feet. He appropriated another from a junior varsity player.

“I’m gonna need something for the game (today),” he said, sounding more than a little frantic.

Minutes later, a teammate found Witkow’s first mitt in the dugout, right where he left it.

“I looked everywhere,” Witkow said, sounding mystified.

The bumbling ceases when Witkow pitches. Last week, he gave up only two hits over 6 1/3 innings as Taft upset archrival El Camino Real, 2-1, ending the Conquistadores’ 13-game winning streak.

That wasn’t all the damage that Witkow did. An infielder when he isn’t pitching, he drove home the tying run in the sixth inning with a clutch double, then added three hits in an 8-2 loss to El Camino Real two days later. He entered the week batting .341 with six doubles in 41 at-bats.

Witkow committed last week to play at Nevada Las Vegas, becoming one of four Taft players to land an NCAA Division I scholarship this season.

Witkow is one of three Toreadors who have played on the varsity for four years, and it’s a roster replete with characters.

Two years ago, for example, teammate Warren Stewart was asked to dispense philosophical pearls of wisdom at games and practices. The team routinely gathered around Stewart, who dusted off such chestnuts as: “If you give a man a fish, it will feed him for a day. If you teach him how to fish, he will eat for a lifetime.”

Witkow, who recited the aforementioned off the top of his head, was but a guppy when he started a few games at third base as a freshman. He still isn’t the biggest guy (5-foot-11, 155 pounds) in town, but he’s working on that. He is determined to bulk up and chugs protein milkshakes daily.

He said the UNLV coaching staff told him that he could gain an extra 5 m.p.h. on his fastball with every 10 pounds of weight he adds. There’s no doubt that Witkow has been Taft’s heavyweight on the hill. He is 9-1 with an earned-run average of 2.19.

Witkow will have another chance to beat El Camino Real next Tuesday in the regular-season finale, and it could prove lucrative. He has several bets on the line with El Camino Real players as to which team will win the season’s three-game series, now tied at a game each.

Witkow already ahead. Last week, he struck out John Novak, El Camino Real’s designated hitter, to win a $5 wager.

“All I had to do (to win) was strike him out,” Witkow said, shrugging. “He had to hit a homer off me. It was an easy bet.”

He paused. “Hey, it was his idea.”

No doubt. If Witkow had made the proposition, it probably would have backfired.