La Salle’s Bowdien ‘Bubba’ Derby trumps area aces for honor

Much of the success of the La Salle High baseball team’s 2012 season was marked by two games in the span of one week.

And much of the success achieved by the Lancers in those two dramatic outings can be marked by the remarkable right arm of Bowdien Derby.

Derby notched a strikeout to end the game and earn a save and, more importantly, the first win in program history for La Salle against rival and stalwart Bishop Amat on April 24. Three days later, Derby went the distance for a victory, putting the Lancers in prime position to claim their first-ever Del Rey League baseball title and first league crown since 2006.

“We just wanted to take one, at least, from them,” Derby remembers. “Coming into the season, we knew we definitely had a great shot.”

In the end, Derby and the Lancers took two, they took a league title, grabbed a playoff win and had a season to remember in more ways than one.

The rifle-armed right-hander overpowered the opposition on the hill, more than held his own at the plate and in the field, was an invaluable piece to a historic La Salle puzzle of a season and a unanimous pick by the Glendale News-Press, Burbank Leader, La Cañada Valley Sun and Pasadena Sun sports editors and writers as the 2012 All-Area Baseball Player of the Year.

“He was extremely crucial,” says La Salle pitcher Connor Jenkins. “He carried the team throughout those two games. He was the star of the show.

“Everyone knows without him, we wouldn’t have been able to do it.”

For the 5-foot-11, 185-pound Derby, known to most as “Bubba,” it was a fitting curtain call en route to the next level, as he’ll play ball at San Diego State.

“It’s definitely one of the proudest moments I’ve had so far,” Derby says. “Hopefully I have more, but it’s definitely something I’ll never forget.”

That moment was his complete game on April 27. He twirled a five-hitter, allowing two runs in a 3-2 triumph while mowing down nine Bishop Amat batters and walking none. It was a performance that served as a touchstone in a standout four-year varsity career and was paramount in La Salle earning a share of the league crown.

“That first inning was just a huge adrenaline rush,” Derby says. “I just cleared my head. I was ready to do work. That game in general is definitely something I’ll remember for the rest of my life.”

Just as important was the win preceding it, as it broke a 16-game streak of futility against Bishop Amat that had defined the one-sided rivalry. It also put momentum on La Salle’s side with the ball in Derby’s right hand.

“The fact that we held him to the second game against Amat was huge,” La Salle Coach Harry Agajanian says. “After the first game with Austin Wallis pitching and getting the win, with Derby coming in in that second game, it made us feel a little more comfortable.”

Or a lot depending on who you ask.

“Having Bubba on the mound [was] like [a] cushion for us. We [felt] like Bubba’s going to shut them down,” standout third baseman Chris Williams says. “Our confidence going into the second game, we were like, we got this.”

Oddly enough, it was much the opposite when Derby entered the first game of the week in a save situation with the game in peril.

“I was going in there cold,” Derby says. “It came down to a point where it was do or die, I had to get outs.”

And Derby struggled, giving up a double to the first batter he faced and later uncorking a wild pitch as Bishop Amat closed to within 7-6. But that’s as close as it would get.

Over the two games, Derby pitched 7 2/3 innings, striking out 10, walking one, allowing six hits and two earned runs. At the plate, he was two for four with three runs and a run batted in.

But, as La Salle went 19-8-1 and, as the No. 2 seed in the CIF Southern Section Division IV playoffs, advanced to the second round, Derby and his Lancers’ season was highlighted by two fateful days in late April, but certainly not defined by it.

Derby, who struck out seven, walked none, allowed four hits and held Laguna Beach to a pair of unearned runs in La Salle’s 6-2 playoff win, was the Del Rey League Most Valuable Player and an All-CIF first-team honoree.

He finished with a sparkling 9-1 record on the mound, his only loss coming in the first league game against Bishop Amat, as he allowed six runs, though just two were earned. Over 85 2/3 innings of work, he allowed but seven earned runs and struck out 121 batters, while walking just 16. His earned-run average, which included a scoreless four innings in a season-ending loss to St. Bonaventure was a stifling 0.58.

He was an asset at second base, as well.

“In the field, he made a bunch of great plays,” Jenkins says.

At the plate, he was also a constant force, with the likes of Williams, David Sanchez, Antonio Ruiz and Derby at the heart of a dangerous lineup. Derby finished with a .395 batting average along with 24 runs, 27 runs batted in — both team leads — and 14 extra-base hits (All hitting statistics were through 27 games).

“He’s a five-tool player,” Agajanian says. “There’s no doubt about it.”

Derby’s been a pitcher his “whole life” he says, having started playing at “4 or 5,” but it’s still hard for him to choose what he loves more — mowing down a batter or squaring up with a pitcher.

“I get great excitement out of both of them,” Derby says. “[I would] probably [choose] hitting, but I love pitching and I’d never give it up.”

And he won’t have to.

Derby’s future looks promising, as most do when you have an arm that can electrify to the tune of a fastball that runs regularly at 92 mph and he says has topped out at 95.

“He throws like no other,” Jenkins says. “He throws really hard.”

But Derby has worked hard to ensure he’s maturing as a pitcher and not simply getting by as a thrower.

“I think it’s safe to say I matured as a pitcher,” Derby says. “I used to go out there and rely too much on my fastball. I feel like this year I was able to mix it up more and move it around.”

Derby counts a two- and four-seam fastball, a change-up, a split finger and a slider in his repertoire. Of course, it’s the fastball that’s drawn the notice, but if you ask his coach, it might not even be his best offering.

“I always felt that his slider,” Agajanian says, “when he was throwing it well, was better than his fastball.”

Indeed, pitching and baseball have been aspects of Derby’s life that the 18-year-old has been devoted to for some time and a feature he has no designs of giving up on any time soon.

“Baseball for me, baseball’s my life,” Derby says. “My hope is to go as far as I can; to go pro, to play Major League Baseball and I’ll do whatever I have to do to get there.

“It’s been my life since I was little.”

It’s an attribute that comes through to those who’ve played alongside him, against him and watched him.

“He’s a very hard-working baseball player,” Williams says. “He knows exactly what needs to be done as a team. He shows a lot of passion for the sport.”

Adds Jenkins: “He’s the most dedicated player that I’ve actually ever met.”

Thus, the future looks plenty bright for the future Aztec. But his senior year won’t soon be forgotten.

“To be able to take the league championship from [Bishop Amat] is awesome,” Derby says. “That’s exactly how I wanted to go out my senior year. In the end, La Salle’s the one that came out on top and nobody can take that away from us. People know about La Salle now.”