Cypress outfielder Peter Werth, like many, waits and holds out hope sports resume

Cypress High outfielder Peter Werth celebrates after his team won the CIF title last season. (File photo: Fernando M. Donado, For OC Sports Zone)

Cypress High senior Peter Werth is among the baseball players in Orange County trying to stay fit while waiting to hear if their seasons will continue or be cancelled.

Werth and the rest of the Centurions learned last week that the Anaheim Union School District has extended the closure of schools until April 17. Cypress is part of the district.

In addition, the CIF State Office is expected to provide an update on April 3 on whether to continue athletics or cancel sports for the remainder of the school year. Or, the office could delay a decision as it did earlier.

Werth, like other athletes, is trying to remain in top physical condition working out at home.

“Due to the limitations, there’s not much I can do,” Werth said Tuesday.

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Originally he tried to find friends who would join him for hitting and throwing.

“But as things progressed, I had to do some more home activities,” said Werth, who was a member of the Cypress team that won the CIF Division 1 title last year. “I made kind of my own little home gym, so I can try and stay fit and ready to continue the season.

“My dad is a contractor, so he had a wheelbarrow in the garage and there was a bunch of brick and cinder blocks in our back yard so I filled that up and I’ve been pushing that around and sprinting, running with it.

“I do conditioning. I also have a sledge hammer and a tire for some cardiac work because you get pretty tired from that. And I have a couple dumbbells. I work out twice a day, because there’s nothing else better to do.”

Practices aren’t allowed during the break but Cypress Coach John Weber gave his players some advice before sports were postponed.

“He just told the seniors and everyone else in the program to try and get some lifts in and try and do as much as you can and be ready,” Werth said. “He knows we can’t do that much because of all the stuff closing down, gyms closing down and the fields are closed down, but he also wants us to stay healthy and be prepared for when this blows over.”

Cypress is off to a 7-5 start and was scheduled to open the Empire League season on April 1 vs. Crean Lutheran to try and open defense of its league title.

“We haven’t come together as far as our potential so it’s kind of unfortunate that the season stopped or is postponed but if we could come together it would be a different ball game for us,” Werth said.

Werth and other seniors had to deal with the initial suspension of sports.

“As a senior, I was kind of in shock,” Werth said. “I kind of didn’t believe it until I got the news that there were no more practices, games or anything,” Werth said. “So it hit me kind of weird and unexpectedly but I’m praying and hoping that the season continues and that we can have a couple more games as seniors.”

Werth is still holding out hope that the season can be resumed eventually.

“It would feel like a sense of peace,” he said. “Everything being postponed and held back, it’s kind of just messing with everyone’s schedule and their plans, what they’re going to do in high school and after high school. But I just want to put the uniform on one more time at least and just play with the high school team and the guys I’ve grown up with and played with. It’s kind of heartbreaking to think that I might never ever put on a Cypress uniform again.

“But there is a purpose for everything and a reason for everything. If I had a choice, I would like to play a couple more games. We played a little more than a third of our season before it got shut down. But I think there’s a way maybe they can play doubleheaders or back to back days. If it clears up soon, I would think we would resume our season and try to push something together, but that’s just my input.”

Werth looks like he has a promising future in college. He signed with TCU in November and was scheduled to report to the school in July for a camp. He will still attend school and play there but is waiting to hear if the dates for the camp have been changed.

Right now, he’s trying to stay positive about his senior year in high school and he has a message for other high school seniors.

“Everything is going to be OK,” he said. “God has a purpose and a plan for everything. You just have to trust the process, just keep your head up and try to live and move on. Things happen for a reason.”

-Tim Burt, OC Sports Zone; timburt@ocsportszone.com