Baseball: Westlake swats away its bad luck
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I was really starting to wonder whether my presence at Westlake baseball games was a bad omen for the Warriors. Before the start of the Warriors’ game with Calabasas on Wednesday, Westlake Coach Zach Miller asked me whether I was good luck and I basically told him I thought I was better than a magical rabbit’s foot.
But after the Warriors lost to Calabasas, I started to have doubts about my abilities as a luck magnet. After all, it was difficult trying to pinpoint why a team as talented as Westlake was on the verge of missing the playoffs.
Luckily, sanity prevailed in Westlake’s elimination game with Moorpark on Friday. The Warriors lived off the fat of a seven-run first inning to beat Moorpark, 7-4, and claim the Marmonte League‘s final playoff berth. It also marked the Warriors first playoff appearance since 2003.
Following the victory, you could tell there was this great sense of relief among Westlake players and fans. It’s disappointing Westlake’s playoff fate had to be decided by a mini-elimination series, but at least the Warriors made it.
‘I was hoping for a big first inning, and that’s what we got,’ Miller said. ‘We’ve worked hard to get here and I’m glad we made it.’
Now, I don’t want to rain on the Warriors’ parade, but a lot of their first-inning surge had to do with Moorpark’s playing its third game in three days. Musketeers starter Keenan Hernandez struggled to throw strikes; and Derek Ring, Josh Gray, Evan Winsberg, Casey Rhoades and Taylor Kahanowitch made him pay.
Much to Miller’s chagrin, however, the Westlake bats quieted once Moorpark reliever Ryan Watt entered the game.
Moorpark Coach Scott Fullerton didn’t make any excuses, saying teenage players ‘are made of rubber,’ but something tells me that if ace Westley Wright were able to start this one, the Musketeers could have picked up their third victory over the Warriors.
‘Big innings kill, and they started off with a heck of a big inning,’ Fullerton said.
-- Austin Knoblauch
