Canyons Edges West L.A., 9-8 : Oilers’ 11-Game Win Streak Snapped in 10 Innings

College of the Canyons baseball Coach Mike Gillespie says that facing West Los Angeles brings out the best in his players.

Gillespie got the best out of at least two players--Don Erickson and Tony Ciccone--in Thursday’s 9-8 victory over the Oilers at home. Erickson singled off reliever Craig Lewis to score Ciccone with two outs in the bottom of the 10th.

The win kept the Cougars (8-2-1) in first place in the Mountain Valley Conference and snapped West L.A.’s 11-game winning streak. Canyons handed the Oilers their last loss, 15-1, in March.

“I feel great. I hit a fastball about this big,” Erickson said, stretching his hands wide. “Our team likes to be under pressure and we always seem to come back in the seventh, eighth and ninth innings.”

Erickson went 2 for 5 and drove in three runs, including one in the ninth that tied the game. Ciccone, the ninth batter in the Cougars’ lineup, was 1 for 2, with 3 runs batted in and a stolen base.

“I used to lead off in winter leagues but I’m happy about hitting in this spot,” Ciccone said. “The way we play it, it’s like another leadoff spot anyways.”

Gillespie said the victory over the second-place Oilers (7-4) gave his team a boost.

“This is the kind of game that’s fun for players and fans. It was a fun game to coach,” he added. “It was a very big, very exciting win because it keeps us in first.”

“I know there’s a rivalry developing,” West Los Angeles third baseman Lorenzo Lesky said. “I’m only a freshman and it’s already a rivalry to me, so I know how the sophomores must feel. It’s the players. They’re the best competition in the league.”

The Oilers had taken an 8-5 lead in the sixth off reliever Greg Mayer, who had replaced starter Frank Halcovich when Jody Brehm’s single scored Victor Hithe. In the fifth inning, Tim Vaughn homered with Brehm aboard.

Meanwhile, the Cougars kept chipping away at Oiler starter Lee Carballo, scoring single runs in each of the last four innings.

When Bill Carlson singled to open the ninth inning, West L.A. Coach Art Harris had seen enough of Carballo and replaced him with reliever Mike Olivier.

“Well, Lee and I had talked about it between innings and we decided that if I saw something wrong that he would come out,” Harris said. “After he gave up that single, something was wrong so he came out.”

Olivier surrendered the double to Erickson, then worked out of the rest of the inning. Ciccone opened the 10th by being hit with a pitch, and Chris Hernandez walked.

Harris brought in Lewis to replace Olivier and he got Carlson to hit into a double play that advanced Ciccone to third and brought Erickson to the plate.

“I was pumped up and I felt I could do the job,” Lewis said. “I was looking for a ground ball that could get me out of the inning but I gave him a fastball right down the middle. After he hit it there was nothing I could do. I told myself it was over and that it would be a different story next time.”

West L.A. scored in the first inning on Dejon Watson’s solo home run, but the Cougars took the lead in the third on a Ciccone single.