SOUTHERN SECTION BASEBALL PLAYOFFS : 4-A : Esperanza Batters Give Weary Halweg Lift, 7-2

The left arm of Esperanza High School pitcher Steve Halweg was within a couple games of the end of an illustrious high school career, but it was feeling the mileage before Friday’s Southern Section 4-A quarterfinal baseball game at Rowland.

The rest of the Aztecs knew about Halweg’s painful arm, and they took a burden off their ace’s mind--and elbow--by exploding for five runs in the first inning and two more in the second.

Halweg did the rest, allowing Rowland (15-7) just four hits as Esperanza scored a 7-2 victory.

The Empire League champion Aztecs (23-3-1) will face Simi Valley (26-3), the Marmonte League champion and the No. 1 team in the nation, in a semifinal game Tuesday.

Halweg (14-2), who holds the Esperanza career (17) and season records for victories, picked up his third win in as many games against Rowland. He and teammate Tim MacNeil have allowed three playoff opponents a total of only seven hits.

But after Halweg pitched in relief against San Gorgonio Tuesday, his arm seemed to be anticipating Memorial Day weekend at the beach, rather than a Friday start on the mound.

“I got up Wednesday morning and I couldn’t lift my arm above my head,” Halweg said.

This left Esperanza Coach Mike Curran a bit panicky, on the surface at least.

“I think my assistant coach put it best,” Curran said. “He said I looked like a duck in water--all smooth and relaxed (on the surface), but the feet are peddling like crazy under the water.”

Since MacNeil had pitched most of the game Tuesday, he was unavailable to start.

The next potential starter, Emmitt Cohick, had pitched a grand total of 12 innings all season. Despite Cohick’s 1-0 record, that’s not the kind of resume a coach likes to road test in a crucial game.

Halweg thought he could start, but “it was touch and go even after the first inning,” Curran said.

The same was certainly not true of the Aztec offense, whose motto has always been “Score Early, Score Often.” The Aztecs, who bat .390 as a team, have produced an average of almost eight runs a game in 1986.

The two-out rally of the first inning began more like an optometry test than a test of hitting skill. Raider starter Mike Villagran (7-3) walked the bases full as the Aztecs wisely didn’t swing at his high pitches.

The sixth man in the order, Dave Moralez, slugged a single to right, driving in Tom Redington and Eric Cox. Then, Larry Nix’s blooper scored Cohick.

The Aztecs pulled off a delayed double steal as Nix broke for second, drawing a throw by catcher Tony Cerone, as Moralez raced home from third. MacNeil’s triple down the right field line drove in Nix for a 5-0 lead.

Halweg gave up two singles and a run in the bottom of the first, but his teammates’ performance at the plate had given him considerable peace of mind.

“Everyone knew I was a little tired and a little hurt, and the guys really seemed to rally behind me,” Halweg said. “I mean, five runs with two outs. . . That gave me an incredible boost.”

Halweg threw just 18 pitches in the second and third innings, facing eight batters and striking out three.

But he started to fall behind batters in the fourth inning, and wound up walking two. This was quite atypical for Halweg, who is known for his control.

Raider Corey Smith’s single up the middle loaded the bases and Halweg committed a throwing error on an attempted pickoff, allowing Albert De La Isla to score from third in the fourth.

But that was it for Rowland, which went three-up, three-down in the fifth and sixth against Halweg, and the seventh against MacNeil.