Brody Befuddles Canoga Park : Reseda’s Off-Beat Pitcher Keeps Hunters Off-Balance, 8-3

Reseda High pitcher Steve Brody has all the tools.

He talks with a New York accent, even though he was born and raised in the Valley. He’s a team comedian, the guy who leads cheers and volunteers to shag the occasional foul ball. He usually has a day’s growth on his face. And, admittedly, he’s been a mental case on the mound, where, more often than not, he throws more balls than strikes.

He’s got all the right stuff to be the definitive flaky left-hander. He is an off-speed pitch in a fastball world, a pitcher who likes having a runner or two out there to keep him company during those long innings. If he had a nickname, it would be “Bird.” He has all the attributes--it’s almost a shame he’s right-handed.

In Thursday’s 8-3 victory over Canoga Park, the flighty Brody kept the Hunter lineup off-balance, too, breaking Canoga Park’s 12-game winning streak with a complete-game, six-hitter in a West Valley League game at Reseda.

Brody (4-4) kept the hard-hitting Canoga Park lineup off-stride with a repertoire of fastballs, curves and off-speed pitches. More important, it seemed, was Brody’s inability to throw strikes consistently. The junior walked seven and hit another. The Canoga Park batters didn’t know whether to look for something over the plate or over the backstop.

After a poor outing in the Thousand Oaks tournament, Brody sought help. The logical choice? A 6-5, 270-pound Reseda High lineman named Matt Graham.

“He knows a lot about pitching,” Brody said.

Reseda (8-10, 5-9) scored three in the first and two in the third off one who knows something about pitching, too. Canoga Park right-hander Adam Schulhofer (7-2) entered the game with an earned-run average of 1.90, but Reseda chased him in the fifth. Reseda led, 7-0, before Canoga Park (14-4, 10-4) scored two in the sixth.

Canoga Park must win the league finale Tuesday against Chatsworth to gain a share of the West Valley title.