Woodfin Strikes Out 11 as Sylmar Ousts Carson

When Sylmar High left-hander Olonzo Woodfin is at his best, there is little that batters usually can do except bravely take their cuts before walking back to the dugout after striking out. It has caused some coaches to search for other ways to beat Woodfin.

In the third inning Wednesday of Sylmar’s 6-1 win over Carson in a City Section 4-A playoff game, Carson Coach Marty Blankenship knew he had to try a different approach to get his players on base.

Woodfin had, after all, struck out five batters and allowed no hits in the first two innings. Carson third baseman George Malauulu was the only batter able to make contact, popping out to shortstop Martin Valencia in the first inning.

So Blankenship instructed his players to bunt. “We wanted to put the ball in play and let their defense make the outs,” Blankenship said.

The Sylmar defense foiled that strategy as it handled bunts by Robert Parga, Geronimo Gallardo and Eric Davis flawlessly. After the third, it was back to swinging away and hoping for the best.

“It pumped me up and got my confidence up,” Woodfin said of the bunts.

Woodfin continued to give Carson batters fits, pitching a two-hitter with 11 strikeouts and one walk to raise his record to 10-3. One of the Carson hits was an infield single, the other was a double down the third-base line by William Rayner in the sixth inning.

Woodfin, who kept Carson off-balance by mixing off-speed pitches with his fastball, said he didn’t do anything special. “I was just trying to throw the ball over the plate and make my defense work for me,” Woodfin said. “I got a live defense behind me there.”

Shortstop Martin Valencia scored the first run of the game on a first-inning single by right fielder Tony Taisacan, then drove in third baseman John Dragicevich with a sacrifice fly in the second to give Sylmar a 2-0 lead.

Vernon Hanagami had two hits and Taisacan and Donnie Kelley each drove in a run for Sylmar (15-8). The Spartans play San Fernando, a 5-0 winner over Cleveland, on Friday.

Carson, which had three starters suspended by Blankenship last Wednesday for disciplinary reasons, scored an unearned run in the fourth inning. Left fielder William Rayner reached base on an error by Dragicevich. First baseman Mark Nakayama reached base after bunting when Woodfin threw the ball wide of first. After Malauulu struck out swinging, Rayner scored on a suicide squeeze by Otis Rushing.

Although Woodfin threw 97 pitches against Carson (9-13), Sylmar Coach John Klitsner said he wants to start his ace Friday.

“We’ll ice his arm down and see how he feels,” Klitsner said. “He’s young, we’re not going to hurt him.”

Lauded Carson’s Blankenship: “He’s an excellent high school pitcher.”

Woodfin, who usually pitched on four days rest this season, said he should have no problem pitching Friday on only a day’s rest.

“No question,” Woodfin said. “I’ll be ready.”