Gil Delivers Telling Blow as Poly Reaches City Final

Joey Speakes and Don Senegal, who played football in the Poly High backfield last fall, are familiar with being at the bottom of a dog pile. But it was a new experience for shortstop Danny Gil.

Poly Coach Jerry Cord got a free shower from a nearby ice chest courtesy of some celebrating players, a victory ceremony made famous by the New York Giants. Right fielder Luis Porres was ejected in the fifth for plowing over Chatsworth catcher John Dunn in a play at the plate and both benches emptied after the collision. Even the cheerleaders from both schools were there.

If it wasn’t June, it could have passed for football season as Poly bowled over Chatsworth, 6-4, in a City Section 4-A semifinal Tuesday at Birmingham High.

After the game, Gil looked more like he’d been through four quarters of a full-contact football game than seven innings of baseball. And like a quarterback running a two-minute drill, he saved his best for last. Gil came through with a key two-run double in the top of the seventh to drive home the go-ahead runs as Poly (21-4) held off Chatsworth (19-7) and advanced to Thursday night’s City final at Dodger Stadium.

Poly faces Canoga Park, a 5-1 winner over Sylmar on Tuesday. The Parrots--who never have won a City title--will be making their first appearance in the championship game since 1978, when they lost to Granada Hills, 4-2.

Gil, who had five of the six runs batted in for the Parrots, tried to describe the feeling of walking to the plate in the seventh, knowing that the clock was winding down on his Poly career.

“The way I had it figured was that it could be my last high school at-bat,” said Gil, a senior who hit .544 and was the MVP of the East Valley League. “It took me three years to get where I was right then, and if it was going to by my last at-bat, I wanted to go out in style. I tried as hard as I could to hit the ball hard.”

Gil delivered a one-out double to the fence in left-center, scoring Speakes and Mark David to give Poly a 6-4 lead. When Gil reached second base, he thrust his fist in the air, knowing that he had probably delivered the knockout blow to Chatsworth’s chances--and kept his high school career alive for one more game.

“I can’t believe it, this is just unreal,” Gil said. “I think the only other time I had more RBIs was when I had seven when I was 12 and still playing Little League. Ever since I got to high school getting to Dodger Stadium has been one of my main goals.”

Gil might not have seen his dream fulfilled if Poly had succeeded in following its plan in the seventh. When Speakes singled and Hekking walked off Chancellor right-hander Jeff Rubenstein (6-2), David was asked to sacrifice. David got the bunt down, but Chatsworth first baseman Derek Wallace threw to third in time to force Hekking.

With first base occupied, Rubenstein pitched to Gil, who already had singled home a run in the first and blasted a two-run home run in the third. What initially looked like a critical failure to execute by Poly eventually turned out to be Chatsworth’s undoing.

“They made the play and it sort of backfired on them,” Cord said. “But they were out there in scoring position and Danny did what he was supposed to do. He’s been Mr. Clutch all year. What he did, well, that’s the name of the game.”

Poly left-hander Greg Nealon took a 4-1 lead into the fifth, but tired in the 95-degree heat, issuing one-out walks to Don Wallace and John Dunn. Joel Wolfe then was safe on a hard shot to third that Poly’s Ali Aguilar couldn’t handle to load the bases. Rex McMackin followed with a 380-foot sacrifice fly to the fence in right-center, scoring Wallace. Rubenstein then hit a two-run double over left fielder Bill Chavez to tie the game at 4-4.

Cord replaced Nealon with right-hander Nick Lymberopoulos, who kept Chatsworth in check the rest of the way. Lymberopoulos (9-0), who had pitched just once in the past four weeks after suffering a cut on his right arm, allowed one hit in the final 2 innings.

“I guess me and Greg compliment each other pretty well,” Lymberopoulos said. “That is the best stuff I’ve had since I came back, maybe as good as I’ve been all year. Everything was working.”

Lymberopoulos retired the side in order in the bottom of the seventh, with McMackin ending the game with another fly to deep right. David, who entered the game when Porres was ejected for burying Dunn at the plate for the final out in the Poly fifth, made the catch.

“I was scared to death,” David said of the final out. “I slipped, and leaned to my right, but still caught it.”

Moments later, David was in the middle of the Poly pile-up in left field. Somewhere near the bottom, Gil was undoubtedly thankful that the team has a chance for a similar huddle at Dodger Stadium.