Westlake Advances in Playoffs : DeGennaro Strikes Out 16 in Win Over Van Nuys-Notre Dame

Jon DeGennaro remembers June 24 for a couple of reasons--both bad. He was pitching for the Fairview, Ill., Mets of the Central Illinois Collegiate League. He lost. And he almost lost the chance to pitch again this summer.

A torn tendon in his left knee knocked him out of the game, the league, and all the way back to his home in Agoura.

Maybe that’s what he needed all along. DeGennaro’s leg has healed and his arm, which was never a problem, is still causing pain for opponents.

In only his fifth pitching appearance in 42 days, DeGennaro, starting for Westlake, shut down Van Nuys-Notre Dame in a first-round American Legion Area 6 playoff game Thursday. He went seven innings, struck out 16 and walked only one in a 5-2 victory. He had a no-hitter for six innings before he weakened in the seventh and allowed three hits.

“I decided this would be a good game to stick to pitching mostly fastballs,” DeGennaro explained afterwards. “It was.”

He helped himself at the plate, too, with a hit and three runs batted in. He did most of the damage with his arm, however.

Neither Westlake Coach Chuck Thompson or Van Nuys-Notre Dame Coach Jody Breeden could remember seeing a game where a pitcher had more strikeouts.

DeGennaro could. His junior year at Agoura High he struck out 20 batters in a game. “But that was in nine innings,” he said. Against Van Nuys-Notre Dame, he struck out two in every inning but the third and sixth--when he struck out the side.

The right-hander, who was 9-3 for Moorpark this spring, might have bested his personal strikeout high had he not left the game in the eighth. After doubling in two runs off Van Nuys-Notre Dame starter Tim DeGrasse, DeGennaro was lifted for pinch-runner Jason Orstein.

“It was a mutual decision,” DeGennaro said. “After the top of the seventh inning we didn’t want to push it.”

DeGennaro (2-0) had given up two runs, only one earned, in the bottom of the seventh on a Jeff Antoon home run and an RBI single by DeGrasse that cut Westlake’s lead to 3-2--until DeGennaro’s double.

Van Nuys-Notre Dame (20-6) had a chance to rally after DeGennaro was replaced by knuckle-baller John Chiaramonte in the bottom of the eighth. With two on, two out, and the tying run at the plate, Westlake got the last out on a play that started on a catcher’s throw to second.

Matt McElreath had strayed a little too far off second for catcher Jim Henderson’s taste, but when he threw to the base, McElreath broke for third. Westlake’s throw to third was wild and McElreath, running on his own, was tagged out at the plate.

“I really thought we were going to come back,” Breeden said after his team’s seven-game win streak was stopped. “At least it was a good experience, facing that caliber of pitching.” Chiaramonte didn’t allow a hit in his two innings of work. He walked two and struck out one to pick up the save.

Westlake managed only two singles against DeGrasse over the first five innings before it scored three runs in the sixth. Bob Weer doubled to center to open the inning and took third on an error. He scored on a triple to left-center by Mike Suarez. One out later, Henderson drove in Suarez with a single to left. After a walk to Greg Struhl and a single by Mike Maggiora loaded the bases, DeGennaro drove in a run with a grounder that caromed off DeGrasses’s legs to shortstop Brian Woolley, who threw to first for the out.

The loss for DeGrasse snapped a personal eight-game winning streak. He had completed all of his previous eight starts in the regular season and playoffs.He pitched another complete game this time, but allowed five runs--all earned--eight hits and five walks, andstruck out five.

Westlake (13-3) advanced to the winners’ bracket of the playoffs and will play Santa Monica today at 4:30 p.m. at Moorpark College. Van Nuys-Notre Dame dropped to the losers’s bracket in the double-elimination tournament and will play Camarillo today at 9:30 at Moorpark. The winner of the Area 6 playoffs goes to the state American Legion championship beginning Aug. 15 in Yountville.

DeGennaro, meanwhile, has a new injury to worry about.

“I tore the skin off the bottom of my left foot playing basketball two days ago,” he said. “It’s hurting.”

He said he is available to pitch in relief Saturday, however. He’s certainly had to endure greater pain before.

After the injury he suffered pitching for Fairview, DeGennaro, 18, thought his summer baseball might be over. He was on crutches, his left knee in a brace.

He came home in July to get his family doctor’s opinion on the injury. Dr. Melvin Hayashi didn’t tell DeGennaro what he wanted to hear.

“He said that I’d probably have to get the knee operated on,” DeGennaro said. “That really got me down. It was kind of depressing.”

His knee eventually started to heal on its own. And following some weight-tension therapy under Hayashi’s supervision, he was, at long last, able to take the mound again--unfortunately for Van Nuys-Notre Dame.