East Valley Powers Strong-Arm Initial Victims : Woodfin’s 1-Hitter a Wild Ride, but Sylmar Wins, 13-3

It was like a beauty queen with braces or ice cream with NutraSweet.

Yes, Olonzo Woodfin pitched a one-hitter in Sylmar’s East Valley League opener Wednesday. But he gave up 3 runs, walked 6 and hit a batter in the process.

“It was not one of my best outings,” Woodfin said.

It was, however, enough to give Sylmar a 13-3 victory over Verdugo Hills at Sylmar.

“He pitched a very ugly one-hitter,” Sylmar Coach John Klitsner said. “He didn’t pitch very well. He’s a lot better than he showed today, a lot more consistent.”

With one out and one on in the seventh inning, Woodfin gave up the Dons’ lone hit--a bloop single to right field by Ryan Paskwietz--and Woodfin had to settle for the third one-hitter of his high school career.

Woodfin walked two and hit a batter in the first inning to load the bases but struck out Craig Paskwietz to end the threat.

He breezed through the next four innings but walked four consecutive batters to open the sixth.

That was all Woodfin--an All-City Section pitcher with a 1.47 earned-run average last year--allowed and yet that was enough to make his performance disappointing.

“He has to be better than that and he will be,” Klitsner said. “He has to relax.”

Sylmar’s offense, which was one of the Spartans’ preseason concerns, was helped by 8 Verdugo Hills errors and 14 walks. Sylmar scored five runs in both the fourth and fifth to take a 13-0 lead.

Shortstop Martin Valencia had a two-run single in the fourth and Woodfin hit a three-run double in the fifth.

“It was a poorly played ballgame,” Klitsner said. “There was nothing to be excited about except we won our first ballgame.”

Woodfin struck out the last batter in the first and fanned 8 of the next 12 batters he faced.

But by the sixth, the left-handed senior was tiring. “I couldn’t find the strike zone,” Woodfin said. “I got away from my mechanics.”

With Sylmar holding a 13-2 lead, Klitsner would have replaced Woodfin had he not been going for a no-hitter. “I would have gotten him in the sixth,” Klitsner said.