High School Baseball Tournaments : Westlake’s Cooper Cleans Up in No. 4 Spot, 6-4

Junior left fielder Craig Cooper found a new position in the lineup to his liking Tuesday, and Westlake Coach Dennis Judd must feel like a genius.

Judd moved Cooper from the No. 5 in the order to the cleanup position and he responded with two hits, two stolen bases and a two-run triple in the top of the seventh inning that gave Westlake a 6-4 victory over Dos Pueblos in the Thousand Oaks tournament. The win moves Westlake (7-6) into today’s 10 a.m. consolation championship game against El Camino Real, which defeated Canoga Park, 5-4, on Tuesday.

“He’s been consistently hitting the ball and doing great for us all year,” Judd said of Cooper. “I knew he’d be productive, but I didn’t expect him to do so well so soon.”

Cooper’s triple came with one out and scored John Stevens and Chuck Foster. Cooper, who is batting .395 with 4 home runs and 9 runs batted in, also started a three-run fourth inning with a walk and a stolen bases. J. R. Johnson cracked a two-run single to tie the score, 3-3, and Mike Lieberthal later scored on a wild pitch.

Bob Grandpre (1-3) went the distance to get the victory. Johnson had two hits and two RBIs and Foster was 2 for 4.

In other Thousand Oaks tournament games:

El Camino Real 5, Canoga Park 4--Bryce Welch hit a two-run single to lead a three-run Conquistadore rally in the seventh inning in the consolation semifinal at Thousand Oaks.

Welch’s single tied the score and he advanced to second on the throw home. He scored from second when Mike Stephenson hit an infield grounder and beat out the throw to first.

Reseda 6, Camarillo 3--Reseda took advantage of two Camarillo errors and scored three runs in the fifth to eliminate the Scorpions.

Chris Sorich tripled and drove in a run to lead Camarillo (5-6-1), which had six hits. Reseda collected 10 hits off two Scorpion pitchers.

Reseda plays Thousand Oaks for fifth place at 10 this morning.

Dos Pueblos 8, San Fernando 3--Hector De La Cruz allowed five of Dos Pueblos’ seven hits in 2 innings while suffering the loss. Jessie Romero had two of San Fernando’s four hits. The Tigers committed five errors.

HOLT-GOODMAN TOURNAMENT

Arcadia 7, Grant 4--The Lancers blew a 4-1 lead when Arcadia scored four runs in the fourth and fifth innings in this fifth-place game at Sylmar.

Jim Mattman had three hits for Grant (5-6). Catcher John Kukawski had a double and finished the tournament batting .500 (6 for 12).

Poly 14, Verdugo Hills 3--The Parrots scored 11 runs in the first two innings to clinch seventh place at Monroe.

Luis Porres homered in the first inning with one out to start the onslaught. Gabe Chavez hit a three-run homer in the second as Poly (9-2) took an 11-0 lead.

Burroughs 10, Sylmar 9--Burroughs scored the game-winning run in the bottom of the eighth inning when the umpire ruled that a passed ball had rolled out of play in the 11th-place game at Granada Hills.

With one out and runners on first and third, Nino Romo’s pitch glanced off catcher Tony Branson’s glove, allowing the winning run to score.

San Pedro 9, Monroe 8--The Pirates scored two runs in the bottom of the seventh inning and the winning run with two outs in the bottom of the eighth to clinch 13th place.

BABE HERMAN TOURNAMENT

Rio Mesa 1, Newbury Park 0--Despite allowing only two hits, the Panthers’ Jeff Berman (2-3) took the loss when he gave up a bases-loaded walk in the bottom half of the sixth inning in the consolation final at Stengel Field in Glendale.

With two out and a man on first, Berman gave up a single. Rio Mesa loaded the bases on a Newbury Park error and scored the game’s lone run when Damon Dicus drew the walk.

Buena 8, Kennedy 6--Kennedy reliever Mitch Cizek walked in the tying and go-ahead runs as Buena rallied for five runs in the fourth inning to finish in third place. The game was called after five innings because of a time-limit rule.