Winds Blow a Win Canyons’ Direction in Playoff Opener

The conditions were more appropriate for the America’s Cup than the American pastime.

But with cold, gale-force winds swirling under a bright, blue sky, College of the Canyons and Oxnard squared off Thursday at Oxnard in the first of a best-of-three-game series that will decide the championship of the Western State Conference.

“In the eighth and ninth inning, it felt like I didn’t have any skin on my body,” Canyons pitcher Tim Nedin said. “The wind was going right through me.”

Nedin and the Cougars survived the Candlestick Park-like conditions and took a giant step toward the title with a 2-0 win.

“This was horrible,” Canyons Coach Len Mohney said about the winds. “I’ve never played in worse conditions.”

However, Mohney can take comfort in the fact that for Oxnard to wrest the title from the defending champions, the Condors must sweep a doubleheader Saturday at Canyons--where the Cougars have won 37 consecutive games.

Oxnard (25-12) stranded 15 baserunners and wasted an impressive complete-game performance by Vale Lopez (7-4), who gave up three hits and struck out six. Nedin (12-1), a sophomore left-hander, also went the distance, scattering eight hits, striking out nine and pitching out of bases-loaded jams in the sixth and seventh innings.

Canyons (30-7) scored its runs in the fourth inning on Ray Palagyi’s double, a fielder’s choice and an error by third baseman Brian McGahan.