American Legion Playoffs : Soft Touch Effective for Van Nuys

Newhall-Saugus (Santa Clarita) was so surprised by a Van Nuys-Notre Dame offensive spurt Thursday, it could have been knocked down with a feather.

Van Nuys-Notre Dame Coach Jody Breeden’s good luck feather, that is.

Breeden’s team broke open a 1-0 game with a six-run fifth inning en route to an 11-1 win over Saugus in a winner’s bracket game of the District 20 tournament at Birmingham High.

Breeden’s Van Nuys team (18-10), the defending District 20 champion, has won eight in a row at Birmingham. Breeden is not brushing that off as coincidence.

“I’m very superstitious. I don’t want to leave this field,” he said as he took a feather out of his pocket. “This is it. It got us a few hits today.”

Breeden has kept the feather tucked away all week and his team has upset Chatsworth and Saugus. A win today over Studio City--which edged Woodland Hills (West), 9-8--meets Van Nuys in the championship Sunday and automatically gives the team a berth in next week’s area tournament in Pomona.

More good news for Breeden is that all district tournament games today and Sunday will be at Birmingham.

Van Nuys didn’t take control until exploding for six runs in the fifth. The rally was highlighted by Chris Lohman’s two-run single and a two-run double by Steve Martinez, the No. 9 hitter in the lineup.

Meanwhile, Rob Kostenbader (5-3) pitched a three-hitter against one of the hardest-hitting teams in the district. He retired 10 in a row at one stretch and did not allow a hit from the second to the seventh innings.

Kostenbader lost to Newhall-Saugus, 5-1, last Friday in a regular-season game by allowing four runs in the seventh inning.

“I wasn’t sure if seeing them so soon would help or hurt,” Kostenbader said. “Luckily, I was hitting the spots. I was putting them right where I wanted them.”

Kostenbader struck out eight and walked two, surrendering only an unearned run in the eighth. Van Nuys countered with three runs in the bottom of the inning to take an 11-1 lead and force the game to be called because of the 10-run rule.

Hitting was contagious for Van Nuys. Matt McElreath, Chad Ratliff, Jeff and Jason Antoon and Kevin Milligan each had two hits. Jason Antoon--batting eighth--hit his first-ever home run in the eighth inning.

Newhall-Saugus (22-6) faces Chatsworth (20-6) at 11 a.m. today at Birmingham.