American Legion Roundup : Williams Flexes Muscles, Pitches Two-Hit Shutout

He might have played high school baseball for a team nicknamed the Gorillas, but Marc Williams never outmuscled anybody with the high, hard stuff.

He is this summer, comparatively speaking.

Williams, a 1988 graduate of Oakwood School, threw a two-hitter as North Hollywood defeated Valley Encino-Tarzana, 4-0, in a District 20 Eastern Division game at North Hollywood on Wednesday.

Williams (2-1) struck out three, walked two and allowed only one runner to reach second in the seven-inning game. A year ago, the outcome might have been different. But after a season of playing at Tufts University in Medford, Mass., Williams returned this summer with added strength and a better fastball.

“Last year, they’d stand on his off-speed stuff and rack him pretty good,” North Hollywood Legion Coach Lowell Thomas said. “With the weight program, they can’t do that any more. He’s not overpowering anybody, but he has good technique and movement and he spots (the fastball) very well.”

Williams picked his spots to muscle up offensively too. His two-run double in the fourth gave North Hollywood a 3-0 lead. Harry Marks added a run-scoring double in the first and Duane Braxton was two for four and scored twice for North Hollywood (4-6).

In other District 20 games:

Panorama City 7, Burbank 4--Panorama City scored six runs in the first inning and rolled to an Eastern Division victory at Monroe High.

Joe Cascione had two hits and keyed the first-inning rally with a two-run triple.

Dave Unter (3-0) threw a nine-hitter, walked two and struck out four for Panorama City (8-2), which has won six in a row to move into first place in the Eastern Division.

Woodland Hills East 10, Sun Valley 0--Right-hander Chris Brown recorded his fourth complete game in as many starts to lead Woodland Hills East in an inter-district game at Taft High that was called after five innings because of the 10-run rule.

Brown (4-0) threw a four-hitter, struck out five and walked two. He was in trouble in only one inning, when Sun Valley (6-3) loaded the bases with one out in the fourth. Marlon McKinney grounded into a double play to end the threat, however.

Woodland Hills East (7-1) scored in every inning but the fourth. Jamie Zeicheck’s two-run double in the third helped give East an 8-0 lead. Zeicheck, an outfielder, was four for four and had three RBIs. Mike Kimelman, Rich Cosentino and Allan Puana all had two hits for East, which remains in first place in the District 20 Western Division.

Woodland Hills West 3, Encino-Crespi 2--With one out in the eighth, Ryan McGuire singled and Del Marine doubled him home with the winning run in a Western Division game at Valley College.

Right-hander Dan Carroll (3-1), threw a three-hitter, struck out eight and walked six for Encino-Crespi (5-4). Right-hander Pat Treend (3-0) threw a four-hitter, struck out six and walked eight for West (9-2).