Warr, Newhall Blow Lead in 9th and Lose : Woodland Hills West Rallies for 4 Runs to Win Legion Showdown

By his own estimation, Newhall-Saugus Coach Tom Pedersen says it takes an average of a dozen baseballs to make it through a game at Saugus High, his team’s home field.

Some balls are scarred when they are fouled over the backstop screen and ricochet off a mammoth water pipe. Others end up soaking wet after a bath in a large drainage ditch beyond the fence in right-center field, and more than a few are just lost in the weeds.

Perhaps the easiest balls to find are the ones that land in a grassy field beyond the outfield fence in left. There they lie, sometimes in plain, agonizing sight. Pedersen gets shagging honors when the game ends.

“Those are definitely the easiest ones to find,” said Pedersen, who found four balls in precisely that area after Newhall-Saugus’ 10-9 loss to Woodland Hills West on Saturday. West belted four home runs over the left-field fence and rallied for four runs in the ninth inning in a three-hour, 35-minute game between District 20 divisional leaders.

West, which leads the Western Division with a 14-2 record, had hit eight home runs all season entering the game. But at cozy Saugus--it is a mere 320 feet down the line in left and 360 to dead center--West had a field day.

“One good thing about playing here is that we always have a nice new ball in play,” Pedersen cracked. “But I’d give a dozen more balls for one more out.”

Brand-new balls, apparently, are also easier to see. And in the ninth, West saw more than enough of the offerings of Newhall-Saugus left-hander Scott Warr.

Warr, trying to protect a 9-6 lead, retired Ricky Banuelos on a liner to center to open the inning. However, Ryan McGuire singled to left and scored on a two-run homer to left by Del Marine--who drove in four runs--cutting the lead to 9-8.

Yet, it seemed Warr (2-2) would be granted a reprieve. Bobby Kim followed with a liner to left that momentarily eluded Oscar Silva, but Kim was thrown out at second base for the second out. Kim, dejected, was then ejected.

“He was thrown out and then thrown out,” West Coach Gary Gibson said. “When I saw him get gunned at second, I tried to get out there as fast as I could because I knew Bobby was going to get up and tell the umpire (off) . . . I didn’t quite make it in time.”

But instead of killing the rally, the play seemed to spark another.

Jason Cohen walked and scored on a looping hit-and-run double to left by Jeff Marks that Silva misjudged, allowing it to land behind him. Tainted or not, it was Marks’ first hit in five at-bats and prompted Warr’s removal.

Chris Castillo--who had entered the game at second base in the sixth--then delivered the eventual winning run off right-hander Ben Ealy, driving in Marks with a single to right.

Sean Boldt, who relieved West starter Pat Treend in the seventh and allowed one run over the final 2 1/3 innings, earned the win. Boldt (1-0), who will be a junior in the fall at El Camino Real High, retired the side in order in the ninth.

For Warr, it was a completely forgettable afternoon. Returning after a week’s vacation, he moved from left field to the mound in the sixth inning with Newhall-Saugus (11-3) holding a 6-4 lead. Warr allowed West to tie the score in the seventh when McGuire and Marine lined consecutive two-out doubles to right-center, then lost the game in the ninth. He allowed six runs in 3 1/3 innings, and if that wasn’t bad enough, he struck out five times in five at-bats--all this after leading Santa Clarita Valley high school players in home runs with seven during the past season.

“I think he just got a little tired,” Pedersen said. “I thought we could get a couple of good innings out of him and that he could get those last couple of outs, but it didn’t turn out that way.”

West turned the ball inside out with three solo home runs in the first six innings. Carl McFadden led off the game with one and was followed by Banuelos in the third and Cohen in the sixth. But the three shots were washed away by a three-run blast to center in the third by Corey Byars, which gave Newhall-Saugus a 4-2 lead.

Treend, a 6-foot-4 right-hander, was shaky throughout, allowing runs in five of his seven innings. But with West pounding out 13 hits, eight for extra bases, he kept the team close enough.

“They did a good job with the off-speed stuff early and they’re the second team in a row to do that to us,” said Gibson, whose team won its 10th consecutive District 20 game. “The guys who were patient and sat back on the ball did a good job for us.”

Among those sitting pretty were McFadden, Banuelos, McGuire, Marine and Cohen, each of whom had two hits. For Newhall-Saugus, Brad Anderson, George Lopata, Kevin Backes, Ealy and Byars each had two hits.

In short, there were almost enough balls and numbers flying around to send Pedersen into a daze.

“That’s the good thing about playing so many ballgames,” said Pedersen, whose team still leads the Northern Division. “In a couple of days, this game will be fog in the statistics.”