Panorama City Doubles Down on East, 9-7
To the point of irritation for some in attendance, a group of Panorama City fans insisted on placing a verbal order for “ham and eggs” each time an opposing baserunner reached base Saturday--which seemed to happen about every eight seconds.
The plea, apparently, is the fans’ way of asking Panorama City to turn a double play, to make the twin killing its defensive bread and butter. Maybe it helped, because Panorama City sure turned ‘em over easy, rolling up six double plays in a 9-7 victory over Woodland Hills East in an American Legion District 20 elimination playoff game at Birmingham High.
Panorama City (20-5) will play Woodland Hills West today at Birmingham at 11 a.m. If Panorama City wins, it will force a second game between the two teams at 3 p.m. West (22-3), which is 3-0 in the double-elimination tournament, defeated Panorama City, 11-3, Friday.
The middle infield combination of Shane Wight at shortstop and Joe Cascione at second played a part in all six double plays, including a 4-6-3 gem to end the game with two runners aboard. Whenever Panorama City pitchers needed a double play in short order, the combination served one up, piping hot. East escaped double trouble only in the fourth, sixth and seventh innings.
“I play shortstop and Joe plays shortstop,” Wight said. “We rotate every few games or so. It really helps us defensively, we work real well together.”
Panorama City took the lead for good in the sixth, scoring three runs to take a 9-7 lead. Sean Henson relieved winning pitcher Herman Merchan (1-1) in the seventh, and the defense took over.
Henson surrendered two hits and a walk in the seventh but held East scoreless, thanks to a bases-loaded force play at home and a short-to-second force by Wight. In the eighth, Henson allowed two singles, but escaped after Wight started a 6-4-3 double play. In the ninth, Henson walked two batters to bring the go-ahead run to the plate in the person of Alan Puana--who grounded into the game-ending double play.
“I basically had nothing on my fastball,” said Henson, who earned a save despite allowing four hits and three walks in three innings. “I was just trying to keep the ball low so the infielders could handle things.”
The infielders handled things offensively, too. With his team trailing, 7-6, in the sixth, Wight had the game-winning hit--a two-run double to left--and then scored an insurance run on Cascione’s double to the gap in left-center.
East right-hander Chris Brown (6-3) wasn’t nearly as fortunate as his Panorama City counterparts. Wight’s double in the sixth should have been a single--left fielder Brett Reisner charged the ball, then allowed it to bounce past him, all the way to the fence--and third baseman Rich Cosentino’s two-out error allowed two unearned runs to score in the fourth.
“I think if we were up against Chris Brown when he had four days rest, it probably would have been a different story,” Panorama City Coach Scott Smith said. “He’s an excellent pitcher, he just pitched too many innings (in the tournament).”
Pitching now becomes a concern for Panorama City. Smith said ace right-hander Roland De La Maza (6-0) would start in the first game today, and if Panorama City wins, he will “see whose arm can take a couple of innings” in the second game. Right-hander Pat Treend (6-1) is expected to start the first game for West.
De La Maza, who started in the outfield Friday, homered and doubled and finished with two runs batted in. Another double-duty player, right-hander Adam Clark, didn’t fare as well as De La Maza. Clark, normally a catcher, walked four batters in the first as East took a 5-0 lead. Merchan, however, relieved in the third and allowed two runs on four hits over four innings as Panorama City stormed back from a 5-2 deficit with four in the fourth and three in the sixth.
In the first elimination game, a 10-3 East victory over Newhall-Saugus, East catcher Glenn Nahmias was injured in a collision at second with infielder Tom Burges. Nahmias, a Times All-Valley selection from Taft High, was caught in a rundown between second and third and the two made contact as Nahmias leaped head-first back to second. Burges, who dropped the ball for an error while attempting to apply the tag, then jumped on the back of the prone Nahmias.
“He pushed me to keep me from getting to the base when I dove back, and that . . . me off, so I hit him,” said Nahmias, who will attempt to play as a walk-on at Cal in the fall. “And then three guys jumped on me.”
Nahmias suffered a dislocated right shoulder and did not play in the second game. Both benches cleared, but order was restored before any fights broke out. Neither player was ejected. Nahmias said doctors told him that he will be sidelined for at least two months.