Treend Pitches Woodland Hills Into Title Game

Woodland Hills West right-hander Pat Treend wears a fully grown red beard that makes him seem better suited to cruising around in a horse-drawn Amish wagon or posing on a Dutch Masters cigar box than pitching. Even his father, Chuck, says his son has “a Quaker kind of body.”

Take a look at Treend’s off-the-field garb, however, and you’ll see that most of his tastes are firmly rooted in the electric 1980s and beyond. Any cruising will be done in the fast lane, with the windows down and the stereo cranked to the hilt.

As he watched the American Legion Area 6 playoffs Friday, for instance, Treend was spotted wearing a Metallica T-shirt. Metallica, for the benefit of those unfamiliar with the band, plays a brand of music that, at times, sounds like buzz saws being run at 78 r. p. m. on a turntable with a rusty needle.

Saturday, Treend and teammate Ryan McGuire showed Panorama City the meaning of heavy mettle as Woodland Hills West advanced into the championship game of the Area 6 playoffs with an 8-3 victory at Birmingham High.

West will play Santa Monica--which defeated Panorama City, 15-7, in an elimination game Saturday afternoon--today at Birmingham at 11 a.m. Santa Monica needs a two-game sweep of West, which is still unbeaten in the double-elimination tournament, to advance to the state playoffs later this week in Yountville, Calif.

Despite a lack of velocity on his fastball, Treend (7-1) pitched six strong innings, struck out six, walked two and allowed seven hits and one earned run as West defeated Panorama City in a rematch of two teams that played last Sunday for the District 20 championship. In that game, West reliever Ryan McGuire almost blew a five-run lead in the bottom of the 10th before managing to save a 12-11 win.

McGuire saved this one, too, and in slightly more spectacular fashion. Holding a 7-3 lead, Treend gave up a single and a walk to open the seventh, so McGuire was brought in from first base to relieve. He fanned Dave Garcia and Shane Wight for the first two outs and retired Joe Cascione--who had five hits in his last nine at-bats--on a grounder to short.

McGuire, a left-hander, then retired the side in order in the eighth and ninth to lock it up.

“I didn’t . . . . up this one,” McGuire said, grinning.

This time, McGuire went right at Panorama City with heat.

“He had a five-run lead last time and he tried to get cute,” West assistant coach Don Hornback said. “This time, he did it right--he went right after them.”

West (26-3) did likewise with Panorama City starter Dave Unter, who failed to survive the first inning. In a District 20 playoff game against West on July 21, Unter gave up nine earned runs in 4 2/3 innings.

But he had a much tougher time Saturday.

Ricky Banuelos led off the game with a walk, and one out later, scored on McGuire’s double to left-center. Unter (5-2) then walked Del Marine and Jason Cohen to load the bases. After striking out Gregg Sheren, Jeff Marks drilled a two-run double to left, giving West a 3-0 lead.

“We really wanted to get out in front early,” said Marks, who finished with three runs batted in. “We knew how important this one was.”

Unter knew, too.

“He had a tough outing the first time,” Panorama City Coach Scott Smith said. “He knew the importance of the game. Let’s just say things just didn’t do his way.”

Treend was wobbly in the first inning, too, allowing two runs--one earned--on a hit and an error. He faced no more than four batters in innings two through six, however, and by that time, West had a 7-3 lead.

“Treend pitched a gutty game,” West Coach Gary Gibson said. “He came up to me after a couple of innings and said he didn’t have any pop at all on his fastball. We said we’d watch him and get him out of there if he got in any real trouble. He hung tough.”

In the second game, despite four hits by outfielder Sean Henson, Panorama City was drubbed by District 24 champion Santa Monica, which pounded out 15 hits. Panorama City finished the season 23-8.