American Legion World Series : Woodland Hills Rallies for Title

Woodland Hills West infielder Del Marine remembers when he first noticed the aluminum bats that the team from Guaynabo, Puerto Rico, was toting around in the American Legion World Series. Considering the thunder and lightning that visited the Mid-South area over the five days of the tournament, the bats must have looked like lighting rods.

And after Guaynabo scored 37 runs in its first five games, it was clearly possible that the sparks might again fly.

“Everyone on their team was using 33-inch bats that weighed 33 ounces,” Marine said. “Ours are about 33 inches and weigh a lot less. Those guys swing some clubs.”

Yet it was Woodland Hills that battered the eight-team field to win the series title, scoring six runs in the sixth inning to rally past Guaynabo, 11-5, at Millington Legion Field on Sunday night. West (39-7) is the first California team since 1976 to win the title and the first ever from District 20. The game will be televised Tuesday on ESPN at 10 a.m.

For the umpteenth time in West’s improbable championship drive, it was a combination of players who put the team over the top. One day it was Marine--who was awarded three individual honors for his performance--and another it was the likes of outfielders Jeff Marks or Jason Cohen or shortstop Ricky Banuelos, each of whom drove in two runs Sunday.

Like many of his teammates, Cohen played through a variety of injuries, including taking 14 stitches in his left knee at the state tournament and enduring a strained muscle in his back.

“You don’t feel anything on a day like this,” said Cohen, who was three for five. “Your body’s feeling great, the adrenaline’s flowing. . . . We were awesome, I don’t know how we kept doing it. If one person’s down, another always seems to pick them up.”

Right-hander Pat Treend, who defeated Guaynabo, 6-5, in a first-round game on Wednesday, provided the pickup Sunday. He entered the game in the fourth inning in relief of starter Lance Gibson. Guaynabo (41-10), having scored four runs in the fourth, was leading, 5-3.

Treend retired 16 of 18 batters, struck out six, walked two and allowed one harmless single as West roared from behind in the sixth.

In the inning, Banuelos had a two-run double, Marks drove in a run with a bases-loaded single and Treend, of all people, kept the inning alive with a two-run single.

“Hey, I don’t give a . . . about the hitting,” Treend said. “I just wanted to hold them down.”

That he did. Treend ended the West victory tour by striking out the side in the ninth and was ceremoniously mugged by his teammates on the mound.

West players walked away with a number of individual awards. Marine received three, all based on regional and series play: the George Rulon National Player of the Year Award, which includes $2,000 in college scholarship money; the Louisville Slugger Award for batting average (17 for 37, .459); and the Rawlings Big Stick Award for total bases (24). All of which underscores Cohen’s team theme, since Marine was only one for three in the final and two for 11 over the last three games.

Outfielder Carl McFadden, who had three home runs in regional and series play, won the Irvin L. (Click) Cowger Award for runs batted in (14).