Falsken Trims Foes With Sheer Mastery

Tim Falsken has taken plenty of cuts this season, but Monday his cut was so bad that he could only shake his head in astonishment.

It wasn’t a hard slider that had Falsken, the Westlake High shortstop who has hit .448 this season, on his heels. Nor was he leaning at a curveball.

It was a set of shears that left Falsken baffled.

“Aw, man, the guy butchered me,” Falsken said of his latest crew cut.

Well, it wasn’t that bad. At least Falsken’s ears were still intact.

“I should have known better when I asked for a crew cut and he said, ‘You a gamblin’ man?’ ” Falsken said.

Falsken gambled with the razor and lost, so he’ll stick to rolling the dice on a baseball diamond. Falsken was a big winner twice last week in victories over Royal and Thousand Oaks.

In a 6-5, nine-inning win over Royal on Wednesday, he pitched 3 2/3 innings of one-hit relief and scored the winning run in the ninth inning. And, when the Marmonte League’s two unbeaten teams met Friday, Falsken went two for four with a run batted in and a stolen base in a 6-2 win over Thousand Oaks.

“I’m always hoping for the chance to keep the game going, or win the game somehow,” Falsken said.

He had that opportunity against Royal, when he retired 11 of the 13 batters he faced. In the ninth, he reached on an error, stole second, and scored on Mike Lieberthal’s double. Falsken preserved the win by retiring the side in the bottom of the ninth.

“That’s what I like best, to come in there with all the pressure on,” Falsken said. “I want to go right at them, and make them beat me with my best stuff.”

So far, that hasn’t been done. Falsken, who is headed for Cal State Long Beach on a scholarship as a middle infielder, has offered his pitching skills in each of the past two seasons. Coach Rich Herrera accepted this year, and Falsken has responded with a 4-0 record and an 0.41 earned-run average. He has allowed only one earned run in 17 innings, and has struck out 18 and walked five.

“Last year he kept telling me he could pitch, but I didn’t throw him,” Herrera said. “This year he said he wanted to pitch, so I let him.”

Falsken’s debut was impressive. He took the mound in an El Segundo tournament game as Westlake trailed Millikan, 6-2. Five innings later, Millikan had only two more hits and one run, and Westlake won, 8-7.

“He was competitive on the mound, which is basically the way he is,” Herrera said. “He comes into the toughest part of the game, relieving, and does the job.”

Falsken’s relief efforts have been as surprising as Westlake’s 9-0 start. In Westlake’s other league win, a 7-5 victory over Camarillo, Falsken struck out four in 1 2/3 innings to earn the win. He also hit a game-tying double in the seventh inning.

His success also has helped preserve the arm of Mike Eby, Westlake’s No. 1 pitcher.

“Eby probably would be in there in relief if it weren’t for Tim, so this allows us to rest Mike,” Herrera said.

Falsken’s arsenal includes a hard fastball and a confusing changeup, but he prefers to keep relief pitching to its simplest form.

“I just throw it, and hope they miss it,” he said. “I really don’t consider myself a pitcher.”

He’s having a bit more success with pitches than a certain barber is having with a razor.