THOUSAND OAKS TOURNAMENT : Giant-Killer Montclair Prep Slays Agoura for Title, 6-1

Walt Steele’s fears that his top-ranked Montclair Prep team would be short on pitching and emotion were erased Wednesday by one swing from Keyaan Cook and a strong pitching performance from Scott Saklad.

Cook hit a grand slam and Saklad allowed only four hits as the Mounties defeated Agoura, 6-1, in the championship game of the Thousand Oaks tournament. Montclair Prep (15-2), the No. 1-ranked team in the Southern Section 1-A Division but the smallest school in the tournament, was coming off a 7-6 upset of previously unbeaten El Camino Real on Tuesday.

“We talked about an emotional letdown,” said Steele, Montclair Prep’s coach. “It was a big win, but we wanted to keep a consistent tempo.”

That was cured when Cook, a 5-foot-10, 215-pound senior shortstop, gave the Mounties a 4-0 lead when he sent a fastball from Bob Kazmirski (2-4) over the left-field fence with two out in the third inning. Cook hit a three-run home run against El Camino Real and was five for 12 with eight runs batted in during the four-game tournament.

“Keyaan has been struggling lately, but really started to get his rhythm going,” Steele said.

Saklad, making only his second appearance in three weeks, also was in tune. A short reliever who had thrown only 6 1/3 innings all season, Saklad (1-0) retired 10 batters in a row at one point.

“We were just hoping for four innings from him, but after five innings he had only thrown 62 pitches so we stuck with him,” Steele said. “He really picked us up.”

Saklad lost the shutout in the sixth when Josh Smaler, an all-tournament selection, hit a two-out solo home run. Saklad walked two in the seventh and was relieved by freshman Chris Ferebee, who struck out the two batters he faced.

“I wasn’t nervous because I hadn’t thrown in a while and not much was expected from me,” Saklad said. “I just wanted to keep the ball down and throw groundballs.”

Montclair Prep, which failed to advance past the first day of the tournament the previous two years, extended its lead to 5-0 in the fourth. Russell Ortiz--an all-tournament selection--reached on an error, went to second on a fielder’s choice, and scored on Shad Knighton’s two-out single.

The Mounties added a run in the fifth when Cook singled, moved to second on a ground out, and scored on a hit-and-run single from Brent Polacheck.

Agoura (7-8), winner of five consecutive games, had runners in scoring position three times but failed to score.

“We just weren’t aggressive at the plate and it hurt us,” Agoura Coach Gary Gray said. “(Saklad) wasn’t overpowering, but he was around the plate and kept us off balance.”