Gordon Homers but Westlake Sinks Simi Valley, 9-4

For Simi Valley High Coach Mike Scyphers, Friday’s 9-4 loss to Westlake typified the Pioneers’ season.

Simi Valley, fighting for the league’s final playoff berth, played near-flawless baseball through four innings of a Marmonte League game at Simi Valley.

The Pioneers led, 3-1. Pitcher Brian Vasey had allowed only two hits and had struck out five. Joe Gordon had hit his 15th home run to tie Scott Sharts’ 1988 school record.

Then came the woeful fifth, when Westlake (24-1, 12-0) used a costly Pioneer error to score three unearned runs and take a 4-3 lead.

The sixth was even worse. Westlake scored five runs--four on Tim Falsken’s grand slam--and ensured that Simi Valley (11-12, 4-7) would miss the Southern Section playoffs for only the third time in Scyphers’ 12-year tenure.

“If we could have quit after four innings this year, we’d be pretty tough,” Scyphers said. “But something always happens. It’s been our downfall all year.”

The slide began with one out in the fifth, when third baseman Tyler Nelson dropped Matt McHendry’s pop-up. Rick Wolters doubled and, with two out, Vasey (1-3) walked two batters to force in a run. Keith Hess (three for four) followed with a two-run double that gave Westlake a 4-3 lead.

“Vasey showed a lot of guts and a lot of heart, but he just got tired,” Scyphers said.

Westlake, which already had clinched its first league title, loaded the bases in the sixth on a single, a hit batter and a walk. Falsken (three for four) followed with his fourth homer, extending Westlake’s lead to 8-3. Westlake reloaded the bases and, with two out, a walk extended Westlake’s lead to 9-3.

Gordon’s solo home run in the first gave Simi Valley a 1-0 lead and moved the senior second baseman to within a homer of tying the Southern Section record set by Arnold Garcia of Channel Islands in 1981.

Westlake’s Mike Lieberthal, who has 13 home runs, was hitless in five appearances but walked three times.

Simi Valley added a run in the first on Nelson’s single and extended the lead to 3-0 in the third when Kenny Hood’s triple drove in Vasey, who had singled.

Hess cut Westlake’s deficit to 3-1 with a run-scoring double in the fourth. Mike Eby (9-0), who pitched his ninth complete game in 12 outings, struck out eight and allowed seven hits.