Top-Ranked Westlake Falls to Marina, 4-1

Rich Herrera never was comfortable with his team’s habit of flirting with disaster.

And for good reason. Westlake High repeatedly had escaped adverse situations with clutch performances.

The Warriors’ strong pitching and tight defense came to the aid of the offense when it struggled. And, if pitching struggled and defense weakened, Westlake somehow produced enough runs.

But Tuesday, that magic ended when Marina handed the top-seeded Warriors a 4-1 loss in a Southern Section 5-A Division baseball semifinal game at Blair Field in Long Beach.

Suddenly, Westlake’s stingy defense wasn’t so stingy. The Warriors’ hitting wasn’t so pesky. And their pitching, their plug in the drain all season, finally faltered.

“This has been catching up with us,” said Herrera, whose team is ranked No. 1 by USA Today. “We’ve managed to come up with something just about every game.”

Not Tuesday.

Two mistakes allowed Marina to tie the score, 1-1, in the fourth. Another erased a valuable leadoff walk in a the fifth.

And, after James Clark limited Marina to two hits through five innings, Marina (16-12-1) battered Clark and Mike Eby for four consecutive hits and three runs in the sixth.

“We didn’t do what we needed to do,” Herrera said.

Westlake’s misfortunes began when it loaded the bases with one out in the first, and Eby hit into an inning-ending double play.

“That turned the whole ballgame around,” Herrera said.

And left Marina Coach Paul Renfrow breathing a sigh of relief.

“You just cannot let (Westlake) get a lead, because you’ll never catch them,” Renfrow said.

In the second, Todd Preston hit his second home run in as many games to give Westlake (28-2) a 1-0 lead. Clark (7-1), a junior left-hander, retired the first eight batters.

But Marina, the No. 3 team from the perennially-strong Sunset League, tied the score in the fourth.

Marc Newfield walked and reached second when second baseman Rick Wolters dropped catcher Mike Lieberthal’s throw on a stolen-base attempt. David Schultz then grounded to Wolters, but Eby dropped Wolters’ throw to first, allowing Newfield to score.

Westlake, meanwhile, couldn’t advance a runner past first base against Schultz (7-2). The Warriors had an opportunity to do so when Wolters led off the sixth with a walk, but he was thrown out at second on a sacrifice-bunt attempt.

“The pitch to (Rob) Neal was high, but Wolters went anyway,” Herrera said, shaking his head. “A costly mental mistake.”

Marina finally reached Clark in the sixth for consecutive singles by Robin Lindsey and Newfield. Eby, a senior left-hander with an 11-0 record, replaced Clark and gave up Schultz’s two-run triple.

Nick Valencia followed with a run-scoring double that extended Marina’s lead to 4-1 and chased Eby. Sophomore right-hander John Snyder struck out two of the three hitters he faced, but the damage was done.

Schultz, a 6-foot-4 senior right-hander who allowed only three hits, retired Westlake in order in the seventh.

“Three hits aren’t going to score many runs,” Herrera said. “You have to give their kid credit, but a lot of times we beat ourselves at the plate.”

The top of Westlake’s order, which scored 97 runs during the regular season, was zero for seven and finished five for 36 in the playoffs. Lieberthal, who hit .500 with 13 home runs and 42 runs batted in, was one for 12 in the playoffs.

“Things like that are bound to catch up with you,” Herrera said.