Geller Again Plays Key Role to Lead West to Legion Win : Baseball: Woodland Hills team posts 14th consecutive victory to move into tie for Western Division lead.

His cap on backward and rake in hand, Paul Geller was working over the infield dirt at El Camino Real High when his American Legion coach pointed in his direction and offered some unsolicited praise.

Some utility man, that guy.

“That’s the most valuable player on this team,” Woodland Hills West Coach Don Hornback said as he nodded toward Geller. “He’s in on everything, he’s saving games, he’s in the midst of every rally.”

Geller rapped out a pair of hits and pitched three innings of scoreless relief to lead West to a 7-3 victory over Van Nuys-Notre Dame in a District 20 game on Friday, extending West’s win streak to 14 games.

The victory moved West (17-4) into a first-place tie with Woodland Hills East in Western Division play with two games remaining in the regular season. Both teams play a doubleheader today, with the district playoffs beginning Wednesday.

Without Geller, however, West wouldn’t have made it this far, especially after its 1-3 start. All this and he’s handy around the yard, too?

“He’s been the man all year,” said teammate Del Marine. “It seems like he has three hits every game. I’m sure he had three hits today.”

Not quite, but not far off. Geller, normally a catalyst at second base, started at shortstop for injured Gregg Sheren and started a key double play that ended a Van Nuys rally in the third.

Van Nuys (14-7) took a 3-1 lead off West starter Pat Treend (3-2) in the third and seemed on its way to winning its ninth consecutive game. Edgar Maldonado led off with a walk and scored on a hit-and-run triple by Vinnie Orlando, who also had a single and a double. Orlando scored when Chris Castillo couldn’t handle Bruno Paniccia’s hot smash to second.

After Kevin Milligan forced Paniccia at second, Geller started a 6-4-3 double play on a grounder by Lou Tapia that seemed to turn the tide: Van Nuys would not advance a baserunner past second the rest of the game.

West broke through against Paniccia (3-1) in the fourth, taking a 5-3 lead. Bobby Kim, who slammed a solo home run in the first, opened with a walk and moved to second on Greg Lederman’s single to left. Forsaking the sacrifice bunt, Sean Boldt followed with a high drive off the fence in left-center that fell for a single, the runners advancing to second and third.

Paniccia walked Chris Teich to force in a run, cutting the lead to 3-2. Treend, batting in the No. 9 position, doubled down the line in left to drive in Lederman and Boldt. After Geller was hit by a pitch, Castillo drove in Teich with a sacrifice fly to right that gave West a 5-3 lead.

Geller’s run-scoring single in the fifth gave West a three-run lead, and Geller made sure it held up. The right-hander, who had started the fifth in relief of Treend, allowed three hits, struck out five and walked none to earn his third save.

Geller, who does not profess to be a pitcher, admits his emergence as a pitcher was practically accidental.

“I discovered (the cut fastball) in the bullpen a couple of weeks ago and it’s been working pretty sweet,” Geller said. “It’s definitely better than my breaking ball.”

After a sluggish start, West has hung tough, too. The team has won 16 of its last 17, which might sound a little familiar to some.

At this juncture last season, West had won 16 of 17 and 11 in a row. The momentum didn’t end until the team won the World Series title.

“I don’t want to say we’re ahead of last year or anything,” Hornback said. “But it’s remarkable that we’re where we are after the start we had.”

If Woodland Hills East and West finish in a tie, West would be No. 1 seeded by virtue of its two victories over East in head-to-head play.

Van Nuys needs at least a split of its doubleheader with Panorama City today to advance to the playoffs as a wild-card entry.