South Seems Unaffected by Long Layoff in 6-2 Win : American Legion: Winners make three double plays in dominating all-star game.
Roland De La Maza was so rusty that he thought he heard his right arm creak like a merry-go-round when he warmed up to pitch in the inaugural American Legion North-South All-Star Game on Saturday.
Ditto with North teammate Shane Cowsill, who couldn’t help but wonder aloud how the players from the South managed to stay so finely tuned in the weeks before the game.
“I don’t know where they’ve been playing to stay so sharp,” Cowsill said, pointing to the South dugout. “But the only guys on this team that have been playing lately are the guys from (state champion) Woodland Hills West.”
The North scored a pair of runs in the final two innings to make the score respectable, but the South prevailed, 6-2, at UCLA’s Jackie Robinson Stadium.
De La Maza, a right-hander from Panorama City, started and allowed two first-inning runs. Considering the high-scoring nature of most all-star games, it didn’t seem cause for alarm, but it was nearly all that South right-hander Matt Meyers of Chino and his teammates would need.
Meyers, named the game’s most valuable player, allowed one hit over three innings, struck out six and walked two in picking up the victory.
“He was throwing so smooth, so easy,” North co-Coach Jody Breeden said of Meyers, who struck out the side in the third. “He was impressive.”
So was the South offense, which came out swinging despite the fact that most players on both teams had not suited up in at least three weeks. The South banged out five hits in De La Maza’s two-inning stint to take a 3-0 lead.
“It was just a bad day,” said De La Maza, who will be a sophomore at College of the Canyons in the fall. “I hadn’t pitched in a while, which is no excuse. I was just a mess out there.
“It was an ugly first two innings for us. After that, we were OK.”
Aesthetically, perhaps. But three runs were all the South needed.
Trailing, 5-0, the North didn’t advance a baserunner to third until the sixth when it loaded the bases against reliever John Lynn of Fullerton. David Cooke of Lancaster singled with one out and took second when Bobby Kim of Woodland Hills West reached base on an error. With two out, Chris Prince of Van Nuys-Notre Dame walked to load the bases.
However, Lynn retired Cowsill of Glendale--a home run hitter--on a line drive to right to end the threat.
The North broke through for a run in the eighth off reliever Guy Pinelli of Fullerton to close to within 5-1. Again it was Cooke who started the rally by drawing a one-out walk. Tyler Nelson of Simi Valley singled, and, after Kim struck out, Prince walked to reload the bases for Cowsill.
“There was no way I wanted to strand three more guys out there,” Cowsill said, laughing. “That would have been horrible.”
Not to worry. Cowsill singled to left to drive in Cooke, cutting the lead to 5-1. Pinelli, however, struck out Steve Philbrook of Ventura to end the inning.
After the South turned two Cowsill walks and a passed ball into its sixth run in the top of the ninth, the North mounted its final threat. Brett Schaffer of Santa Monica, Paul Geller of Woodland Hills West and Joe Keller of Pomona singled to load the bases with none out. Cooke drove in Schaffer with a fielder’s choice ground out, but Pinelli retired Nelson on a 6-4-3 double play to end the game.
It was no fluke. The South showed no signs of a layoff defensively, either--it turned three double plays.
In the first, Rich Racine of Rancho Cucamonga walked and moved to third on a single by Chad Marlow of Fullerton. After a one-out, run-scoring grounder made it 1-0, Shane Borowski of Fullerton drove in Marlow with a single.
North Coach Don Hornback of Woodland Hills West missed the game because he was suffering from viral pneumonia. He is expected to return for West’s games in the regional tournament.