Berger Ends Power Slump in a Big Way : American Legion baseball: Granada Hills West player hits two home runs and drives in six runs in win over Verdugo Hills.

It had been so long since Scott Berger hit a ball over a fence that the details have been lost in time.

Sure, Berger remembers precisely when the event last took place. It’s just that he has lost track of the ensuing time, which has dragged on and on and on.

Berger hit two home runs Wednesday to lead Granada Hills West to a 14-5 victory over Verdugo Hills in a District 20 American Legion baseball game at Granada Hills High. Berger had not homered since the Granada Hills High preseason alumni game in February.

“I guess it’s been a three-month power shortage,” said Berger, who was soon corrected on the time line. “OK, a nine-month power outage.”

While Berger’s math might be a little shaky, his statistical production was strong. Against Verdugo Hills, Berger drove in six runs and stole a base.

Berger’s two-run homer in the second kick-started a five-run rally as Granada Hills West (13-6) chased Verdugo Hills right-hander John Breckow. Berger, who bats left-handed, yanked a three-run homer over the fence in right in the seventh to give Granada Hills West, which was the visitor, an 11-run lead.

Thereafter, the only element of intrigue was whether teammate Heath McElwee would retire the side in the seventh before the game was called because of darkness. Had it been halted before the seventh was officially completed, Berger’s second homer would have been disallowed.

Bryan Martin, the starting pitcher for Granada Hills West, hit a solo home run to left in the third inning, good for a 5-0 lead.

Martin’s ball landed squarely on the hood of a late-model Nissan, which was parked on the far side of Hiawatha Street, which parallels the left-field fence. A group of people emerged from the neighboring apartment complex to survey the damage.

Said Martin: “Uh-oh.”

Verdugo Hills (10-7) muttered a similar response in the early innings, when Martin (4-2) shut down its lineup. Martin allowed one infield single through the first four innings as Granada Hills West jumped to a 9-0 lead.

Martin also tripled and McElwee added a double for Granada Hills West, which previously had been carried offensively by players from Cleveland High, all of whom good-naturedly stated that the team was Granada Hills in name only.

Martin, McElwee and Berger are Granada Hills High products.

“Now that the Granada guys are finally hitting, we’re challenging to get the name back to Granada Hills West,” Coach Dave McElwee said. “We were Cleveland there for a while.”

Martin, who has been selected to play in the District 20 All-Star Game on Sunday, struggled in the fifth. He walked three consecutive batters, then yielded four singles in succession as Verdugo Hills crawled to within 9-3.

But Berger put Verdugo Hills away in the seventh with his three-run homer, which gave Granada Hills West a 14-3 lead.