AMERICAN LEGION BASEBALL NOTEBOOK : Woodland Hills Offered 2 Views of Triple Play

Magic Johnson is not the only guy around town capable of recording a triple double. Sure, Johnson does his in basketball, but Woodland Hills West does its on the American Legion ball field.

Some teams play for years and never so much as witness a triple play. Woodland Hills West was on both ends of a triple play--doubling up, so to speak--in the span of 24 hours.

In Saturday’s District 20 playoffs, West turned a triple play in an 8-7 victory over third-seeded Glendale. With runners at first and second, Glendale’s Bill Kirk sent a ground ball to shortstop Dan Cey, who flipped to second baseman Kent Cote to record the force.

Cote fired to first for the second out and first baseman Aaron Weiss threw home to nail John Aguilar attempting to score from second.

West was on the other end in its 7-5 victory over Sepulveda on Sunday, and this particular triple play was as strange as it comes. With Justin Balser at third and Evan Howland at second in the fifth inning, Mike Smith sent a ground ball to second baseman Geoff Taylor, who held Balser at third and fired to first baseman Russell Ortiz for the first out.

Yet Howland, head down, took off for third. Ortiz ran across the infield and applied the tag on Howland, who had skidded to a stop halfway between second and third when he realized his gaffe. Ortiz then turned and fired to catcher Dylan Jones, who tagged out Balser attempting to score.

Sepulveda went on to win the district championship by defeating Woodland Hills, 12-3, in the second game Sunday.

Name the big leaguer: This week’s quiz is a double play of sorts, wherein two future major leaguers are included in the same question.

These former District 20 players were teammates in high school, where the pair led their school to its first City Section championship.

In their ascent to the professional ranks, one remained at his primary position at high school, the other switched to a different position. They also helped steal the thunder of a rival school and established their alma mater as a perennial local power. (Answer below).

The next step: Pairings for the first round of the Area 6 playoffs, a six-team double-elimination tournament that runs Thursday through Sunday at Moorpark College, have been determined.

At 9 a.m., Woodland Hills West will face Westchester, followed by Camarillo versus Sepulveda at 12:30 p.m. At 4 p.m., Conejo A plays Santa Monica.

Conejo A and Camarillo finished first and second, respectively, in District 16 play. Sepulveda and Woodland Hills West did likewise in District 20. Santa Monica and Westchester finished one-two in District 24. The tournament will use National League rules.

The tournament victor advances to the six-team state tournament Aug. 3-7 in Yountville.

Reversals of fortune: Pitchers Nick Brown (4-1, 0.87 earned-run average) and Jeff Naster (8-0, 2.67) of Conejo A were long relievers on the Thousand Oaks High team in the spring. Meanwhile, teammate Mike Lee, a first-team All-Ventura County pitcher from Thousand Oaks, has an ERA of 5.57 in Legion play.

Add reversals: What a difference a day made for Woodland Hills West’s Aaron Weiss. In a doubleheader Saturday, Weiss was a combined four for seven with a double, two triples and four runs batted in. In Sunday’s doubleheader, Weiss was zero for eight, hit into a double play and committed three errors.

Future Legion stars: A baseball tournament for 15-year-olds funded by the Amateur Athletic Foundation as a kickoff to the Olympic Festival was completed earlier this month, with the Sylmar White Sox defeating Palos Verdes, 9-2, in the gold-medal game.

Quiz answer: Jeff Wetherby and Phil Lombardi of Kennedy High, both of whom played for the Granada Hills Legion team, were the starting battery in the 1981 City 4-A Division championship game against Banning, which Kennedy won, 4-2.

Lombardi went on to play briefly with the Yankees and Mets at his original position, catcher, and has since retired.

Wetherby, a former reserve outfielder with the Atlanta Braves, is now the designated-hitter for the Seattle Mariners’ double-A affiliate in Jacksonville, Fla.

Wetherby started in the 1981 final and held Banning to one hit before he was relieved in the late innings.

Kennedy won three 4-A titles in the decade, tops in the City. Archrival Granada Hills won four City titles in the 1970s.