Double Steal Works 3 Times in Conejo Win : Baseball: Gadget plays force mistakes, help defeat Camarillo, 9-6, in American Legion Area 6 playoff game.

Coach Craig Sturges says his Conejo American Legion team has only four signs and he rarely flashes any of them. Friday, an exception was made.

Three exceptions, actually.

Conejo scored three times on a double-steal gadget play and defeated Camarillo, 9-6, in a second-round game of the Area 6 playoffs at Moorpark College.

Conejo (36-4) will face Woodland Hills West (24-9) in a battle of the unbeaten teams today at 12:30. Both teams are 2-0 in the double-elimination tournament.

On three occasions with runners at first and third, Conejo pulled off the delayed steal play, in which a runner bolts from first with the pitcher in the stretch position. The play drew a throw from the pitcher each time, and the runner from third scored--each time.

The play worked in the first, sixth and ninth innings. It didn’t take an arithmetic genius, which Sturges does not claim to be, to figure out how three stolen runs figured in a three-run ballgame.

“We’ve worked it against them religiously,” said Sturges, whose team is 2-2 against District 16 foe Camarillo this summer.

Another sign of the times: Conejo’s play has worked five times in six tries against Camarillo (25-9).

“As good as they are, they don’t need any help,” Camarillo Coach Gary Wagner said. “That play, we just didn’t defend it.”

Conejo was indefensible in general. Conejo scored eight unearned runs, six off tough-luck starter Dan Haas (8-3), who pitched the first seven innings and allowed one earned run.

Conejo took advantage of two Camarillo miscues before the seats were warm. In the first inning, Camarillo third baseman Jon McMullen booted a ground ball by Brian Sturges to allow the first run to score.

Bryan Corey’s single drove in a run and moved Sturges to third, which is where sparks started to fly. With Mike Moore at the plate, Corey took off for second and drew a throw from Haas. Sturges headed home, and halted halfway as the throw came through to catcher Rob Sanchez, who flipped to McMullen.

McMullen chased Sturges toward home plate, however, and Sturges beat the throw back to Sanchez with a slide for a 3-0 lead. Corey moved to third on the play and scored on Moore’s double.

It really looked as though it was Conejo’s day when McMullen was intentionally walked with two out and two on in the seventh and Conejo leading, 7-4. First base was not open and waiting on deck was Mike Mitchell, who will attend UCLA in the fall. Mitchell flied to center with the bases loaded.

“That was my catcher’s call,” said Craig Sturges of his son, Brian, the catcher in question. “He came back to the dugout and said, ‘See, it worked. You don’t know anything about baseball.’

“I said, ‘There isn’t much doubt about that.’ ”

Jeff Naster (10-0) allowed three earned runs over eight innings.

In other games:

Woodland Hills West 9, Santa Monica 1--Right-hander Terry Morrow (9-2) allowed one run on seven hits.

Morrow added two hits and drove in two runs for defending state champion West (24-9). Sean Boldt, Justin Balser and Justin Stark each had three hits for West and Greg Lederman added two.

Westchester 6, Sepulveda 5 (10 innings)--Trailing, 5-3, in the top of the ninth, Santa Monica rallied to tie and scored the winning run in the 10th to eliminate the District 20 champion. Sepulveda (22-8) had four players ejected by plate umpire Wesley Bott for use of profanity.