Battle Cry of Pitchers Drives Poly to City Final : Prep baseball: Alegria, Diaz set the Parrots’ mission in the preseason, then the team rallies behind the goal of a championship.

It could safely be characterized as one of those innocuous, pump-you-up preseason speeches. Forgotten before it reached the human ear, practically.

Rah rah rah.

Blah blah blah.

Hah hah hah.

Poly High ballplayers Allen Alegria and Eric Diaz, throwing in the bullpen along with the rest of the team’s pitchers during winter-league play, started a man-to-man mantra.

We’re on a mission.

Of course, whether winning a City Section 4-A Division title was achievable was a matter of opinion. Way back when, when somebody pointed out that the duo was probably just blowing big-time bravado, it was hard for the pitchers to disagree.

Realistic? Let’s just say that there used to be a television series about improbable missions, and the last word was “ . . . Impossible!”

“Somebody said that someday we’d be at the team banquet and it’d be, ‘Hey, what happened to the mission?’ ” Diaz said, grinning.

The banquet can wait. After three thrilling courses of playoff hors d’oeuvres, Poly will play for the whole enchilada when the top-seeded Parrots face San Pedro in the final at 7:30 tonight at Dodger Stadium.

Poly (21-4) has won 15 games in a row, including three consecutive one-run decisions in the playoffs. Diaz (11-2) was the winning pitcher in all three, including Monday’s 3-2 victory over Chatsworth in the semifinals.

Alegria, a left-handed knuckleballer who is 8-2, is the scheduled starter tonight against San Pedro, also 21-4 and the champion of the Pacific League.

Seat belts may be compulsory. In each of the past five 4-A finals, the tying run scored in the seventh or was in scoring position when the game ended. The 1990 and ’91 games, won by Chatsworth and San Fernando, ended when the winning run crossed the plate in the bottom of the seventh. In all, there have been five consecutive one-run decisions at Dodger Stadium.

If the Parrots have taught their fans a thing, it is this: Don’t leave early.

Based on Poly’s run through the playoff bracket, tonight’s game should be another edge-of-the-chair affair. The 4-A final has been punctuated by fantastic finishes dating to 1987, when Poly lost to Canoga Park, 5-4. The Parrots scored three times in the seventh to move within a run, but stranded runners at first and second.

Having ended a lengthy streak of its own, San Pedro will be seeking to halt yet another. San Pedro last reached a City baseball final in 1962 and fell to Washington, 7-5. The Pirates have never won a City title and will be facing stiff odds--a team from the San Fernando Valley has won the past 19 large-school titles.

The less ado about the Valley streak the better, says Cord. Let’s just say that Cord doesn’t exactly have 20-20 vision about posting the area’s 20th consecutive win.

“I’m not representing the Valley,” Cord said. “I couldn’t give a big one about the streak. We’re representing Poly High School.”

The Parrots misfired in the final in 1978 and ’87 under Cord, and during the backslapping and glad-handing that followed the Parrots’ win over Chatsworth on Monday, the phrase, “Third time’s a charm,” was uttered more than once.

Players, though, don’t like being compared to their predecessors. Some took particular umbrage at a published report that detailed Poly’s inability to win the championship despite several appearances as the top-seeded team in the 4-A.

Senior outfielder Jesus (Mo) Perez, in fact, posted the newspaper article on the dugout wall and used it for “target practice,” assistant Mike Wagner said.

“Don’t judge us by past teams,” Alegria said. “We don’t want to hear about any jinx. We didn’t play on those teams.”

For the first few weeks of the season, precious few would would have compared the current Poly club to past championship finalists. On April 7, Poly lost to Van Nuys, 3-2, and fell to 6-4 overall.

Players were struggling. First baseman Francisco (Chief) Flores, an acknowledged team leader, spent time on the pine as coaches tried to get him back in focus at the plate. Chief wasn’t the lone brave in this particular tepee.

“Jerry’s always said how it’s been the Poly tradition to hit the heck out of the ball,” said Wagner, a first-year assistant. “I can remember back when I used to read the line scores and they were winning, 17-1, or whatever.

“In our first game of the year we lose, 8-0, to Kennedy and I’m wondering what happened.”

Partial answer: A mass exodus.

Poly had gaping holes to fill. Lost to graduation from the 1990 team, which reached the 4-A semifinals, were Jonathan Campbell (who hit .370), Raul Torres (.388), Robert Aros (.365) and utility whiz Rodrigo Dorame (.344, 5-1 record).

“We lost key kids, but these guys have filled in,” Cord said. “They’re used to winning games.”

If not expecting it. The Poly junior varsity is 43-1 over the past three seasons. Current seniors such as Ernie Bueno, Sergio Garcia, Pascual Munguia and Alegria played for the junior varsity last spring, stacked up like Cord wood awaiting a chance to torch an opponent. Orlando Chavarria, a reserve last season as a junior, drove in the winning runs in Poly’s first- and second-round playoff victories.

“We said early in the year that, after going to the semifinals last year and having a very good team, that it was important for this team to establish its own identity,” Cord said.

It didn’t happen overnight. More like a fortnight, if not two.

“We started losing,” Diaz said. “We lost to Van Nuys. Supposedly all of the good players had left.”

Almost all of the pitching had, too. Diaz, 4-0 as a junior, was the lone returning pitcher with any experience to speak of. However, the Poly pitching staff, led by would-be prophets Diaz and Alegria, has been consistent throughout. Alegria, in particular, has been credited with holding the team together during the rough waters of the season’s first half.

Over the past month, Diaz has raised Poly hopes and eyebrows with a startling run. Before surrendering a pair of runs to Chatsworth in the seventh inning, Diaz had recorded 15 2/3 consecutive scoreless innings in postseason play. Chatsworth didn’t manage a hit until the sixth inning.

“He’s been throwing the best ball I’ve ever seen,” Alegria said. “It’s amazing.”

The bandy-legged Flores--built along Ruthian lines at 6-foot-5, 260 pounds--rediscovered his stroke and is back in the cleanup spot. Flores finished the regular season batting a team-high .456, had two hits against Chatsworth and has kept the troops entertained with his dugouts antics. “He’s like a big teddy bear,” Cord said. “You don’t know whether to squeeze him, run from him or wrestle him.”

Flores prefers the latter. An All-City lineman for the football team last fall, he slapped a bear hug on Alegria after the left-hander recorded the final out against Chatsworth.

“He didn’t tackle anybody that hard all football season,” Cord said.

After a season with spills and thrills, Alegria and Diaz have reached their preseason field goal.