This Time, There’s No Stopping Chiara

The moment was oh-so-familiar to Troy Chiara, senior catcher for West Covina South Hills. But the outcome was much better.

He was standing on third base with the score tied in the ninth inning of the Southern Section 4-A championship game at Anaheim Stadium. The next moment, the ball was at the screen, and Chiara immediately broke for home for the run that gave the Huskies a 6-5 victory over Irvine.

Just as he failed to do two years ago when the Huskies lost in the 4-A title game.

Two years ago in the title game, Chiara was on third early in the game with the score tied, 0-0, against San Luis Obispo. The ball went to the screen and he broke for home . . . then stopped . . . then started . . . then stopped . . .

The indecision might have continued had he not been tagged out.

Chiara, who was an outfielder then, also misplayed a fly ball that allowed two runs to score that day. San Luis Obispo won, 4-0.

So, naturally, he was looking for a little redemption.

He got a little.

Chiara, a four-year varsity letterman, had a key hit in the Huskies’ four-run seventh, which tied the score, 5-5. He lined a single to center to cut the deficit to 5-4.

But his biggest contribution came on the basepaths, which isn’t exactly his specialty. In fact, even his coach, Jim Bastion, calls him slough-foot.

With two outs in the ninth, Chiara popped a fly into center field. Irvine’s Tommie Louie dived for the ball, but it bounced off his mitt.

Chiara took a big turn around first, then had to dive back to the bag when left fielder Tran Loc fired a throw to Erik Sobek.

Loc appeared to tag out Chiara, but the umpire ruled him safe.

“He was out,” Irvine Coach Bob Flint said, “but that’s not why we lost.”

It didn’t help.

With Danny Ehler at the plate and the count 1-2, Chiara broke for second on a hit-and-run play. Ehler missed the pitch and Chiara--a.k.a. slough-foot--was dead to rights.

“That certainly was a hit-and-run,” Bastion said. “I’d never send Troy on a steal. Not slew-foot. I thought the inning was over.”

It wasn’t, but only because catcher Jason Minici’s throw went into center field. Chiara ended up on third.

Immediately the file cards started shuffling through his mind.

“The first thing I thought about was the last time this happened, two years ago,” Chiara said. “I wasn’t going to make the same mistake.”