East Makes Pitch to Extend Streak : Prep baseball: Winners of six consecutive Bernie Milligan games possess impressive arsenal of arms. West counters with heavy hitters.

It is, perhaps, the most paradoxical baseball cliche. Flick on the radio or television and it rolls off another tongue, usually to be followed by a laugh and a flippant rejoinder by the color man.

A razor-sharp pitcher shuts down a team that had been on a roll, prompting announcer No. 1 to chirp analytically: “Good pitching always stops good hitting.”

Which is typically followed by a brainstorm from the color man: “And vice versa. Heh, heh, heh.”

The adage again will be put to the test when a pitching-rich East team meets an offensively loaded West in the Bernie Milligan all-star game today at 4:15 p.m. at Cal State Northridge.

The East roster features a pair of All-City Section 4-A Division right-handers in Tony Kuper of Grant High and Eric Diaz of Poly. Russell Ortiz of Montclair Prep and Jose Villafana of Sylmar give the East starting pitchers a combined record of 29-11.

Outfielder and relief specialist Kevin Tate of Alemany (five saves) will be ready to throw heat for the East, which holds a 10-5 series edge. The East has won six consecutive games.

The West counters with a group of players who were selected to The Times’ All-Valley or All-Ventura County first teams. Leading the list is Royal shortstop Dave Landaker, who was The Times’ Ventura County player of the year.

Landaker, selected by the Houston Astros in the second round in the amateur baseball draft June 1, batted .526 last season. Landaker is joined by Times’ All-Ventura teammate Shane Slayton, the Royal catcher who hit eight home runs, batted .529 and drove in a regional-best 49 runs in 26 games.

Other West players on The Times’ All-Ventura County team are outfielder Jim Chergey of Thousand Oaks and pitchers John Snyder of Westlake and Jeff Gibbons of Oak Park.

Times’ All-Valley players on the West roster are Crespi infielders Brodie Van Wagenen and Vic Seper, first baseman David Stevenson of Chatsworth and outfielders Scott Berger of Granada Hills and John Davis of Kennedy.

Leading the East offense is Hart shortstop John Aguilar, who batted .457 with 38 runs batted in and a school-record nine homers. Aguilar was The Times’ Valley player of the year.

In addition to Diaz, three other players from Poly will play for the East: first baseman Francisco Flores, infielder Frank Medina and outfielder Jesus Perez.

The East is coached by Tom Lucero of Grant and Doug Worley of Saugus. The West is coached by David Rhoades of Moorpark and Kevin Campbell of Monroe.