Newbury Oaks in Full Bloom After Being Shaken to Its Roots : American Legion: Taken aback by loss in first game, team developed a sense of urgency and purpose in winning next 31.

So much for anticipation. Newbury Oaks, in its first American Legion game of the season anyway, turned from belle of the ball to wallflower.

Some players almost missed the dance completely on opening day in May when extra innings put the day’s nocturnal activity in jeopardy.

Jim Chergey, Jeff Olin and Craig Arnold, for example, were sweating it out for more than one reason: All were scheduled to attend the Thousand Oaks High senior prom that evening.

There was one complication for the trio: Camarillo A was in the process of placing flowers on Newbury Oaks’ grave. Slowly.

“It was getting kinda scary,” Chergey said. “It had to be a 4 1/2-hour game, a real marathon.

“I was afraid the flower shop would be closed--I mean, how late do they stay open on a Saturday? I was the last guy in to pick up his corsage.”

After Newbury Oaks foundered, 13-12, in 13 innings in the District 16 opener May 30, everything has come up roses. Newbury Oaks, the state champion, has won 31 games in a row since the defeat as it heads into today’s Southwest regional tournament at Cashman Field in Las Vegas, home of the triple-A Las Vegas Stars.

Newbury Oaks is scheduled to open against Tucson, Ariz., at 4:05 p.m. in the first game of the eight-team, double-elimination tournament. The winner of the regional will advance to the World Series in Fargo, N.D., Aug. 26-30.

A few weeks ago, this sort of success was predictable. The difficulties against Camarillo A certainly were not.

Newbury Oaks threw the ball around, blew a six-run lead and generally played like a team that would be hard-pressed to win a district title, much less the state championship.

“That was the best thing that ever happened to us,” Coach Chuck Fick said. “We knew we had a good team and that everybody expected us to do great things. After that, we knew we had work left to do.”

Thereafter, the team worked over the competition.

“We knew we were good,” Chergey said. “Then we came right out and lost. We knew we had to basically win the rest of our games to make sure we won the (District 16) title.”

Newbury Oaks rolled through the Area 6 and state tournaments with consecutive four-game sweeps. In the state tournament last week in Yountville, Newbury Oaks scored 49 runs.

Adam West, a 1991 graduate of Thousand Oaks who played last season at Lewis-Clark State College in Lewiston, Ida., is expected to be the starting pitcher for Newbury Oaks--a combination of players from Newbury Park and Thousand Oaks highs. West, a left-hander, is 10-1 with an earned-run average of 2.25.

The offense is loaded. Players batting in the top four places in the lineup--third baseman Ryan Kritscher, catcher Robert Fick, shortstop David Lamb and first baseman Trent Martin--are hitting a composite .487 with 51 runs batted in. The final cog of the infield, second baseman Olin, bats fifth and is hitting .410 with 31 RBIs.

“As far as I’m concerned, there’s an all-star at every position,” Fick said.

Tucson might match up. Both teams are loaded with players who have rolled up postseason honors like base hits, but the Arizona champion mirrors Newbury Oaks in another respect. Several members of the Newbury Oaks team played for the Conejo Valley Senior Little League all-star team that lost in the final round of the Western regional in 1989; several players from Tucson played in the regionals in 1988.

Tucson is composed of players from Desert View and Sunnyside highs, which played each other last spring for the state 4-A Division championship. The 4-A is the second-highest division in the state.

Several members of the all-state 4-A team are on the Tucson roster, including pitchers Muny Noriega and Gabe Moraga and catcher Junior Gastellum.