Siegel Gives East New Direction : Baseball: In battle of Woodland Hills teams, West falls to left-hander who joined team just before playoffs.

Left-hander Justin Siegel is new to the Woodland Hills East American Legion team.

And after one game, Siegel and his teammates like what they have seen of each other.

Siegel, who had been pitching for a Palomino all-star team, pitched a complete game and beat Woodland Hills West, 5-4, Friday in the Area 6 playoffs at UCLA’s Jackie Robinson Stadium.

“I’ve never seen so much confidence on a team in my life,” Siegel said. “It’s a whole different world. Before, if we got down by two runs, it was like, ‘Who do we play tomorrow?’ ”

Siegel’s teammates overcame a 3-1 sixth-inning deficit to eliminate West, the District 20 champion.

“Right now we’re on such an emotional high, there’s not a team that can beat us,” center fielder Gabe Kapler said. “It seems like it doesn’t matter who is more talented, it’s which team wants it more. And no team wants it more than us.”

Kapler played a key role in the comeback by beating out an infield single with two out in the bottom of the seventh, driving in the tying run.

East (20-9), which will play Claremont today at 2 p.m., followed Kapler’s hit by capitilizing on one of West’s four errors.

Warren Stewart hit a ground ball to the right side that was fielded by first baseman Randy Wolf. Pitcher Kevin Szymanski (6-2) was late covering the bag and Wolf’s throw was high and bounced into the dugout. The two-base error allowed Kapler to score with the go-ahead run.

East took a 5-3 lead when Stewart scored on a triple by Jon Schaeffer, who was two for four and has 17 hits in his last 29 at-bats.

West made nine errors in two games in the playoffs. The team allowed only two earned runs in two games, but lost both because of six unearned runs.

“It happens,” Szymanski said. “The guys in the field gave 100%. I’m not blaming anybody.”

West (23-6) hit only .203 in the area playoffs. Ventura’s Brandon Knight held the team to five hits in 12 innings Thursday and Siegel allowed eight hits.

“He’s a money ballplayer,” West Coach Bob Marks said of Siegel. “He got stronger as the game went on.”

Siegel, who threw 159 pitches, had eight strikeouts and three walks. “He was throwing hard, hitting his spots,” East catcher Stacy Kleiner said. “He looked real good.”

Siegel, who underwent arthroscopic surgery on his elbow in Februrary, said he surprised himself with how long he lasted.

“I was expecting to pitch four or five innings,” he said. Siegel will attend North Carolina State in the fall. “I just listened to my arm.”

This was the first East victory over West in five meetings this season, including two losses on the final day of the District 20 playoffs.

“The law of averages says you can’t beat the same team over and over,” Marks said.

Claremont 13, Ventura 3--Claremont right-hander Greg Sheperd pitched a three-hitter in a game at Jackie Robinson Stadium shortened to seven innings because of the 10-run rule.

Sheperd, who will be a junior at Claremont High, had a no-hitter until John McNamara singled with two out in the sixth. Sheperd struck out two and walked five.

“I can’t say anything bad about him,” Ventura Coach Art Barron said. “He did the job and our guys didn’t. That’s about as cut and dried as I can put it.”

John French started for Ventura and was chased in the third inning. He allowed four runs, two earned. Mark Bailey pitched the next four innings, allowing nine hits and nine runs. James Melcher came in from center field to finish the seventh inning.

Ventura (19-6), which did not commit an error over 12 innings Thursday against Woodland Hills West, made four errors against Claremont.

Steve Biernacki led District 18 champion Claremont (37-9-2) with three hits. Scott Conkling had two, including his sixth home run of the season.

Monte Moritz tripled and Aaron Triana doubled for Ventura.