AMERICAN LEGION BASEBALL / JEFF FLETCHER : Question of Allegiance Causes Controversy

Don’t frown on Dan Martinez and Richard Soliz, the Camarillo pitchers who originally told their coach they didn’t want to pitch in the Area 6 playoffs last week. They wanted to save their arms for last Sunday’s tryout for the Area Code Games, the premier showcase for high school players in the West.

One Legion official said he would have kicked the players off his team if he were the coach.

Camarillo Coach Ron Regalado stuck by the players, he said, because he agreed to the arrangement before the playoffs began.

The controversy proved moot, however. Jody Breeden, one of the coaches who selects players for the Area Code Games, told the players he would watch them pitch in the playoffs Saturday, and that would serve as their tryout.

The pitchers both lost and neither made the team, but their original decision is still understandable. Martinez and Soliz believed that their performances in Sunday’s tryout would be the sole factor determining selection to the Area Code team.

Consider what the Area Code Games mean to a player: About 200 scouts and 60 college coaches showed up to last year’s Games in San Diego. This year’s event will be in Long Beach August 17-20.

Of the 35 players from area high schools who played in the Games in 1992 and 1993, 32 have signed to play Division I college baseball or were drafted.

Justin Siegel, from Taft, earned a scholarship to North Carolina State primarily because of three impressive innings he pitched at the 1992 Games.

The benefit of pitching in the Legion playoffs?

Say what you like about the wonderful memories of an Area 6 championship, but they won’t help pay any bills in 10 years, the way a college degree or pro baseball career can.

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Catch this: Westlake-Royal’s defense was probably the aspect most responsible for the team not winning the Area 6 championship. Defense had been a strength all season, but in the playoffs, Westlake-Royal made 23 errors in six games.

“We had lapses and the lapses came at bad times,” Coach Mike McClure said. “I don’t know why. If we had answers to that, we probably wouldn’t be coaching at this level.”

The costliest was a four-error ninth inning Friday night against eventual champion Arcadia. Two of the errors came on bunts.

Westlake-Royal had additional trouble fielding bunts in the championship game Sunday.

In two games against Arcadia, Westlake-Royal failed to record an out on any of four sacrifice attempts, either because of errors or players not covering the proper bases.

“We instituted a few new bunt defenses late in the year, and when you do that you are likely to have some breakdowns,” McClure said.

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To the rescue: In a six-team, double-elimination tournament crammed into four days, the key is to have pitchers with endurance. Four pitchers from local teams had staff-saving performances at the Area 6 playoffs.

* Westlake-Royal pitcher Maki Kramer pitched 12 innings Sunday, the maximum allowed by Legion rules. Kramer hadn’t pitched in two weeks because of a minor knife wound he suffered apprehending a shoplifter at a Simi Valley store. But he beat Arcadia on Sunday and started the second game, pitching three scoreless innings before he reached the inning limit.

“It was unbelievable,” Westlake-Royal pitcher Todd Singleton said. “I didn’t think he could do it, but that just shows what kind of pitcher he is.”

* Valley North’s Jim DeBiase pitched a complete game Friday, beating St. Bernard in an elimination game with a six-hit, one-run, 10-strikeout performance.

* Camarillo’s Brian Garrettson opened the tournament Thursday with a five-hit, 13-strikeout game against St. Bernard.

* Camarillo’s Soliz pitched a complete game in an 11-10 loss to Westlake-Royal on Saturday night. It wasn’t an artistic performance, but it was gutty, which is another way of saying he scattered 17 hits over nine innings and threw 160 pitches. He was the only pitcher Camarillo had left.

* Camarillo’s Manuel Chavira pitched eight innings against Westchester on Friday, allowing no earned runs on five hits with no walks in a 4-1 victory.

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Hot hitters: Some of the top offensive performances of the tournament:

* Westlake-Royal catcher Ben Lemos hit two home runs in the tournament, equaling his team’s total from the regular season. In the two games against Arcadia on Sunday, Lemos was six for nine with five runs batted in.

* Valley North’s Tony Montiel had hits in his final nine at-bats, including a two-out single in the ninth inning Saturday that pulled Valley North even with Westlake-Royal, which won in 10 innings, 9-8.

* Westlake-Royal’s Joel Mellinger was 11 for 22 with 11 runs and seven RBIs.

* Camarillo’s Rodell Desamparo was seven for 12.

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Golden gloves: Some of the standout defensive plays of the tournament:

* Westlake-Royal first baseman Matt Pitstick made a leaping catch of a line drive and then turned an unassisted double play with the bases loaded in the seventh inning of the team’s first game against Arcadia.

* Westlake-Royal left fielder Bryan Fernandez threw out an Arcadia runner at the plate in the seventh inning of the championship game, preserving a tie score.

* Valley North center fielder Brian Wittman made a diving catch against St. Bernard.

* Camarillo catcher Desamparo caught a foul pop while sliding into the backstop.

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Add defense: The best play of the tournament, however, wasn’t made by an area player.

In the first inning of Friday’s meeting between Westlake-Royal and Arcadia, Kevin Mellinger drilled a ball to deep center field. Arcadia center fielder Josh Oder raced back and made an over-the-shoulder catch that brought gasps from the crowd at Jackie Robinson Stadium.

Oder spun and fired the ball back into the infield, and shortstop Justin Stewart made a strong throw to double Brent Egan off first base.