AMERICAN LEGION BASEBALL / JEFF FLETCHER : Holmes Twins Having a Ball at Bat, on Base

Tyler Holmes finally has made it easy on everyone--except pitchers.

Because he recently grew a goatee, Tyler is now distinguishable from his twin, Ryan, who is cleanshaven. But for opposing pitchers, it doesn’t really matter which one is at the plate, anyway.

The twins, who form the heart of the Thousand Oaks batting order, each hit for power and average, and they have more speed than one would expect from their 5-foot-8, 200-pound frames.

And they both are likely to be making jokes to keep their teammates laughing one minute, then giving stern lectures about intensity the next.

“They are loose and they are also the two most intense guys I’ve ever seen,” Thousand Oaks Coach Mike Lee said. “They have no problem going up to someone and telling them to get their act together. But they definitely enjoy themselves out there and have a lot of fun.”

Their fun is usually at the expense of opponents.

Tyler, who plays third base, is hitting .560 with four home runs and 26 runs batted in. Ryan, the left fielder, is hitting .609 with two home runs, 19 RBIs and 17 stolen bases.

As juniors at Thousand Oaks High this spring, Tyler hit .391 with three home runs, 27 RBIs and 12 stolen bases; Ryan hit .441 with four home runs, 23 RBIs and 17 steals.

Their natural competitiveness with each other carries them to higher levels.

“If one of us is hitting .500, the other wants to hit .500 too,” Ryan said.

The only significant difference in their games is Tyler hits with a tad more power, but Ryan has a tad more speed.

“The main thing now is I want RBIs and he wants stolen bases,” Tyler said, “and since he’s hitting ahead of me, I wait for him to steal and then drive him in.”

Don’t count on that distinction to hold up.

“It’s been weird,” Tyler said. “When we first got to high school, he was the home run hitter and I was spraying the ball all over the place. And I used to be the one who was stealing all the bases.

“Now it’s kind of flipped.”

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When it rains it pours. And sometimes when it doesn’t rain too.

North Hollywood West’s four-game winning streak was left in limbo Sunday when the team’s game against Woodland Hills West was postponed because the sprinklers at North Hollywood High went on and flooded the field.

“We were dead in the water, literally,” Coach George Vranau said. “The kids were ticked off because they are playing great ball.”

Such are the pitfalls of playing on a baseball field that overlaps the school’s football field. It was the sprinklers on the football field that soaked the outfield, making it unplayable.

“If we were playing ‘over the line’ on the right-field side, we would have been O.K.,” Vranau said.

The game has been rescheduled for 2 p.m. today as part of a weird, only-in-American Legion doubleheader. North Hollywood West first will play Woodland Hills West, then Las Virgenes.

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The best District 20 game of the season is shaping up to be West Hills (13-1) against Central Valley (12-3), scheduled for 11 a.m. July 15 at Cleveland High. Besides being two of the best teams in the district, West Hills and Central Valley are both in the Western Division. . . .

With six games to play, Newhall (14-1) already has clinched at least a share of the Northern Division title. . . .

Sunland-Tujunga’s Jason Robitaille is only six for 31, but he has four doubles and two home runs. He has 12 RBIs. . . .

Westlake-Royal-Oak’s Matt Riordan has seven home runs, one shy of the team record set by Shane Slayton. Slayton played at Royal and went on to star at Nevada. . . .

Verdugo Hills’ Chris Sheldon hit a grand slam Sunday night against Sunland-Tujunga. He had three hits and five RBIs in the 10-5 victory. . . .

West Hills’ Gabe Crecion, who hit five home runs for Chaminade in the spring, hit his first two of the Legion season Sunday. . . .

Newhall right fielder Brian Baron threw out Sepulveda’s Joe Cohen at first base on an apparent single to the outfield last Thursday. Newhall players then started calling Baron “Mondesi,” comparing him to Raul Mondesi, the Dodgers’ strong-armed right fielder. . . .

Mel Swerdling, District 20 commissioner, will begin work this fall on a manual detailing Legion eligibility rules in a format easier to understand than the current national guidelines.