Pitstick’s 9th-Inning Hit Sends Westlake-Royal Oak Into Final

Starting pitcher Matt Pitstick couldn’t make it out of the third inning for Westlake-Royal Oak in Friday’s American Legion Area 6 playoff game against Newhall-Saugus.

But he stuck around long enough to win the game with his bat, singling home Brent Egan with the bases loaded in the bottom of the ninth inning to give Westlake-Royal Oak a 6-5 victory in a winner’s bracket game at Jackie Robinson Stadium.

Pitstick was replaced by Jay Kenny with two out in the fourth after allowing two runs, four hits and three walks.

Kenny (10-0) pitched masterfully, striking out six while allowing three runs, two earned, over the final 5 1/3 innings.

Then Pitstick, who moved to first base, lined a 1-2 pitch by Jeremy Seipel to left to send Westlake-Royal Oak (27-3-1) into Sunday’s championship game.

“There was no pressure at all,” Pitstick said. “Bases loaded, nobody out. I just had to put the ball in play. It feels good to help the team out.”

After Newhall-Saugus (27-7) stranded a runner on third in the top of the ninth, Egan singled off Chris Coash and stole second.

Pitstick said he knew the game was in the bag after Egan beat Mike Bench’s throw to second.

Coash then walked Mike McHargue intentionally and gave way to Seipel, normally an outfielder. Seipel yielded back-to-back singles to Matt Riordan and Pitstick to end the game.

Newhall-Saugus had taken a 5-3 lead with a run-scoring single by Brian Baron and a fielding error by second baseman Scott Dragicevich that allowed Baron to score from third.

Newhall-Saugus couldn’t hold on, however, after starter Ricky Engbrecht grew tired and was replaced with nobody out in the eighth.

Pitstick, who was three for four, opened the inning with a single. Later, consecutive singles by Lemos and Troy Soukup tied the score at 5-5.

Before the game, Westlake-Royal Oak infielder Scott Christensen and outfielder Dan Wasserman were ruled ineligible for the area playoffs by Commissioner Julio Yniguez, and Coach Mike McClure’s appeal to state chairman Harold Hall was denied Friday.

The two players, who live in Agoura, were not granted waivers before the season that would have allowed them to play for the Ventura County team.

Charter Cove 8, Valley North 7--Brian Canny’s two-out, bases-loaded single sent Terry Carrigan home with the winning run in the bottom of the ninth in a second-round winner’s bracket game.

Valley North (24-9) wiped out a 4-1 deficit in the seventh by scoring five runs on three walks, a hit batsman, an error and base hits by Mike Wexler and Tim Weigand.

Charter Cove (21-12) came back with three in the eighth to lead again, 7-6, before Valley North tied it in the top of the ninth when Weigand scored on a single by Nathan Frost.