Dipoma a Hero for Valley North in Touchy Game

Touch ‘em all, Valley North.

The American Legion baseball team is headed to the Area 6 championships, thanks to a dramatic victory Saturday over Woodland Hills West in the District 20 playoffs at Birmingham High.

Seventh-seeded Valley North rallied for two runs in the bottom of the ninth inning and won, 13-12, when Tim Weigand and Bryan Gant scored on Frank Dipoma’s double into the left-field corner.

The victory eliminated Woodland Hills West (23-7) from the double-elimination tournament and set up a final today at 11 a.m at Birmingham between Valley North (24-6) and Newhall Saugus (23-7).

A Newhall Saugus victory would force a second game at 2 p.m. Both finalists will advance to next week’s Area 6 championships at UCLA.

As if the defeat wasn’t crushing enough, Woodland Hills West was left to ponder two controversial calls that cost it one run and likely one more.

In the Woodland Hills West fourth, Woody Cliffords led off with a single, moved to second on an error and appeared to score on Conor Jackson’s single. Cliffords, however, was ruled out for failing to touch third base.

In the fifth, Woodland Hills West’s Nick Lombard appeared to move from first to third on a single by Mike Conn, but was called out for missing second base. Cliffords then flied out to end the inning.

Fourth-seeded Woodland Hills West trailed, 11-8, entering the ninth inning, but scored four runs to take a 12-11 lead.

However, Woodland Hills West closer Jesus Gallo (5-1), who entered the game in the sixth, issued a leadoff walk to Weigand and a single to Gant to set up Dipoma’s heroics.

“The easiest thing to do in this game is to touch the bases,” Woodland Hills West Coach Rob Bumgarner said. “If you don’t play well fundamentally, a good team will take you out.”

There’s little doubt about Valley North’s skill, though the state of its pitching staff has made its undefeated advance through the tournament a surprise.

Injuries have decimated the staff, leaving an array of position players to fill the void. Friday, catcher Micah Berger, outfielder Gant and third baseman Danny Eisenberg took the mound in a defeat of Van Nuys East. Saturday, outfielder Weigand got the start before Ryan Robbins (3-0), a pitcher by trade, tossed the final three innings.

“We could take (the area title) if we can find some healthy arms,” Dipoma said.

Valley North Coach Matt LaCour has a healthy respect for Dipoma, one of the few regular starters to play Saturday while LaCour rested the remainder for the possibility of playing two games today.

Newhall Saugus 11, Van Nuys East 3--Fifth-seeded Newhall Saugus scored four runs in both the fourth and seventh innings and eliminated top-seeded Van Nuys East (24-6) at Birmingham.

Chris Coash and Jason Willis each hit two-run home runs in the seventh for Newhall Saugus. Marc Jannone had three hits, including a double, and two RBIs for Van Nuys East.