May 10, 2005

2-1 win gives Westmont sole possession of 2nd place in Mt. Hamilton baseball standings

Behind complete game effort from Magana, Warriors score two runs late to beat Leland

By Diego Abeloos
Sports Writer

The Westmont baseball team came into a May 4 rain-soaked contest against the Leland Chargers in a three-way tie for second place in the Mt. Hamilton Division.

Westmont starting pitcher Ryan Magana threw a complete game three-hitter, allowing just a first-inning run to pace the Warriors to a 2-1 win on May 4. Santa Teresa lost as well by a 5-2 margin to Leigh, giving the Warriors one-game lead over both teams in second place. Photo by Diego Abeloos

By the time the game ended, the Warriors had no company left in the division’s second spot.

The Warriors, tied for second with Leland and Santa Teresa at the start of the day, took a 2-1 win over the Chargers with a late comeback that saw the offense score two runs in the bottom of the sixth inning after trailing since the first inning.

“If you ever want to look for a team effort, that definitely was it,” said Westmont Head Coach John Salberg. “…I couldn’t ask for a better overall effort, from hitting to fielding to pitching.”

Down 1-0 in the sixth, the Warrior bats began to wake up when infielder D.J. Jackman was hit by a pitch with one out.

Westmont starting pitcher Ryan Magana then helped his own cause, hitting a groundball behind the bag at third base for an infield single placing runners on first and second.

Dillon Tindall then stepped up. He tried to check his swing on a Danny Dyer pitch, but the ball glanced off his bat and over the head of Leland first baseman Logan Foos for a single in shallow right field, scoring Jackman to tie the game 1-1 and placing runners on the corners.

“Both teams kept the game close, even though there were runners constantly on base throughout the game,” Salberg said. “Anything can happen in a one-run game … we were just looking to move a couple of guys over and put them in scoring position.”

With Steven Brady up next, Salberg called for a squeeze play, and Brady complied, dropping a bunt down between the pitching mound and first base, scoring Magana easily from third and giving Westmont a 2-1 lead.

“It was a pretty simple call to make,” Salberg said of the squeeze play. “I knew the minute we were there that we were going to make that (call). We worked on that in practice but you have to have the right opportunities in order to do a play like that. We had the right guys in the right place.”

On the hill, Magana pitched efficiently to pick up the crucial win for the Warriors. After allowing a run-scoring double off the bat of Leland third baseman Kevin Battipede in the top of the first, Magana settled down, allowing just two hits, both in the seventh inning, the rest of the way.

With slippery conditions as a result of a continuous downpour during the game, Magana was subject to bouts of control problems throughout the game, walking seven through seven innings but striking out seven and allowing only three hits for the entire game.

“I came out and I didn’t have my best stuff,” Magana said. “But I just kept battling and I knew I had to do it … I’m always nervous in the first inning and after that, I just calmed down and I started pitching good.”

Magana finished off the game for the win in the top of the seventh, but not without a couple of mail-biting moments. With one out, Leland attempted to mount a comeback with back-to-back singles from Matt Slaton and Battipede.

With Nate Jones pinch running for Slaton at second base, Dyer stepped up and hit a sinking liner to shallow center field that looked as if it was going to fall for another hit.

But Westmont centerfield Ryan Kanzaki made a headlong dive for the ball and came up with the catch. On the play, Jones took off for third and was well past the bag on his way home when Kanzaki came up with the ball. Kanzaki then ended the game by running into the infield and stepping on second to double off Jones and end the game.

“He actually made the perfect read,” said Leland Head Coach Scot Gillis of Jones. “What I mean by that is that he needs to score to tie the game. That’s a line drive to centerfield; if he hesitates and the ball drops, he’s not going to score … it took (Kanzaki) to make a diving catch to double him up. If (Kanzaki) short-hops that ball, we’re going to score and tie the game.”

Coupled with a 5-2 Santa Teresa home loss to Leigh, the Warriors found themselves in sole possession of second place with only three games left on the regular season schedule, including a May 11 road game at Santa Teresa.