Warriors want baseball ‘three-peat’
By Wayne Harrison
Acorn Sports Writer

Despite losing several key players off the team that lost in the California Interscholastic Federation (CIF) championship game at Dodger Stadium last season, Westlake baseball coach Chuck Berrington is confident his Warrior team can be in the running for a third-straight Marmonte League title.

"I knew we were going to have some guys to fill in really well," Berrington said, noting that four sophomores are set to contribute much this year behind senior leaders Justin Blaine and Tyler Carr and returning juniors Jake Brin and Cody Cipriano.

Blaine, a left-handed pitcher, was 10-2 last year while Carr, a right-hander, was 5-0.

"Those two guys are the biggest keys to our success," Berrington said. "They’ve both been there. They both pitched at Dodger Stadium. They know what it’s all about."

Two years ago, the Warriors lost in the CIF semifinals, missing the trip to Chavez Ravine by one game. This year, Westlake has been picked by some to fall out of contention for another league crown, which serves as motivation for his team, Berrington said.

"We’ve kind of taken it on as a challenge," Berrington said. "People are saying Agoura and Moorpark are the teams to beat in our league. I think when you’ve had the success that our team has had over the years, you’ve got to worry about us a little bit."

Westlake lost Tyler Adamczyk, drafted by the Cardinals, and Mike Nickeas, now at Georgia Tech, respectively as their ace starting pitcher and four-year starter at catcher. Also, Ryan McCarthy, now a shortstop at UCLA, and Luke Riordan, injured but set to play at Cal State Northridge, graduated last June.

Still, Berrington likes his chances with Blaine and Carr leading the way. "We’re young but when you have two pitchers as good as we have on the mound, we can battle with anybody. I told the guys, ‘Don’t worry about being unranked now. Let’s worry about that at the end of the year.’"

Westlake was 4-1 in the Daily News Tournament to start off the season, but remained unranked by the Daily News, which recently had Agoura at No. 5 and Moorpark at No. 8.

The Warriors beat Verdugo Hills, 14-3, as Blaine got the win and the team got three home runs, one each from sophomore first baseman Michael Notaro, junior centerfielder Michael Wilson and sophomore pinch hitter Kyle Griffith.

In Game 2, the Warriors beat Palmdale, 7-2, when Carr got the win with eight strikeouts and no earned runs allowed, and in Game 3 Westlake pounded L.A. Wilson, 16-0, as Notaro threw six scoreless innings in his first game as a varsity pitcher, and Brin, a junior catcher, smacked a homer.

In Game 4, the Warriors lost to Notre Dame, 4-3, despite a home run from Cipriano. Westlake made five errors behind Blaine. But the Warriors bounced back to beat James Monroe, 7-0, when Carr pitched a three-hit shutout.

Westlake was scheduled to host three games this week: Royal on Wednesday to open up league, Simi Valley Friday at 3 p.m. and Saturday vs. Camarillo, a first-round game of the Redondo Tournament.

Berrington said his lineup, as of now, looks like this: Wilson, also a left-handed pitcher, leading off. "He has a lot of potential," Berrington said. Batting second is Brin who replaces Nickeas at catcher.

"He (Brin) has to work on his communication skills with the pitchers," Berrington said. "But he’s one of the best catchers in the (Marmonte) league already. He has a strong arm."

Batting third is third baseman Cipriano, who played left field as a sophomore last year. "He’s probably flat-out one of the best hitters in the league," Berrington said of Cipriano who batted .375 last year.

Batting fourth is Notaro, who spent some time on the varsity last year as a freshman. "He has the potential to be a big-time power-hitter for us," Berrington said.

Carr plays first base when not pitching and bats fifth for the Warriors currently. "He’s now 14-0 as a starting pitcher at Westlake. He’s really the total package," Berrington said. "He’s improved so much as a hitter, I’d like to put him at first base and third base."

Batting sixth and platooning in left field are junior Luke Salas and senior Kent McCarthy, who also plays some first base. The seventh spot in the batting order will feature right fielders—also platooning—Matt Sliver, a senior, and Stephen Bralver, a sophomore.

"Silver gives us some speed in the outfield," Berrington said, "whereas Bralver’s an excellent offensive guy. He’s (Bralver) going to be a big hitter for us."

Kyle Brockett, a sophomore shortstop bats eighth, and is expected to be the next in a long line of standouts at his position.

"He’s a little young and a little inexperienced," said Berrington. "And he has big shoes to fill, but he’s going to be one of those guys. He’s got to learn a little and we’ve got to show faith in him, which we have."

One of those guys means the next in the chain that includes shortstops Scott Dragicevich, class of ’98, now a starter at Stanford, Kevin Howard (’99), a star at Miami, Jeff Dragicevich (’00) now playing at Cal Berkeley and Ryan McCarthy (01’) playing for the Bruins nearby.

The ninth hitter for Westlake is senior second baseman Kevin King or Griffith, a sophomore second baseman. "He’s (King) off to a fast start," Berrington said. "But he’s being pushed by the sophomore (Griffith)."

After a tough summer, Berrington said his team would have it ups and downs, but that it should gel by season’s end.

"We’re going to look good sometimes," he said. "We’re going to look not-so-good sometimes. But by the end of the year, we’re going to be a solid team."

The transformation from a difficult summer started to take place once the players donned the Westlake uniforms, said the coach.

"Once we put the Warrior uniform on it was like magic," Berrington said. "This team has really bonded as a group, I think because we don’t have so many superstars getting all the publicity. Everyone roots for each other and everybody has been playing well."