Coyotes keep pace in Marmonte League

It hasn’t been easy for the Calabasas Coyotes in their first year of baseball in the Marmonte League.

Head coach Rick Nathanson’s team played through 2 1/2 innings of rain last Friday to beat the Agoura High Chargers, 1-0, then played a Daily News Tournament rain makeup game against the Antelope Valley Antelopes of the Golden League on Monday, winning 2-1 in 10 innings.

Yesterday the Coyotes played at Thousand Oaks against the Lancers. Tomorrow they’ll be at Westlake to play the Warriors. Next Monday Calabasas will host Newbury Park in a rain makeup game and next Wednesday the final regular season league game will be at home against the Simi Valley Pioneers. The first pitch for these games will be at 3 p.m.

After last Friday’s games, Westlake had league lead with a 8-3 record. Calabasas was close behind at 7-3 and Thousand Oaks had a 7-4 mark. Next were Newbury Park at 6-4; Moorpark, 5-6; Royal, 4-6; Agoura, 3-7, and Simi Valley, 2-9.

Nathanson was happy that his Coyotes got by Agoura. "I just think we’re very fortunate that Kevin (Cohn) came up the way he did and Michael Benford was able to get a hold of one and put it out (for a home run in the third inning) and we made that run stand up," he said.

As far as Nathanson was concerned, it was a typical Marmonte League battle—going down to the wire with neither team giving up.

"We have total respect for Coach (Zach) Miller and his staff and the way he plays the game.

"Bottom line is that we all know the game could have gone either way and we were fortunate. And we’re going to take that win and give Kevin all the credit in the world for throwing a terrific ballgame."

Miller said that one of the major differences was that "(Cohn) wanted to win. Kevin wanted to win and it was showing on his sleeve."

It was clear to Miller that Cohn (5-2), who struck out seven, was up physically, mentally and emotionally, and he pitched effectively. "He competed, and to me it showed that he . . . wasn’t going to be denied," he said.

"But at the same time, taking nothing away from him, there’s lots of things we didn’t do that cost us the game—in a 1-0 ballgame—pretty much error free."

The Chargers’ Chad Martinson tripled, Bryan Huston doubled and J.T. Trelatsky (3-2) pitched a complete game with five strikeouts.

Mistakes can kill the best teams, said Miller. "We didn’t capitalize and their guy made it happen," he said.

With last Friday’s game behind them, Agoura played Royal on Monday in a rain makeup game and the Westlake Warriors yesterday. Tomorrow the Chargers host the Moorpark Musketeers and Agoura will close out the Marmonte League season next Wednesday by playing Newbury Park on the road. Both games begin at 3 p.m.

Miller said Agoura will approach each game, one at a time.

"We have situations where we count chickens before they’re hatched and we’ll get this game, we’ll get that game," he said. "That can’t be the attitude. This league is very competitive and you have to take it one game at a time and mentally it shows."

Nathanson, speaking of playing Agoura in the rain, said, "We were battling both. I expected a game like this (with) two really good pitchers (Cohn and Trelatsky).

"We knew Trelatsky was going to be tough. I really didn’t necessarily think he even had his best stuff, but he’s a gamer. I think my guy (Cohn) did what he’s been doing for us all year."

The Calabasas coach said that Cohn came into the season maybe as the No. 3 starter and has emerged as the team’s most resilient, most reliable pitcher. "I just thought he turned in a masterful job," Nathanson said. "I think he’s gotten better with every outing."

He was especially impressed, he said, with how Cohn pitched in the sixth inning when Agoura’s Martinson tripled to open the inning. He then got Huston and Trelatsky on strikeouts and Jonathan Fersht flew out to right field. "I just thought that showed his maturity and his poise and his determination. That’s what we’ve gotten from Kevin all year.

"I really couldn’t be prouder of him. He battled and he got out of some situations. He maintained his poise, he didn’t get rattled by the hit batter (Jon Lawyer with two outs in the top of the seventh inning) there at the end."

The key, Nathanson said, was that Cohn had control the whole game, forcing the Chargers to put the ball in play. "We made some good plays when we had to," he said. "I thought we had some good opportunities to get more as well, but their guy battled and it was that kind of a game––both teams battling the elements."

Two days earlier, Agoura was a winner, beating the Simi Valley Pioneers, 4-2, while Calabasas lost to the host Royal Highlanders, 10-7.