Legion season in full swing as Oak Park takes on T.O.

By Kyle Jorreyjorrey@theacorn.com

THEY’RE BACK—Former Agoura Charger baseball players were all over the field Tuesday afternoon as Oak Park/Agoura’s American Legion ‘A’ team took the field against Thousand Oaks at TOHS. Above, 2004 graduate Nick Reitz, regularly an outfielder, gives pitching a try with his submarine style in the late innings. Right, second baseman Jon Lawyer makes an uncharacteristic bobble in the infield. Oak Park was defeated 6-5 after getting out to a 4-0 lead. For those who didn’t get their

fill of diamond action during the

spring high school season, Ameri

can Legion baseball is back with

a full slate of games for the pro

grams in Westlake and Oak Park/

Agoura.

These two squads each field

one team in Legion District 16’s

‘A’ Division (19-and-under),

while Westlake has one team in

the ‘B’ Division (16-and-under)

and Oak Park has two.

Tuesday, the Oak Park ‘A’

team, which oddly enough is made

up of nearly all Agoura High

School graduates, played a hard

fought game against Thousand

Oaks, losing 6-5 in a contest that

was up for grabs until the final out.

After the loss, Oak Park head

coach Tom Duffy said his team is

still in the process of filling its ros

ter for what it hopes will be a big

push to get into the Legion playoffs.

“By about the first of July we

should have our whole squad out

there,” said coach Duffy, who said

he has coached many of the team’s

players since they were in elemen

tary school. “Then we’re going to

have a strong ball club. Then we

should be firing on all cylinders.”

Oak Park, which fell to 5-3 in

Legion play, jumped out to a 4-0

lead in the top half of the first in

ning behind one error and four consecutive base hits. Trevor Duffy and Jonathon Fersht each singled against starting T.O. pitcher Marcus Whithorne, before a teammate hit a bases-clearing double and Troy Rippee added another double for an RBI.

But rather than put up the aluminum and call it a day, the Lancers battled back four innings later off relief pitcher Greg Gelber, who entered the game in the place of Fersht. Fersht had given up just one hit in three innings of work.

Gelber, fresh off a successful season with the Chargers, proceeded to give up five runs on three hits before recording an out. The damage included a two-run shot by Jett Bandy, but it wasn’t all Gelber’s fault. A dropped pop fly by the second baseman and a fielding error by the right fielder both gave the Lancers ample opportunity to score.

“That was (second baseman) Jon Lawyer’s first error in eight games. That’s not like him,” Duffy said. “I expect defense will be a strength of this team, along with pitching.”

The Lancers would add one more in the fifth off the bat of Jeff Briones, who doubled in teammate Nick Lorenz to make the score, 6-4. Looking like they might cruise to victory, the T.O. Legion team and head coach Jim Stueve decided to let Whithorne pitch a complete game—a decision that almost came back to haunt them.

With one out in the top of the seventh, catcher and 2004 Agoura grad Steve Reinhardt hit a solo shot off Whithorne over the left field fence that gave the Oak Park dugout a reason to believe. After Nick Reitz singled and Trevor Duffy was hit by a pitch, that feeling grew even stronger.

Unfortunately, their hopes would be dashed two fly outs later.

Coach Duffy said he was impressed with the composure of the T.O. pitcher, and his ability to make adjustments after a tough first inning.

“At first he was keeping the ball up, but then he brought it down and got a lot of ground ball outs,” coach Duffy said. “This is a game we could have won and should have won, but he made some good adjustments and pitched a great game. A lot of credit goes to their pitcher.”

Oak Park’s next game is today on the road against Buena. Saturday they return to T.O. for another shot at the Lancers.

The six teams competing in District 16’s Southern ‘A’ Division are: Oak Park, Thousand Oaks, Newbury Park, Ojai, Buena and Westlake. Only one will advance to the playoffs.

Coach Duffy is hoping it will be his team, but said priority No. 1 is getting all the players on the roster sufficient time on the diamond.

“The majority of these guys redshirted their freshman year of college, so our goal is to get everybody equal time on the field,” coach Duffy said. “But this is a team full of competitors, so they also want to go as far as possible. Our goal is to find our way into the playoffs and then see what happens from there.”

Oak Park’s ‘A’ team is comprised completly of former graduates—including one player from Malibu, one from HarvardWestlake, two from Oak Park and the rest from Agoura.