Westlake blanks Oaks Christian for league title
Westlake shut the door on Oaks Christian in the seventh inning on Wednesday to win 1-0 and capture its first Marmonte League title since 2011.
“Last year we won state but came up short of league, so it was our goal this year to win league, CIF and state,” Warriors pitcher Dylan Volantis said. “It's one of the best feelings at Westlake baseball for me.”
Volantis pitched a one-hitter and recorded five strikeouts in the second game of a three-game series this week between the Warriors (22-4 overall, 11-3 Marmonte League) and the Lions (14-12, 9-5). Oaks Christian had won 3-2 in the first game Monday.
Volantis, a USC-bound senior, and the Westlake defense clamped down on the Lions, who had fresh momentum in the bottom of the seventh inning after an outstanding defensive play in the top of the inning.
The Warriors' Mac McKinley hit a long ball to the wall in left field, which outfielder Jack Laubacher quickly gathered up. He turned and threw to shortstop Elijah Clayton, who made a throw to catcher Carson Sheffer to nail Jack Braddell, who was bolting to home plate.
“We picked up our pitcher when we had to,” Oaks Christian coach Royce Clayton said. “That was a great play on the cut-off between Jack and Elijah. I thought that was going to set a spark and you know try to get something going offensively. But, again, Dylan had a good mix.”
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Lions pitcher Ty Hanley, a junior, threw a complete game and struck out five hitters in seven innings. The defense made plays throughout the game, including Elijah Clayton turning a double play in the first inning and Laubacher running down two fly balls to get out of the sixth inning.
“That was just indicative of what we have as far as a team — it's the fight,” Royce Clayton said. “And do the things we have to do to try to win a ballgame and sometimes you're just going to come up a little short.”
Westlake scored the only run of the game in the second inning. Johnny Backus singled to get on base, then Braddell grounded out. McKinley singled to drive in Backus and get the Warriors the offense it needed to come out with a win.
The Warriors pushed the pace early while keeping Volantis' pitch count low. He was slated to pitch six innings, but there was a change of plans when reliever Kaden Youmans was hit with a pitch above his Achilles tendon in the third inning.
“And Dylan, his pitch count was down and he told me `I'm not coming out,' ” Westlake coach Wally Barnett said. “So I said, `Then you're not coming out.' If
Dylan tells me that, then we're going with him.”
Oaks Christian can still contend for second place in the Marmonte League.
Other baseball scores from Wednesday: Notre Dame 6, Crespi 0; Newbury Park 6, Thousand Oaks 1; Chaminade 15, St. Francis 2; Loyola 8, Sierra Canyon 1; Moorpark 10, Oak Park 2; Camarillo 10, Simi Valley 4.