AMERICAN LEGION NOTEBOOK : Pitching Experiment Suffers From Overexposure

A pitcher starting two games on the same day is about as common as a runner stealing home twice in the same inning. But last Saturday, at the American Legion Area 6 playoffs at Moorpark College, that rarity became reality--and the strategy almost worked for Westlake.

Westlake, the District 16 winner, had reached the third round of the six-team, double-elimination tournament Saturday with a 1-1 record. Coach Chuck Thompson knew if his team was to advance to Sunday’s championship round it would have to sweep a doubleheader.

He also knew a lack of starting pitching would make such a sweep even more difficult.

Why did Thompson have an arms shortage?

On Thursday, Jon DeGennaro had struck out 16 in seven innings to lead Westlake over District 20 champion Van Nuys-Notre Dame, 5-2. Legion tournament rules prohibit a pitcher from pitching more than 12 innings in a 72-hour period and Thompson wanted to save DeGennaro, who is recovering from a knee injury, for a starting assignment Sunday--if his team made it that far.

On Friday, left-hander Donnie Rae (5-0, 1.96 earned-run average in the regular season) had pitched a nine-inning, complete-game three-hitter against Santa Monica but lost, 4-2. His arm definitely was an unusable commodity on Saturday.

And then there was the case of Bobby Grandpre, a starter for Westlake during the regular season. He could pitch, but there was a catch: He hadn’t been with the team in four weeks because of summer basketball and football competition and his current pitching skills were something of an unknown quantity.

“Not knowing what his capabilities were,” Thompson said, “I had to use him in relief.”

That left Westlake with one reliable starter--right-hander John Chiaramonte (5-1 with a 2.75 regular-season ERA). He had pitched only two innings in the tournament--in relief of DeGennaro on Thursday when he picked up a save. If Westlake was to stave off elimination, Thompson decided Chiaramonte would lead them--twice.

“John Chiaramonte was a key to us as far as whether we would be able to move on in the tournament,” Thompson said.

Start No. 1 came at 1:30 p.m. against District 20 runner-up Glendale. Chiaramonte pitched 3 innings, gave up three earned runs and did not figure in the decision. Nonetheless, Westlake won, 7-5, after trailing, 5-3.

The pitching experiment, phase 1, was enough of a success. Chiaramonte was less than overwhelmed with his performance.

“I was just looking forward to the second game,” Chiaramonte said.

“I wasn’t tired at all.”

His second start pitted him against an old nemesis, District 16 runner-up Camarillo, which had defeated West Covina, 5-2, earlier that day.

At stake was a berth in the championship round Sunday against District 24 champion Santa Monica, 2-0 in the tournament.

Alas, for Westlake it was not to be. Said Thompson: “John just had a bad day.”

After Chiaramonte’s teammates gave him a 5-0 lead, they failed him in the field. With three Westlake errors in the bottom of third inning leading to his downfall, Chiaramonte lasted only 2 innings before being relieved by Grandpre. In the bottom of the third, Chiaramonte gave up four hits and five runs--only one earned.

Camarillo won, 8-6. Grandpre took the loss, Chiaramonte got his second no-decision and Westlake (14-5) was eliminated.

Chiaramonte could have complained about a situation he was thrust into that few pitchers would envy. But he refused.

“I don’t think I’ve ever started two games in the same day before,” he said, “but I’ve pitched day after day. I don’t usually have too much arm trouble and I am used to pitching a lot.

“I have no excuses.”

Chiaramonte will have, however, the distinction of saying he performed one of baseball’s rarer feats.

The coach’s choice: If Camarillo Coach Rich Herrera had to bet on which team would have won the Area 6 playoffs, he wouldn’t have put his money on either his team or Santa Monica, the eventual winner.

“I would have picked Westlake because they were peaking at the right time,” Herrera said.

“I think the momentum was going toward Westlake and I really thought they would win it.”

Santa Monica beat Camarillo, 8-3, in the championship game Sunday.

Highs and lows: After winning the District 20 tournament, Van Nuys-Notre Dame Coach Jody Breeden had high hopes for his team in the Area 6 playoffs.

How high? “I thought us or Glendale would win it,” Breeden said.

Glendale lost two of three games. Van Nuys-Notre Dame (20-7) failed to win a game in two tries. The first loss snapped a seven-game winning streak; the second bumped the team from the playoffs.

And that left Breeden feeling low. How low? “The bottom line is that this was like having 18 sons play for you,” he said. “I was really close to all the kids, but now I’ve got kind of an empty feeling.

“They’re going and we’re staying.”

The unwanted vacation: Thompson is on vacation this week but wishes he wasn’t.

“I wish I could have canceled my vacation or moved it,” he said.

It’s not that he’s against a great American getaway. Rather, it’s just that had Westlake won the Area 6 playoffs, Thompson would be gearing the team up for the state championship that begins Saturday in Yountville.

“I was going to change my vacation if we won and maybe spend some time in San Francisco, but not now,” he said.

Yountville is about 60 miles north of the City by the Bay.

Deceiving appearances: Don’t judge an American Legion baseball team by how its players fared during the high school season.

“Considering the records that Rio Mesa and Camarillo had in high school this year,” Herrera said, “a lot of people didn’t expect us to make it into the playoffs.”

Rio Mesa and Camarillo were a combined 17-29-1 during the high school season. The Camarillo American Legion team, which draws players from both high schools, finished the season 14-6.

The better playoff: The Area 6 playoffs were just fine with Herrera, but he says the best action might have happened the week before.

“It seemed the District 20 tournament was a little bigger and more exciting than our tournament,” said Herrera, whose Camarillo team played host to the Area 6 playoffs at Moorpark College.

“To win a tournament like that is a real accomplishment.”

Herrera said that playing in the tournament might have taken something out of Glendale and Van Nuys-Notre Dame.