Errors Plague Westlake in Loss to Simi Valley

Westlake High baseball Coach Rich Herrera presented Simi Valley Coach Mike Scyphers with a lineup card Wednesday that included players from Westlake’s 1990 team that won 28 games and earned a No. 1 national ranking by USA Today.

But the Warriors looked nothing like the 1990 team in a 5-2 Marmonte League loss at Simi Valley. Instead, they resembled the 1989 team that committed 48 errors.

Westlake (9-7, 3-4 in league play) committed two errors and made several mistakes that led to two unearned runs and brought to a halt the team’s six-game winning streak.

Pitcher John Snyder (4-3) was victimized by the lax defense. Errors, wild pitches, and confused cutoff men made for a show that Herrera did not care to watch.

“We’re a mess sometimes,” said Herrera, whose team has committed 58 errors.

Sometimes? Westlake averages 3.6 errors a game and the aggressive Pioneers knew it.

“We felt we could take advantage of some things that they don’t do as well as they’d probably like to at this point of the season,” Scyphers said.

Westlake’s miscues helped Simi Valley (13-5, 5-2) take a 2-0 lead in the first. Ryan Briggs singled, stole second, advanced to third on a wild pitch and scored on Kevin Nykoluk’s single. Nykoluk, who had two of Simi Valley’s five stolen bases, stole second, advanced to third on a throwing error and scored on Aaron Fischer’s groundout.

After Tim Wootton (two for three) homered in the third to cut Westlake’s deficit to 2-1, Simi Valley came back with an unearned run courtesy of a throwing error that gave the Pioneers a 3-1 lead after three innings.

Nykoluk reached on a fielder’s choice and stole second. After Fischer walked, both runners attempted to advance on a wild pitch and catcher Josh Kurczeski’s throw to second hit Fischer. The ball rolled into the outfield, allowing Nykoluk to score.

Jason Houchen added a run-scoring single in the fourth and an RBI double in the sixth that gave Simi Valley a 5-2 lead.

That cushion was plenty for Bill Treadway (4-1). The right-hander has pitched 21 innings in eight days but he limited Westlake to six hits.