Oaks Christian baseball overcomes 4-run deficit to beat Westlake
WESTLAKE VILLAGE — Joshua Brown stepped up to the plate with the game on the line.
The senior left fielder for the Oaks Christian baseball team was not nervous.
“I’ve been praying before at-bats,” Brown said. “I ask the Lord to ease my nerves.”
Brown made contact with an inside fastball for a two-run single with two outs in the bottom of the sixth inning to catapult the Lions to a dramatic 5-4 comeback win against Marmonte League rival Westlake on Thursday at home.
Oaks Christian erased a four-run deficit to surge into a tie for first place in league with the Warriors.
“This is probably our best win of the year,” said Oaks Christian senior Quentin “Q” Young, a 6-foot-6 shortstop and Louisiana State commit.
The Lions improved to 14-7 overall, 9-2 in the Marmonte. Westlake dropped to 15-5 overall, 9-2 in league.
Westlake jumped to an early lead when senior shortstop Noah Stead, a Navy commit with a 4.04 GPA, blasted a two-run home run that hugged the left-field foul pole. Stead brought home teammate Noa Nakagawa, a senior left fielder who launched a double to right field earlier in the frame.
Caden Atkinson, a senior designated hitter/pitcher and scholar-athlete with a 4.73 GPA, notched an RBI single in the third inning. Atkinson started at quarterback for Westlake’s football team in the fall.
Joey Moore, a junior third baseman, added an RBI in the third frame to give Westlake a 4-0 lead.
The Lions kept battling, however.
“We never back down,” Young said. “We kept the energy up and kept playing hard.”
Young ignited Oaks Christian’s rally in the bottom of the fourth inning with a leadoff double off the right-center field fence. Ryan Sheffer, a freshman third baseman, grounded a single up the middle, and Young calmly crossed home plate.
Brown followed with an RBI single to cut the deficit, 4-2.
Young, who has slugged a single-season school record 12 home runs and counting, kept the rally going in his next at-bat.
Oaks Christian players in the dugout started an Atlanta Braves “tomahawk” chant with Young at the plate in the bottom of the sixth inning. The LSU commit crushed a leadoff double to the deepest recesses of center field.
Two batters later, Luke Puls, an Oaks Christian junior first baseman, eviscerated a double that was initially called a home run before the umpires changed the call.
Puls’ monster hit cut the Lions’ deficit, 4-3.
Sheffer earned a trip to first base after absorbing a pitch to his back, which set up Brown’s dramatic game-winning hit.
Two Westlake errors preceded the Lions’ run-scoring hits.
“We handed it to them,” Westlake head coach Wally Barnett said. “We played way too hard to hand it to them.”
The Warriors, who begin their school spring break on Friday, will have to let the loss marinate a little longer before resuming Marmonte action with a three-game series against Agoura starting on April 29. Westlake will play a non-league game against Harvard-Westlake on April 23 on the road.
“We can always come back,” Barnett said.
Westlake starting pitcher Dylan Ramsey logged 5 1/3 quality innings Thursday.
The Warriors will count on Atkinson, senior first baseman Mason Charles (a University of San Diego football commit), freshman catcher Holden Backus, junior second baseman/leadoff hitter Blake Miller, and outfielders Nakagawa, Mason Berlinger and Rocco Cortell to rebound.
Oaks Christian junior left-handed pitcher Connor Sahagun earned the win by surrendering only one hit in 3 2/3 innings of near flawless work in relief. Sahagun said he was able to throw his fastball, curveball and changeupfor strikes.
“I hit my spots and tried to stay competitive throughout the game,” the southpaw said after his third win of the spring. “We all get along so well. It’s like a big group of brothers who love to play baseball.”
Young, who draws large crowds of Major League Baseball scouts to nearly all of his games, hit a 450-foot home run at Leko Field, the Lions’ home, on March 8 against Saugus. The mammoth homer, which landed on La Tienda Drive, is believed to be the longest home run in program history.
Oaks Christian first-year head coach Rick Hirtensteiner said Young is intimidating.
“His physicality is off the charts,” the skipper said of Young. “His approach, he’s so calm in the box. He seems so relaxed.”
Young, one of the best sluggers in the U.S., hit two home runs against Westlake ina 12-5 win on Wednesday. He continued his tear in the series finale.
“I saw the ball well,” the senior said. “This was a big week for us. We needed the wins. We need to keep this up.”
Oaks Christian also celebrated Thursday’s win on senior pitcher Luka Dipaulo’s 18th birthday.
The Lions, who wrap up their Marmonte League slate with a series against Newbury Park at the end of the month, want to keep the good mojo going.
“I love playing in big moments,” Brown said. “I love playing in big games. I want to compete with my boys for one more year. It’s my last ride — I want to make it special.”