Sepulveda Barrels to 8-2 Victory

The initials of Sepulveda American Legion Coach P. C. Shaw stand for Phillip Charles. At least, that’s what it says at the Hall of Records.

After Wednesday’s game, if Newhall-Saugus catcher Mike Hogan was asked what they stand for, he probably would have responded, “Punish the Catcher.”

Though Sepulveda handily defeated Newhall-Saugus, 8-2, in a District 20 game at Saugus High, it certainly wasn’t because Hogan didn’t do a great impression of an oak tree.

Three Sepulveda runners were tossed out at the plate and another was thrown out on a force play as Shaw, coaching from the third-base box, waved his arm so often it looked like he was shooing away gnats.

If Shaw was a green light, then Hogan was a stop sign.

“I wanted to keep the game close,” said Shaw, his tongue in cheek. “Geez, we are slower than slow.”

It might be Sepulveda’s only weakness. Behind the combined four-hitter of pitchers Steve Cain and Russell Ortiz, 12 hits and errorless play, Sepulveda improved to 9-1 in district play.

Sepulveda scored seven runs in the second inning off right-hander Doug Maggiora, who wasn’t treated particularly well by his defense. After yielding a base hit and a walk to open the second, Maggiora (0-3) fielded a sacrifice bunt by Shad Knighton and turned to throw to first, but first baseman Billy Sivley had charged toward home on the play and Knighton was safe to load the bases.

Chris Portugal, Justin Bass and Brad Fullmer each had run-scoring singles to key the rally, which was aided by two errors by Newhall-Saugus (3-6).

Hogan kept it from getting more lopsided. In the fourth, he was buried at the plate by Justin Bass, who was trying to score from first on a double by Fullmer. However, Hogan held on: to the ball, not his consciousness.

“He was out for a second or two,” said Newhall-Saugus Coach Pat Eggleston, who had six players missing because of graduation ceremonies at Canyon High. “He was seeing the color purple. When he woke up, he said, ‘That was a helluva play.’ ”

Hogan remained in the game, and in fact, was just getting warmed up. In the sixth, Joe Eskenazi was shot down at home by left fielder Jason Bates while trying to score from third on a fly ball. Justin Paperny was tossed out at home on a perfect relay from center while trying to score on a double by Knighton.

Cain, a left-hander who improved to 3-1, struck out five, walked three and hit two batters in 6 1/3 innings. Ortiz, who had a game-high three hits, recorded the final two outs and will start today against Van Nuys-Notre Dame.

This is the first season Montclair Prep, the two-time defending Southern Section 1-A Division champion, has been the host school for a Legion team. All but one player on Sepulveda attended Montclair Prep. “Since we are a 1-A school, we thought it would be good to put together a Legion team to show that we can compete,” said Shaw, 22, a former Montclair Prep player. “We’re taking this seriously.”