Westlake Comes Out Swinging

Westlake High wasted little time making amends for its abysmal offense of last season.

The Warriors, who had only one player who batted better than .285 on an 18-10 team last season, pounded 21 hits in victories against Canyon and Quartz Hill in pool play of the Hart tournament Saturday.

“They’re believing that they can hit the ball,” Coach Darwin Tolzin said.

Tolzin, who returned to Westlake after a one-year hiatus to coach at Moorpark College, said each player gets about 250 swings a day, including 30 against Tolzin.

“My arm is about to fall off, but that’s OK,” said Tolzin, a former fastpitch ace. “If we keep swinging the bat like we did Saturday, we’re going to be tough to beat.”

Westlake (2-0), ranked No. 5 in the region by The Times, will face No. 6 Hart in the semifinals of the Gold bracket Saturday.

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What a difference a day can make.

On Friday, the catching hand and forearm of Kennedy’s Briana Mathiesen was in a cast.

Less than 24 hours later, Mathiesen was helping the Golden Cougars (3-0) beat North Hollywood, 16-0, and Oxnard, 6-1, in the opening rounds of the Simi Valley tournament.

“She’s a pretty tough kid,” Coach Barbara Rodrigue said.

Mathiesen, a junior catcher, missed the Golden Cougars’ opener against Granada Hills last week, but called pitches from the dugout.