Woodfin Is Armed and Ready : Sylmar Southpaw Tops San Fernando on 1 Day’s Rest, 6-0

Olonzo Woodfin, the bespectacled and beguiling junior left-hander from Sylmar High, doesn’t understand why everyone made such a big deal about it when he took the mound to start Friday’s City Section 4-A quarterfinal game against San Fernando.

He knew he would be coming back on one day’s rest after pitching a complete game Wednesday against Carson. So, he went to extremes to prepare for the task by bathing his arm in ice after practice and relaxing at home in a hot Jacuzzi at night.

After Woodfin shut out San Fernando, 6-0, he soaked up the atmosphere and the cheers of both team’s fans at San Fernando before departing with his teammates for another date with the tub. Sylmar (16-8) moves into the semifinals Tuesday against Canoga Park, a 3-0 winner Friday over Granada Hills. San Fernando, champion of the Mid-Valley League, finished 13-8.

“My arm feels a little tender right now, but nothing out of the ordinary,” said Woodfin, who scattered four hits and struck out seven. “I’m going to pitch the next game and I’m going to prepare for it the same way.”

Had Steve Marden, the San Fernando coach, known about the top-secret tub treatments a few days ago, he might have resorted to a different strategy than the one he employed Friday.

Marden decided instead to pull the plug on his own hitters, instructing them to take a strike so Woodfin would have to labor.

“We wanted to make him work,” Marden said. “I told my players, ‘We don’t want to be first-pitch hitters today.’ ”

San Fernando batters took those instructions to extremes. They rarely swung at, much less hit, the first pitch. Trouble arose when they couldn’t hit the second pitch, or the third, or just about any of the 128 fastballs and curves Woodfin offered.

Sylmar right fielder Tony Taisacan used a different kind of first-pitch philosophy. Taisacan, a junior, is an admitted first-pitch addict.

“The first pitch is the best one to hit the majority of the time,” Taisacan said. “The first pitch is my favorite.”

Taisacan demonstrated his affection by blasting a pair of first-pitch triples that drove in three runs.

Sylmar already was leading, 1-0, when Taisacan drove a Bobby Aparicio fastball to left-center field, scoring Martin Valencia, who had walked with two out.

Taisacan struck again in the fifth after Aparicio (1-4) surrendered a two-out single to Vernon Hanagami and walked Valencia. Rudy Vargas replaced Aparicio, and Taisacan hit his first pitch to right-center field to put Sylmar ahead, 4-0.

Sylmar scored its final runs in the sixth on yet another triple, this with two outs. Tom Shelburne’s single chased Vargas, and Kevin McDonnell kept the rally going with a pinch-single off Vince Ortega. John Dragicevich scored both runners with a shot to right-center.

The legend of Olonzo, however, continues to grow.

“I think perhaps we were a little bit awed by his ability,” Marden said. “As we went through our league, it became obvious that we weren’t going to see that kind of pitcher. Today was the first time we saw that kind of velocity.”

Sylmar Coach John Klitsner didn’t mince words when asked how he thought the Spartans would fare the rest of the way in a quest for their first City title since 1980.

“We’ll go with Olonzo as far as he can take us.”