Newbury Oaks Mixes Bad Hop, Much Pop for 19th Win in Row

Every player in the Newbury Oaks starting lineup had at least one hit Saturday. And of those, Jeff Hook’s sixth-inning single was not the loudest nor the prettiest.

But it was the biggest.

Hook’s bad-hop single kept alive a five-run rally that boosted Newbury Oaks to an 8-4 victory over Westlake-Royal in an American Legion District 16 game at Moorpark College.

The win was the 19th in a row for Newbury Oaks, which improved to 19-1, 13-1 in district play.

The sixth started innocently enough for Westlake-Royal pitcher Tony Dellamano. Newbury Oaks held a 3-2 lead, but Dellamano (2-1) retired the first two batters. Then the hit parade began.

Jim Chergey and Tighe Curran singled to put runners on first and second for Hook, who sent a hard-hit grounder to shortstop Dave Brown. At the last instant, the ball took a wicked hop off Brown’s left shoulder and bounced into center as Chergey scored for a 4-2 lead.

“When I got to second base, the base ump said, ‘You almost killed me with that ball,�’ Hook said. “He said he heard it whiz right by his head.�

The ball nearly hit Brown in the head as well. He was visibly shaken but remained in the game.

But Dellamano wouldn’t last much longer. After Jamal Nichols singled to drive in Curran, reliever Rico Lagattuta came on to serve up a two-run double to Ryan Kritscher and a run-scoring single to Robert Fick as Newbury Oaks took an 8-2 lead.

“We’re capable of doing stuff like that,� said Hook, recounting his team’s six consecutive hits. “We can go through the lineup two or three times in an inning.�

Left-hander Adam West went through the lineup of Westlake-Royal (20-4, 11-3) with equal style. After giving up two tainted runs in the third--one was earned--he settled down and struck out five batters in a row in the fourth and fifth innings. West (7-1) struck out nine in eight innings.