Every game is a BIG game in Legion. We came into this one 5-3….on a little bit of a roll with a two-game winning streak and were playing another HOME game at Stengel. Agoura had a decent ball club that year and while I was always worried about every game we played, we had BullOxen going for us.
Bull already had struck out 33 in 18 innings on the year for us. He had TWO nine-inning complete game victories and had pretty much defined himself around the League as the guy to watch. Hell, he struck out 20 in one game….some pitchers don’t even do that in a SEASON!
But the ’91 Team had one thing going for it…we could strike guys out! The ’91 pitching staff set an all-time record for Verdugo with 158 strikeouts in one season. Between Bull, Breck and Chili it was downright SICK!
BullOxen and Brett Miller combined on a one-hitter and we won our third straight 9-3. Bull struck out 11 in seven innings. Agoura scored their only run against Bull in the fifth on three walks and a hit batter! Funny enough….all three outs recorded that inning were K’s!!! Miller gave up a couple of unearned runs in the ninth but threw very well that day.
Offensively, Yvan Moreno had three hits. Sammy had two hits and blasted a two-RBI double in the sixth when we broke the game open. “B” Cowsill had a couple of hits and stole two bases. Yves, Turner, Parker, and Bull all singled. Moose got us off to a 2-0 lead with a big two-RBI double in the fourth inning.
Several guys came off of the bench later in the game and contributed as well. Elmo reached base on an error and stole a base for us. Cadena came in and drove in a run on a groundout. Hack came in and was spotted roaming the tundra in right field, spelling Turner, who had singled and scored a couple of runs.
Also….we had a first appearance from one of my catchers on the JV team that year at CV by the name of Larry Kimbell! That’s right…my boy Larry Kimbell! Kimbell was given a role for the ’91 Team as “bullpen catcher.” He knew he wasn’t going to see much time. And he certainly didn’t help his cause in the ninth inning that day when he had TWO passed balls. But it was all good. Everybody seemed to take a liking to Kimbell. Even BullOxen…who liked him so much that when Kimbell caught him in the bullpen before a game BullOxen would grab a ball…..and throw it as far as he could and say to Kimbell “go get it!”
You gotta love Kimbell! Kimbell would go “fetch” BullOxen’s “feed”…….and return to his spot in the bullpen. Then BullOxen would follow-up his first throw to Kimbell with a crow-hop that went even farther. And Kimbell would go get that one as well. You gotta Love Kimbell!
Three-in-a-row for Verdugo. Now all of a sudden we’re 6-3. And for all of you Verdugo fans out there who remember that gut-wrenching loss we had to Woodland Hills East in 1990 (see previous Post “One Time in 94 Games”)….well, THEY were NEXT on our schedule. A twin-bill at Stengel!!!!!!!!
verdugo288 