We knew Agoura/Oakpark had a feisty team and that’s exactly what they were. Feisty. But we wore ’em down and picked up our first opening day victory 5-2 at Glendale High.
Bull Oxen had the ball for us on opening day and was dominant. In seven innings he struck out 12, allowed only three hits and one run, and as the winning pitcher he burned the first mark in our new fungo. Lance Evans pitched the 8th and 9th innings, giving up one run and picking up the save.
We turned a beautiful 3-6-3 double play in the first inning….Ivan Moreno at first to Evans at shortstop and back to Moreno to end the inning.
Kirk Hagge’s 3rd inning lead-off triple was our first hit of the 92 campaign and he ultimately scored our first run of the season when Robb Turner drove him in with a sacrifice fly.
Canale struck out six consecutive batters in the 2nd and 3rd innings….
Yves Brancheau led off the 5th with a single and stole second base, and scored on Robb Turner’s single to increase our lead to 2-0 through five innings.
Bull Oxen continued to mow ’em down, and had a one-hit shutout going, facing only three Batters above the minimum through six.
Josh led off the bottom of the 6th for us with a double, and Ivan Moreno followed up with a base hit that scored Canale and made it 3-0. Brendan Cowsill reached base on an error and Dave Fielder came up and ripped a base hit that scored Moreno and made it 4-0 Verdugo.
Agoura/Oakpark mounted a little bit of a threat in the seventh on a couple of walks and base hits that broke up the shutout but Canale battled out of a bases-loaded, one-out jam where some great defense helped us out. Solid plays by both Kasey Canale (who had come in to play 2nd base in the 6th inning) and Kirk Hagge on ground balls helped get us out of that jam.
We added another run in the 8th inning. Kirk Hagge reached base on a fielders choice, then Dave Fielder ripped another base-hit, and Kasey Canale (at age 14 and in his first at-bat in a Verdugo uniform) ripped a base hit to score Hagge and it was 5-1 Verdugo!
Agoura/Oakpark came battling back in the 9th, and had runners at first and second with two out. Their lead-off hitter singled to left and Dave Fielder (playing left field that day) picked up the ball and crow-hopped a bullet to Hagge who was catching that day…..I DO REMEMBER this play…..
The throw from Fielder didn’t get the runner at the plate, and the runner who was on first had advanced to third on the throw to the plate.
The base runner also made the mistake of rounding third base a little too much after he made it to third. At least enough for an alert Hagge to back-pick to Brendan Cowsill at third…..who slap tagged a diving (and now embarrassed) baserunner for the final out of the game.
But the throw from Fielder in left field…was just like….”whoa”….I think everybody at the game and from both sides did a little double-take as if to say “dang did you just see the throw that dude made?”
Great way to end the game. Heads up play by both Hagge and Cowsill to back-pick that guy at third to end it.
I remember enjoying the small roster. Not a lot of reserves in the dugout that day…in fact more coaches in the dugout than reserves. I distinctly remember Dan Bir that day. This was his first game with Verdugo. He got to see “how we roll” and I remember him smiling as even laughing out loud at some of the stuff the coaches were saying in the dugout as the game progressed. I am sure he had heard a lot of stories about Verdugo before he joined our team to play. The look on his face as everything unfolded that day was basically “oh my God everything they told me about this team and the stuff they do IS TRUE!!!! IT’S ALL TRUE!!!!” And you could tell he was loving it!
Agoura/Oakpark was a feisty ball club definitely. They played us tough…I give ’em credit…..but we just kinda wore ’em down.
Finally we were 1-0 and it felt great!
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