Oilers Will Play a Pair, then Host Baseball Tourney Starting April 1

After the West Los Angeles College Oilers play Canyons at 2 p.m. today at West Los Angeles and Mission on Saturday at noon at Mission, they will host a non-league tournament starting at 10 a.m. Monday and running through Wednesday.

Canyons, in second place in the Mountain Valley Conference, has a league record of three wins, one loss, and one tie. In an earlier game this season, Canyons drubbed the Oilers, 15-1, scattering 17 hits along the way. Mission is in fifth and last place (1-3-1).

The Oilers, who have settled into fourth place (2-3), are having problems with pitching, Coach Art Harris said. “They fell apart,” he said, after a posting pre-league record of 11 wins and three losses.

Now the Oilers are depending on the bats of first baseman DeJon Watson (.400 with 9 runs batted in), designated hitter Lorenzo Leskey (.400), and left fielder Victor Hithe (.300, leading the team with 18 RBIs).

The Oilers will begin the West Los Angeles Tournament against Santa Barbara. Other teams in the tourney are Santa Ana, Ventura, Los Angeles City, El Camino, Glendale, Moorpark, Butte and Yuba City.

Last week, the Oilers beat Los Angeles Valley 6-4, and in non-league play defeated the USC junior varsity 6-5.