AMERICAN LEGION PLAYOFFS / STATE CHAMPIONSHIPS : Newbury Oaks Bashes Way to Title With 12-4 Win

YOUNTVILLE, Calif. —  No need to pity Trent Martin, who personifies the enviable rut the Newbury Oaks American Legion baseball team finds itself in.

Martin, the team’s first baseman and cleanup hitter, suffered a twisted ankle Tuesday after drilling a run-scoring double in the seventh inning.

While rounding first, he stumbled over the lip of the grass--for the second time in the state tournament.

“I guess that’s been a bad area for me,” said Martin, who was not injured seriously and remained in the game.

Like many of his teammates, Martin found the best way to circumvent such problems is to deposit the ball over the fence.

Martin singled, doubled, homered and drove in four runs as Newbury Oaks buried Cupertino, 12-4, to win the state championship with ease.

To describe things in regional terms, Cupertino (57-10) was crushed like a grape, and like a fine wine, Newbury Oaks (31-1) seems to be getting better with age. It marked the 31st consecutive victory for Newbury Oaks and the third tournament game in a row in which the team reached double figures in runs.

Chalk up another TKO.

“It wasn’t exactly the Thriller in Manila, was it?” Newbury Oaks Coach Chuck Fick said.

The next round will be held in Las Vegas, where Newbury Oaks will open play in the six-team Southwest Regional next Wednesday. Newbury Oaks will face Ohio at 4:05 p.m. at Cashman Field, home of the Las Vegas Stars, the triple-A affiliate of the San Diego Padres.

“ Ohayo in Japanese means ‘Good morning,’ ” said Fick, an actor who worked recently in Japan during the filming of a motion picture. “We’re going to give Ohio and the whole state of Nevada a wake-up call.”

Meanwhile, Cupertino was no doubt in a state of shock. Newbury Oaks pummeled left-hander Steve Carrieri for 10 runs over the first four innings, with Martin and Mike Moore each belting homers.

But then, rivers of runs are becoming old news: Newbury Oaks scored 49 in four tournament wins. Can you say sayonara?

“Best team I ever played on, that’s for sure,” Martin said.

Even better than last season’s Conejo A club, which placed third in the state tournament. Six members of the Newbury Oaks squad played in Yountville last summer as members of Conejo A and were hoping to take the extra step this summer. That next stride has become a quantum leap.

“Last year was a big letdown,” Martin said. “Things didn’t work out too good. We were all pushing real hard for this one.”

Cupertino, however, pushed first. Newbury Oaks left-hander Bryant Fick (5-0) surrendered an unearned run in the top of the first when Bill Oliver--who later was selected the tournament’s most valuable player--singled.

The lead didn’t last long. Newbury Oaks turned consecutive hits by Ryan Kritscher, Robert Fick and David Lamb into a 2-1 lead before an out was recorded and the score was 4-1 before the inning was in the books.

Bryant Fick was soon cleaning house--once he managed to unclog his muddy spikes.

Fick gave up three hits over five-plus innings, struck out three and walked four. By the time right-hander Jeff Naster took over in the sixth, Newbury Oaks held a 10-1 lead.

In the fourth, already holding a 6-1 lead, Newbury Oaks put the wood on Cupertino for good.

Robert Fick opened with a bunt single and Lamb followed with a missile to center for a single that prompted the public-address announcer to wonder aloud whether the “pitcher paid his insurance policy.”

After a wild pitch, Fick and Lamb--who was 11 for 19 in the tournament and is 23 for 38 in the postseason--scored on a single to right by Martin. Moore followed three batters later with a two-run homer to left.

Other than Martin’s stumbles, everything seems to be falling in place for Newbury Oaks.

“This is just one more step for us,” Chuck Fick said. “This is just the second phase. There are two more to go.”