Double Play in 9th Results in Singular Taft Victory

Adam Shotland was patted on the back so frequently and so furiously, it resembled a police frisking. He was practically carried off the field by his howling Taft High teammates, an act equal parts demented and deserved.

All this adulation for grounding into a double play?

You bet, because in Thursday’s Westside tournament Blue Division semifinal against Hart, Shotland’s rather tame dribbler to second base was the difference in Taft’s 1-0, nine-inning victory.

Taft (4-0) advanced to the division final against West Valley League rival Chatsworth (3-1) at UCLA at 6 p.m. Saturday.

Taft’s Josh Irving led off the top of the ninth with a double into the corner in left. Mike Ferguson then dumped a bunt down the third-base line that Hart pitcher Gary Stephenson scooped on the run.

Stephenson (1-1) then made his only mistake of the game. He quickly fired to third baseman Louie Sanchez, but pinch-runner Nick Andriasano beat the tag with a headfirst dive. Shotland, a senior catcher, then sent a grounder to second that was turned into a double play, but Andriasano scored easily.

“I was just trying to hit the ball on the ground--anywhere,” said Shotland with a shrug.

Of course, because Shotland hit into a double play, he was not credited with a run batted in. To add another strange twist, Ferguson mistakenly broke for second on the pitch Shotland hit, even though no play was in the works.

“I knew early on that whoever scored first was going to win,” Shotland said. “You could tell by the way the pitchers were throwing.”

Stephenson was superlative, allowing six hits while striking out seven and walking one. During one stretch, he retired 11 in a row. The run was the first allowed by the senior right-hander in 15 innings.

Taft right-handers Warren Stewart and Stacy Kleiner were equal to the challenge, however. Stewart pitched into the fifth when Hart (3-1) mustered three hits, two of which did not leave the infield.

With one out and the bases loaded, Kleiner (2-0) moved to the mound from second base and retired the side on a pop fly and a strikeout.

In 4 2/3 innings, Kleiner allowed two hits, struck out five and walked one. Mike Adachi led off the Hart ninth by reaching first on an error and was sacrificed to second, but Kleiner ended the game with a strikeout and popup. “I just had to come in and do the job,” said Kleiner, an All-City Section catcher as a junior. “It’s a pressure situation, and you have to love it.”

Both teams mounted threats, but couldn’t produce the timely hit. Taft stranded four baserunners at third over the first four innings, but only two more Toreador runners reached base from the fifth through the eighth. Hart stranded 11 runners.