Highlanders slug their way into playoffs
Royal baseball team hammers Westlake, 13-3
By Stephen Dorman sdorman@theacorn.com

As they say, hard work pays off.

Unhappy with his performance at the plate during last Friday's loss to Newbury Park High, Royal designated hitter Kenny Walden decided to visit the batting cages later that night for some extra practice.

The next time he stepped into the batter's box wearing a Highlander uniform- during the first inning of Wednesday's regularseason finale at home against Westlake- Walden ripped a solo home run to right field.

When he came to the plate two innings later, Walden hit another solo shot over Royal's right-field wall.

"I'd been struggling, and going 0-for-3 against Newbury kind of shot me down," Walden said. "I went to the cage and worked on keeping my front shoulder in and having a quick hand release.

"I spent about $11 or $12 bucks over there, but it was worth it."

Behind Walden's power surge and a solid pitching performance by Tanner Peters, Royal breezed to a 13-3 victory over Westlake. With the win, Royal (18-7, 8-6) wrapped up the Marmonte League's No. 4 playoff seed and sent the Warriors (13-15, 6-8) home for the summer.

With the stakes high for both teams, Peters said the Highlanders maintained their focus and entered the contest with level heads.

"We were pretty relaxed," said Peters, who allowed four hits and one earned run in 4 2/3 innings. "You're always going to have nerves in a game like this, but throughout the whole week at practice we've been very focused."

Walden's one out, third inning home run put Royal ahead 3-2. Matt Magill followed with an RBI double that scored Mike Vinyard to make it 4-2 in favor of RHS.

Following a Westlake pitching change, Mike Long tacked on two more runs with a double of his own. Long scored on an error by Westlake shortstop Cutter Dykstra. A sacrifice fly by Cliff Quick plated Chris Rock, and a wild pitch later in the inning allowed Billy Chase to extend Royal's lead to 9-2.

Royal's seven-run third inning allowed head coach Dan Maye and his staff to breath a small sigh of relief.

"That was really nice," Maye said. "It's a freaky thing. You almost start to wonder if seven (runs) is enough. You don't want to pour it on, but at the same time you don't want to be one run short of making the playoffs."

The Highlanders added a run in the fourth and three more in the fifth to put the game well out of reach.

Rock finished 2-for-3 with an RBI. Long had two doubles and knocked in three runs, and Vinyard posted three hits and two runs scored.

The CIF-Southern Section playoff brackets will be released Sunday night, Maye said. Having just competed in one of the toughest leagues in all of Division I, the Highlanders like their chances heading into the postseason.

"We're wellprepared, especially coming out of the Marmonte," said Peters, who will probably start the team's first playoff game. "Even if we're playing a No. 1 seed, I feel we have a very good chance."