Highlander hitters do a disappearing act in league opener
By Stephen Dorman sdorman@theacorn.com

JANN HENDRY/Acorn Newspapers JUST LOOKING- Royal High cleanup hitter Clayton Elliott watches a pitch cross the plate during Wednesday's 7-0 loss at Westlake. The Highlanders managed only one hit in the contest.

The Royal High baseball team took a mulligan in its Marmonte League opener Wednesday at Westlake.

Three Westlake pitchers, starter Jordan Mannisto and relievers Graham Johnson and Alex Gillingham, combined to one-hit a sluggish Highlander offense as the Warriors (4-1, 1-0 in league) cruised to an easy 7-0 victory.

RHS, which has now lost two straight following a 4-0 start, plays its second league game today at Calabasas High at 3:30 p.m.

Royal head coach Dan Maye didn't mince words when assessing his team's performance in Warrior Country.

"Offensively, we go out there and three pitchers throw a one-hitter against us, and we didn't do anything," Maye said.

"That wasn't a surprise. You don't want it to happen. You're hoping we get better because we work hard at practice and spend a lot of hours trying to manufacture something. But today we just got embarrassed."

Center fielder Tanner Peters recorded Royal's only hit on a ground-rule double with two outs in the top of the sixth inning.

"They were just coming right at us," said Peters of the Westlake pitchers. "I was sitting next to the (scorekeeper), and he said they hadn't gone more than two balls on any batter in four of five innings. They were just coming at us with fastballs, and we couldn't hit 'em."

If Maye was displeased with Royal's offense, he was downright dismayed with the pitching staff.

Before Westlake, Highlander hurlers had been performing beyond their alreadydifficulttoachieve expectations, entering the contest with a softball-like .378 team ERA.

Against the topheavy Warrior offense, featuring sluggers such as Cutter Dykstra, Christian Yelich and Shane Kroker, Royal's pitchers struggled. Matt Magill and Cody Buckel, who hadn't allowed an earned run in 16 combined innings, allowed three and four runs, respectively. Bryan Berglund finished with a scoreless sixth inning for RHS.

"All of our pitchers were flat. All of them looked like they were tired," Maye said. "We've been saving them, giving them extended rest, not extending anybody, and they all looked like they were throwing 7 miles per hour slower than they normally throw.

"I think a lot of it is maturity, and I think that they got nervous and came to a home opener and they played scared to death."

So, it's very early in the season, and Royal's coach has already thrown down the gauntlet to his players. But the players know they must step up in a hurry, too, or they'll risk falling behind early in a league title chase that never lets up.

In the Marmonte League, there's a fine line between title contender and playoff pretender. Maye and the Highlanders know this. There's no time to dwell on the past now.

"This loss will definitely wake us up," Peters said. "I can't tell you if we're going to come out better next time, but I sure hope we do. I certainly know we can, but it's going to take some work."