SOUTHERN SECTION BASEBALL PLAYOFFS : 3-A : Villa Park Keeps On Winning : Spartans Continue Playoff Success With 11-6 Victory

SANTA MARIA, Calif. â€”  Villa Park High School lost its first five nonleague games and its first two Century League games before battling back to finish second in the league.

Now the Spartans, who combined some clutch hits with seven walks and three Righetti errors for an 11-6 Southern Section 3-A quarterfinal victory Friday, are trying to deal with success.

Coach Dave Ochoa said he wasn’t concerned with Villa Park’s poor start, but he had a difficult time explaining the surprising playoff success.

“I don’t know what it is,� Ochoa said. “A couple of years we’ve started out 1-6 and we’ve come back to win the league. We play a tough preseason.�

The Spartans (19-10) scored four runs in the first inning before Righetti (14-13-1), the second-place team from the Northern League, rallied to score four in the second. Villa Park ace Tom Kelly, who pitched a complete game in the first round Friday (a 13-4 victory over Fullerton) and five innings in the second round Tuesday (a 7-6, 10-inning victory against South Hills), lasted only 1 innings, yielding three runs, two hits and three walks.

But left-hander Jerry Aschoff (4-2), the Spartans’ No. 2 pitcher, came on to earn the victory in relief, pitching 5 innings, allowing three runs (two earned), four hits and striking out eight.

The victory advanced Villa Park to the semifinals Tuesday against Arlington, which beat Ventura, 4-0, Friday.

“Tom (usually) has a live arm, and by the way he was throwing, I could tell he didn’t have a live arm (Friday),� Ochoa said. “All year long, he had never looked at me in the dugout. He looked at me and I could see he wasn’t comfortable out there.

“But Aschoff just did a hell of a job in relief.�

Righetti has relied on its ace right-hander, Brett Fulton (8-2, 6-0 in the Northern League), most of the season. But he threw seven innings in the first round (a 10-5 victory over Hart) and eight innings in the second round (a 7-3 victory over Gahr).

So the Warriors turned to No. 2 starter Neal St. Marie. But St. Marie’s wildness and some sloppy fielding made it easy for the Spartans to blow the game open. St. Marie (2-6) allowed five runs in 3 innings.

With the score tied, 4-4, and two out in the the third inning, Villa Park took the lead for good with three singles from Pat Riley, Chris Johnson and Kevin Bates, who drove in Riley with a single to center.

Villa Park added to the lead with a run in the fourth and three in the fifth, including two on a pinch-hit home run by Tim Keller.

“That’s the way we’ve played all year long,� Ochoa said. “We practice pressure. Games are a piece of cake to these guys.�

Tony Inga was 3 for 5 with three RBIs and John Watrous was 1 for 2 with three runs and two walks for Villa Park.