These guys were born to hit the ball

JANN HENDRY/Acorn Newspapers SULTANS OF SWING—The first four hitters in the Westlake High lineup, from left, Nick Truhan, Christian Yelich, Tim Wise and Nelson Spruce, helped the Warriors lead the Marmonte League in scoring for much of the season. WHS averages nearly seven runs per game. Westlake High head baseball coach Zach Miller takes a common-sense approach to filling out his lineup card.

Miller puts his most productive hitters at the top of the order, and he encourages them to do what they do best—get on, get over and get in.

"I have my best four guys starting it off," Miller said. "Hitting-wise, stats-wise, physically with height and size; the top four are my best four, and we're going after it."

The Warriors entered Wednesday's critical regularseason showdown at Moorpark with a league-best 179 runs scored in 26 games, or 6.9 runs per contest.

First-place Simi Valley, which clinched the Marmonte title by walloping Westlake last weekend, had scored 178 runs in 27 games.

The catalysts behind the Warriors' explosive offense have been senior leadoff batter Nick Truhan, power-hitting juniors Christian Yelich and Tim Wise, and toughasarock sophomore cleanup hitter Nelson Spruce, who Miller described as a "man-child."

"I'll tell you what, you don't want to get hit by (Spruce) or have the infield drawn in and take one off the lips from that guy, either," the coach said, "because he can swing it."

Truhan, a righthanded centerfielder who will play at Loyola Marymount University, entered the week tied with Yelich and Wise for the team lead with four home runs. In addition, Truhan was batting .363, had scored 30 runs and was successful on 12 of 13 stolen base attempts.

"I just try to get on base and set the tempo for the game," said Truhan, who, until this year, had played basketball throughout his high school career.

Truhan said he isn't surprised by the team's offensive output because of how much work the players put in on a daily basis.

"We hit in the cage for more than an hour every day," the senior said. "Before games, we'll be hitting for hours, too, working on our swings and trying to drive balls into the gaps."

Yelich bats in the No. 2 spot, where he's hitting .483 with 25 RBI, 30 runs scored, 43 hits and a team-high 23 stolen bases.

Having verbally committed to UCLA as a sophomore, Yelich, a shortstop who could eventually play several different positions in college, long ago established himself as one of Ventura County's premier talents.

According to Miller, the sweet-swinging, 6-foot-4 lefty is poised to shatter several school records, including career marks for doubles, hits, games played and total at-bats.

Several of the aforementioned career records were established by Mike Lieberthal, a catcher who played 14 seasons in the major leagues and was twice named an MLB All-Star.

"Is it selfish to talk about him breaking all these records?" Miller asked. "No, because that's a part of Christian doing his job. . . .

"He's the face of our program right now. Last year it was Cutter Dykstra and Shane Kroker. Now it's Christian Yelich."

Wise also stands 6-foot-4 and, with his lanky frame, looks similar to Yelich at the plate except that he's hitting from the right side.

In his second year on the varsity squad, and after battling back from an early-season wrist injury that cost him a few games, Wise, a first baseman/right fielder, has posted a .403 average with 29 hits in 72 at-bats.

Like Truhan, Yelich and Spruce, Wise is a gifted basestealer, having converted on 15 of 16 attempts.

So much success so early is rare for a young player starting for the first time in the Marmonte, and even Wise admits that his numbers have been better than expected. He attributes much of his good fortune at the plate to being able to bat behind Yelich.

"He gives me a lot of protection," Wise said. "Christian walks a lot because he likes to look at a lot of pitches. After that, I see a lot of fastballs."

Spruce's teammates say the young third baseman has a keen eye in the batter's box and a unique ability to put almost any ball he sees in play.

A soft-spoken yet hard-hitting wide receiver and safety for the Warrior football team, Spruce brings a gridiron mentality to the diamond.

"The guy is put together," Miller said. "Mentally, nothing fazes him."

The sophomore, who made the leap from freshman ball to varsity, is batting .400 with 10 stolen bases, four doubles and a home run.

"Our guys in front of me get on base a lot, and there is a little pressure to bring them in, but I just try to stay focused," said Spruce in describing his approach at the plate.

Although the Warriors have had few problems scoring runs this year, the pitching staff allowed a league-high 207 runs in its first 26 games.

Still, to a man, Westlake's top four hitters say there's no added pressure to score heaps of runs every time they take the field to compensate for the team's lack of dominant pitching.

"Whatever guy we have throwing for us, we're all confident that he'll have his good stuff that day," Yelich said. "If we get him a couple of runs, we'll be good."

Added Truhan: "We try to go out there and do our job, which is to get on base and score runs. We want to help our pitchers out as much as we can."

Wise said Westlake does its best work against the toughest pitchers they face, which, if the team qualifies for the postseason, could be an excellent sign.

"We tend to hit good pitchers better than average pitchers," Wise said. "It's mostly focus and getting pumped up, getting that adrenaline running to go out there and hit."