AGOURA ADVANCES CHARGERS' BASEBALL TEAM PULLS UPSET AGOURA 9, CHINO 5.

Byline: HEATHER GRIPP Staff Writer

LONG BEACH -- Spending the last month of the regular season with preseason All- Americans Robert Stock and Jason Stoffel injured didn't do much for the Agoura High baseball team's record. But it did wonders for teaching the Chargers how to succeed without relying on their stars.

Agoura's supporting cast was ready to steal the spotlight by the time they reached Tuesday's Southern Section Div. I semifinal at Blair Field.

Led by senior right-hander Jamie Leonard, starting in place of Stoffel, who suffered a broken ankle in the quarterfinal, the unseeded Chargers upset No. 2 Chino 9-5 to advance to their first final.

Agoura (21-8), which didn't even win a league title, plays for the division title Saturday at Angel Stadium.

``When we play our best baseball, it's not just Stock and Stoffel,'' Chargers coach Scott Deck said. ``They know that.''

With Stoffel limited to cheering on the sidelines, and Stock going 1 for 5, second baseman Ben Yarin and catcher Cole McCune combined to drive in seven runs against Chino, which entered the game with a 20-game winning streak and ranked No. 1 in the state by Cal-Hi Sports. Sophomore Bill Sharp added two hits and an RBI, and every Agoura starter reached base at least once.

``That's our philosophy: so what?'' Yarin said of the Chargers being seemingly unfazed by adversity. ``The next guy steps up. Jamie did a great job of that today.''

Leonard, the staff's No. 3 starter, held Chino's hard-hitting offense to two runs on five hits through the first four innings before errors helped the Cowboys (28-2) rally in the fifth. Leonard finished with four strikeouts, no walks and two earned runs allowed in four-plus innings.

``He was amazing,'' McCune said. ``Jamie has stepped up the most on our team this year.''

Agoura's hitters made Leonard's job easier by giving him a 7-1 lead in the third inning. Yarin had two doubles, including one with three RBIs during the inning in which the Chargers sent 11 batters to the plate. They scored four unearned runs with two outs in the inning.

Chino had taken a 1-0 lead with the aid of two errors in the second inning, but a two-run double by McCune in the third put Agoura ahead for good.

McCune doubled in another run in the fourth inning to extend the Chargers' lead to 8-2.

After the first four Cowboys reached base in the fifth inning -- two on errors -- Agoura reliever Matt Withem came in and sealed the win by retiring all nine batters he faced.

``We were just pretty much trying to be a team as much as we can and stick together,'' McCune said. ``We do this as a team.''

Such teamwork gives the Chargers a chance to become the third Marmonte League team in four years to claim a division title without winning the league title.

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