BIG LEAGUE WORLD SERIES STAYING LOOSE IN SERIES; FARM REMEDY KEEPS AV WARM.

Byline: Lee Lamberts Special to the Daily News

KALAMAZOO, Mich. - Nothing like a little ``down-on-the-farm'' concoction to fix a ballplayer's ailment.

``Skip'' Thomas, one of the host parents for members of the Antelope Valley District 51 All-Star girls' softball team, was in almost as much pain as Amanda Wachsmuth when he saw the young lady struggle on the mound in AV's 9-0 loss Tuesday to the East team from Maryland.

Seems Wachsmuth has trouble getting loose when the temperatures are, say, less than 90 degrees. Because of that, she never displayed the pitching ability she showed in regional action last week, when she was nearly unhittable.

Against Maryland, Wachsmuth never got through the third inning. She gave up four runs on three hits and walked four Maryland batters, all of whom scored.

``My back was really tight (Tuesday), and it was a morning game, and it was kind of cool, and it takes me a long time to warm up when it's cooler,'' Wachsmuth said. ``I took the whole warmup time and I stretched, and I still couldn't get loose.''

And she couldn't get out too many opposing batters, either.

Enter Thomas, host ``father'' to Antelope Valley players Sayoko Rutledge and Shena Green. Thomas provided some horse linament from his farm and encouraged the players, especially Wachsmuth, to use it.

It worked.

Against Indianapolis in Wednesday's second game - Antelope Valley had already beaten Puerto Rico in an early-afternoon game - Wachsmuth pitched four innings. She was lifted in favor of Marciea Ball after her team had staked her to an 5-2 lead and she had worked out the kinks. After giving up two runs on three hits in the first inning, Wachsmuth retired nine of 10 batters before handing the ball over to Ball.

``It's kind of like Icy-Hot,'' Wachsmuth said of Thomas' recommendation for relief. ``But it goes deeper in the muscle than Icy-Hot and it loosened it all up. It really worked nice.''

--Batter up: After getting just one run on eight hits in their World Series opening victory over Michigan District 2 (Kalamazoo), then getting KO'd in a one-hit shutout by Maryland, the Antelope Valley girls got out the ``whuppin' sticks,'' so to speak, on Wednesday.

In victories over Puerto Rico (5-1) and Indianapolis (5-2), respectively, Antelope Valley knocked out 17 hits. Erin Yasumoto had four hits - going 3 for 3 in the Indianapolis game - and Wachsmuth had four hits, an RBI and scored twice.

That's not just the horse linament rearing its head.

``I just had more confidence in myself today,'' Yasumoto said of her four-hit day after going hitless in five at-bats in the team's first two games.

``Coach Walt (Patison) pulled me aside and said, 'We have all the confidence in the world in you, and we're not giving up on you, so just go out there and hit the ball.' And I did.''

Yasumoto's first hit against Indianapolis came in the third inning and send Monique Saldana home with the teams' first run. Her second single, in the third inning, chased home Heather Nix, closing out the scoring for AV.

--Double-double: This might sound like a broken record, but the Antelope Valley team got two more double plays at the Big League World Series.

After getting eight in five games last week and two in its first two games at the World Series, the District 51 All-Stars got two in one day Wednesday. Against Puerto Rico, Nix turned the trick, fielding Jamie Martinez's line drive and tossing to Keri Pulcifer to double off Alison Amaro.

Against Indianapolis in Wednesday's second game, Torry Kerr's liner to Pulcifer at first netted two outs when Pulcifer beat Nicole Clampitt in the race to the base.

--Seventh-inning stretch: Puerto Rico scored its only run against Antelope Valley in the seventh inning, and Indianapolis had the tying run at the plate in the seventh. AV survived both but not without a major scare.

``I don't know what it is about the seventh inning,'' coach Lester Ball said. ``We always try to make it a little interesting. I'm not sure what that means, but we won them both.''

Antelope Valley got out of the seventh with the aforementioned double play, combined with Candace Huling's game-ending strikeout.

The end of the Indianapolis game was a bit more bizarre.

Two singles put Kerr at the plate as the potential tying run with one out, but her line drive between Nix at shortstop and second base struck baserunner Clampitt in the thigh, resulting in an out and a dead ball, which send Kris Burdine back to third base. The game ended with Melissa Lemrick flying out to Rutledge in center.