AMERICAN LEGION BASEBALL WORLD SERIES : Newbury Oaks Quickly Disconnects Guaynabo, 7-1

FARGO, N.D. —  Perhaps it was fitting that Guaynabo, Puerto Rico, a team sponsored by a telephone company, would generate a king-size controversy Thursday by picking up the dugout phone and stating its intention to play an American Legion World Series game under protest.

Dialing 911 would have made more sense.

Newbury Oaks, its opponent, jumped to a five-run lead after two innings and spanked lifeless Guaynabo, 7-1, in an elimination game Thursday before an estimated 1,000 at Jack Williams Field.

Since Newbury Oaks (37-3) led comfortably throughout behind the four-hit pitching of left-hander Adam West, the only real buzz of the afternoon was generated when Guaynabo (30-9) announced that it was filing a protest because Newbury Oaks did not have its Legion post number affixed to its uniform jerseys.

Although teams are required to have post numbers on their uniforms in Puerto Rico, it is not mandatory in the United States.

What’s more, Newbury Oaks is an independent team with no financial backing and no post affiliation.

Reaction to the announcement, made moments later over the public-address system with Newbury Oaks holding a 6-0 lead in the sixth, ranged from outright laughter to moderate anger. Some fans booed lustily.

“Actually, it got me a little bit mad at them,” West said.

West’s coach went one better, for a couple of reasons. Chuck Fick, who played minor league ball in the Mexican winter leagues, found himself in a verbal tiff with Javier Centeno, his counterpart.

After the game, Fick said, Centeno refused to shake hands. Fick also claimed that he understood part of what Centeno was saying during the game in Spanish regarding Newbury Oaks, and that he offered some input of his own.

“He doesn’t understand Spanish,” Centeno said with a slight grin. “He just knows two or three words.”

Must have been some choice ones. With West blanking Guaynabo on the field, the best action was on the sidelines.

Late in the game, for instance, Fick complained to plate umpire Harvey Johnson that Guaynabo was pitching too tightly to shortstop David Lamb, who had two hits in the game and doubled home three runs in the second to give Newbury Oaks a 5-0 lead.

“I said, ‘You better protect (Lamb) and not let this get out of control,’ ” Fick said afterward. “Because if it does, I’m going right for No. 5 (Centeno), and I don’t think he wants any part of me. I’m 6-1, 230.’ ”

Had Newbury Oaks lost, players would have been grabbing suitcases and taking the first plane out of town. Instead, Newbury Oaks will play Gonzales, La., (49-10) today at 3 p.m. PDT in another elimination game. Gonzales lost to East Hartford, Conn., 12-1, on Thursday night.

After blowing an early scoring opportunity in a first-round loss Wednesday, Newbury Oaks did not make the same mistake.

Trent Martin gave the team a 1-0 lead in the first with a sacrifice fly to right, driving in Ryan Kritscher. Martin leads all tournament players with 15 runs batted in during regional and Series play.

Newbury Oaks scored four runs in the second, with Lamb’s three-run double down the left-field line doing most of the damage.

Guaynabo used four pitchers, three in the second inning alone.

The team’s nickname might be the Jets, but the pace was pedestrian at best. Each time Centeno yanked a pitcher, he repeated his routine: a painfully slow walk to the mound to allow his bullpen time to get warm and to slow Newbury Oaks’ momentum.

“There’s no question that he was trying to dictate the tempo of the game,” Fick said. “But they’re the ones going home.”

While Centeno’s stall tactics got on some folks’ nerves, the protest was met by near-universal derision. Centeno said he thought it was a standardized Legion rule.

“In Puerto Rico, if you have no post number on your T-shirt, it is a forfeit,” he said with a shrug.

Members of the tournament committee met after the game and shot down the Guaynabo protest.

It was West, though, who kept Newbury Oaks from being shot down in the tournament. The left-hander, who will play next season at Pierce College, struck out two, walked eight and did not allow a run until the seventh.

“I didn’t want to end it right here,” said West, who allowed one hit over the first six innings.

“I didn’t want to be the cause of us playing in our last game.”