By RYAN ARENA

Sports Editor

The fourth and fifth innings have been treacherous ground for West St. John all season long, and on Thursday it contributed to the end of their season.

No. 2 seed Mangham took advantage of a rash of Ram errors in the fourth inning to score four runs and put its lead out of reach, as the Dragons advanced in the Class 1A playoffs, 10-0 winners in five innings over visiting WSJ in a bi-district round game.

West St. John trailed by four entering the fourth. But there, trouble reared its head for the Rams. West St. John committed four errors in the inning – the first coming on a pop fly ball that dropped innocently in the infield.

“I knew the problems we’ve had in that inning this year, but when they popped that ball up, I thought ‘This might not be so bad,’” said WSJ Coach Lennix Madere. “It went straight up, and straight down.”

That inning allowed the Dragons (24-9) to increase their 4-0 lead to 8-0. An inning and two runs later, the game was over.

West St. John (6-9) had two hits on the day, by Barry Hanson and Romell Howard.

Pitcher Karl Herbert (6-3) allowed six earned runs on eight hits, while striking out five.

Madere said that he felt Herbert had a strong game, all things considered.

“It was pretty close for awhile. He kept us in it against the second ranked team in the state,” Madere said. “Erase that one inning, and who knows.”

Madere said that his team showed him a lot this year, as the Rams qualified for the playoffs for the first time since 1996.

“We did something we’ve been trying to do for years, and that’s get back to the playoffs. I’m proud,” said Madere. “We lost our centerfielder, and a few others, and for a while it looked like we may not make it. The team responded.

“I can’t be anything but proud.”