In prep baseball, the Marine League has four CIF-Los Angeles City Section Division I teams (Banning, Carson, Narbonne and San Pedro) and two Division II squads (Gardena and Washington).
After being dominated in the first four games by Carson and Narbonne, the Panthers were able to play a squad closer to their ability and swept two games from Washington 6-5 and 7-2 last week.
At Washington on April 21, Gardena, with just 10 players on its roster, rallied to edge the Generals, who have only 12 players, 6-5.
In prep baseball, the Marine League has four CIF-Los Angeles City Section Division I teams (Banning, Carson, Narbonne and San Pedro) and two Division II squads (Gardena and Washington).
After being dominated in the first four games by Carson and Narbonne, the Panthers were able to play a squad closer to their ability and swept two games from Washington 6-5 and 7-2 last week.
At Washington on April 21, Gardena, with just 10 players on its roster, rallied to edge the Generals, who have only 12 players, 6-5.
Last Thursday at Gardena, the Panthers completed the two-game sweep with a 7-2 win.
In the second game, winning pitcher Raul Garcia went the distance allowing two earned runs on six hits. He struck out six batters.
He also went 1-for-3 and drove in a run.
Brian Perez went 2-for-3 with two runs batted in and one run scored.
At Washington, Gardena, which improved to 6-5 overall and 2-4 in league, trailed 5-2 entering the bottom of the fifth inning before coming up with four runs while shutting out the Generals in the final four innings to pull out the victory.
Perez was 2-for-3 with two RBI’s and Robert Chavez went 2-for-3 and drove in one run. Pedro Trejo drove in the eventual winning run with a hit between two Washington defenders.
It’s back to the difficult part as the Panthers have two games against San Pedro, but sources are that Gardena may pick up a forfeit victory over the Pirates in their first game slated for last Tuesday at home. That’s because San Pedro and Narbonne had a double forfeit in their game from last Thursday due to a brawl. The brawl occurred in the bottom of the fifth with the two teams tied at 5-5. All players were ejected and, according to National High School Sports Federation, the players are automatically ineligible for the next game meaning that the Pirates and Colts could have to forfeit their following games. Both teams, however, were to play last Saturday in the San Fernando Tiger Classic on Saturday and could have forfeited those games meaning that they could play their league games on Tuesday. Carson was to host Narbonne last Tuesday.
The Panthers visit San Pedro today and Banning next Monday in 3 p.m. league games.
ECC Baseball
Warriors sweep East L.A. but fail to make playoffs
By Joe Snyder
Sports Editor
El Camino College’s baseball team had a very good finish by sweeping three games from East Los Angeles College last week but its 23-12 overall record and 12-9 South Coast Conference mark for a fourth place finish was not enough to be invited to the Southern California Regional playoffs that began last Tuesday.
Desperate to pull off a playoff berth after an 0-6 start in the SCC, the Warriors began last week with a 10-4 win over the Huskies on April 21 at ECC. Traveling to East L.A. in Monterrey Park, El Camino recorded another win over the Huskies by the same score. Last Friday, ECC returned home and finished with a 9-6 victory.
In all, El Camino finished by winning 12 of its last 15 conference games and 15 of its last 18 overall but the poor start that included sweeps by Long Beach City College and Compton College (El Camino College-Compton Center) made the Warriors fall short of being in the 18-team Southern California Tournament. ECC also lost two of three to Cerritos College in a critical series earlier this month. Long Beach won the SCC, followed by Compton and Cerritos, in order. All advanced to the playoffs.
“After the 0-6 start, we were behind the 8-ball,” ECC head coach Nathan Fernley said. “We had one game against Compton where we were ahead 6-1 than they scored six runs in the bottom of the sixth. We came back to tie the game before they won it in the ninth. We had numerous mistakes that cost us in those games.”
Last Friday, El Camino got off to a good start with a 5-0 lead before East L.A. (6-15 in conference and 12-24 overall) rallied for four in the top of the fourth. The Warriors came back to increase the lead. Relief pitcher Sebastian Sanchez, for starter Ulices Moreno (7-2), picked up his first win to finish his season at 1-1. Reese Buska picked up his second save.
The Warriors had balanced offense behind two hits apiece from Alex Turner, Joseph Cortez, Joey Notch and Angel Mora.
At East L.A., Cortez had four hits and drove in three runs to key the Warriors. Turner, Jake Sahagin and Notch each had two hits.
Winning pitcher Chris Alcala ended the season at 5-3 allowing only one earned run in eight innings.
On April 21, former North Torrance High standout pitcher Dalton Erb finished his season at 7-1 by allowing four runs on nine hits with 11 strikeouts over eight innings.
“I was a little shakey at the beginning,” Erb said. “East L.A. hits were falling between guys. I was able to get under control after the third inning.”
Down 4-3 entering the bottom of the sixth inning, El Camino scored six runs to take a 9-4 lead and never trailed from there.
Cortez had two hits, three RBI’s that included a two-run double.
El Camino’s sophomore players and some freshmen will be looking to move on to play at four-year colleges or await to see if they get drafted into professional baseball that happens in early June. Erb, a 6-foot-7 sophomore who was the Daily Breeze South Bay Player of the Year in 2012, played his freshman season two years ago but sat out last year due to a bad elbow, will be looking to either be drafted or play at an NCAA Division I college of his choice. Notch, who bounced back from University of Arizona from a baseball scholarship after his graduation from West Torrance High in 2013, Cortez and Turner also have strong shots at either NCAA Division I college ball or playing in the pros.
Meanwhile, ECC’s softball team won the South Coast Conference title and begins the Southern California Regional playoffs at home against Fullerton College on Saturday and Sunday.
The Warrior men’s volleyball team made it to the California State championship but fell to South Coast Conference rival Santa Monica City College, 25-21, 22-25, 25-23, 25-18, Saturday at San Diego City College.
Peter Nordel and Cesar Medina led El Camino with nine kills.
Allen Sarinana contributed 12 digs. Setter Chris Griebenow had 43 assists.
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Gardena Youth Basketball
Wildcats outlast Cowboys for Gardena Midget title
By Joe Snyder
Sports Editor
The Wildcats captured the Gardena City Midget (age 10-11) Youth Basketball championship by topping the Cowboys 31-28 Saturday at the Rowley Park Gymnasium.
Kenneth McIntyre and Tray Steagall shared the Wildcats’ high scoring honors with 12 points apiece. Tywaun Cannon added four points.
Mychai Williams sparked the Cowboys with 11 points. Darius Fuery chipped in nine points and Erik Amos contributed four.
The Wildcats held a 13-9 halftime lead but the Cowboys came back with an 11-6 third quarter for a one-point (20-19) lead. The Wildcats finished by outscoring the Cowboys 12-8 in the fourth quarter for the victory and the championship.
In two Pee Wee (ages 8-9) semifinal games, the Huskies downed the 49’ers 31-19 and the Wildcats defeated the Hurricanes 15-8.
The Huskies were led by David Frankling with 13 points. Damri Taylor had nine points and Zachary Powell put in six.
Dylan Williams led all scorers with 14 points for the 49’ers. Jake Fosmire tallied five points.
Donald Thompson proved dominant with a game-high 12 points in the Wildcats’ win over the Hurricanes. Chance Henderson and Travis Manning totaled two and one points, in order, for the Wildcats.
Kevin Jenette finished with five points and Ciel Myles tallied three for the Hurricanes, who held a 6-5 halftime lead but scored only two points to 10 for the Wildcats in the second half.
The Gardena Youth Basketball playoffs continue through May 9.
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Serra Baseball
Serra gets swept by St. Paul; routed by Harvard-Westlake
Sports Editor
Staff Writer
Serra High’s baseball team appeared that it might get back on its feet after its transfer players became eligible and top senior player Morgan Lomax returned.
That was not to be last week. The Cavaliers lost two Del Rey League games to St. Paul and was routed by host Harvard-Westlake 11-1 in a Harvard-Westlake Tournament game last Saturday in Studio City.
On April 21 at Serra, the Cavaliers were edged by the Swordsmen 4-3. At St. Paul in Santa Fe Springs last Friday, the Swordsmen downed Serra 6-2.
On April 21, the Cavaliers held a 3-2 lead entering the top of the seventh inning before seeing St. Paul rally for two runs.
Sophomore Adrian Morales sparked Serra (1-4 in league) by going 2-for-3 with one run batted in and a run scored. The Cavaliers also had RBI’s by freshman Brian Sanders and senior Laurington Williams.
Starting pitcher Tom Bothwell went the distance allowing four runs (one earned) on eight hits. He struck out two batters and walked one.
On Friday, Morales continued his fine showing by going 2-for-4 and one RBI. Gary McCoy had a hit and scored a run.
Serra had only one hit in its loss to the Wolverines, one of the top teams in the CIF-Southern Section Division I.
The Cavaliers hosted defending CIF-Southern Section Division III champion Bishop Amat Tuesday and visit the Lancers Friday at 3:15 p.m. Serra plays in the Harvard-Westlake Tournament on Saturday before traveling to Cathedral in Los Angeles for a 3:15 p.m. Del Rey game next Tuesday.
