Gardena High’s baseball team saw its quest for the CIF-Los Angeles City Section Division II title come to an end with an 8-1 loss in the first round to host Maywood Academy on May 19. Maywood started in the top of the first inning with a three-run home run for a quick lead and continued to dominate the Panthers from there. Gardena, though, had a highlight in the inning as its defense turned in a double play. The Panthers, who finished their season at 6-17 overall after placing in a tie for fifth with Long Beach Rancho Dominguez Prep in the tough Marine League at 1-9, scored their only run in the top of the third. That was when Darren Parker reached first base on an error. He was replaced by pinch runner Johann Wallace, who stole second and third bases then scored when Anthony Brown hit into a fi elder’s choice. “They (Maywood) were better than us,” Gardena head coach Tom Anderson said. It was the second time that Maywood defeated the Panthers. During the spring break in April, Maywood shut out host Gardena 9-0 in the Dennis Gilbert RBI (Revival of Baseball in the Inner Cities) Classic. Maywood went on to top Harbor Teacher Prep in the quarter finals before falling 4-3 to South Gate Legacy in the semifinals. Legacy won the title over L.A. Wilson last Saturday at Dodger Stadium. Gardena will lose six seniors but hope to have most of their players back for 2023, barring any academic ineligibilities, injuries or other mishaps. Anderson plans to have the Panthers have summer RBI League at Gonzalez Park in Compton. In the L.A. City Section Division I championship game last Saturday at Dodger Stadium, Narbonne fell to Garfield 5-3. The Gauchos led 2-1 through five innings but the Bulldogs rallied for four runs in the top of the sixth to take a 5-2 lead. Losing pitcher Juan Garcia did well but had some critical walks and gave up run-scoring singles to Javier Cerda and Daniel Canales and Garfield scored two more unearned runs. Narbonne attempted to rally and scored once in the top of the seventh when Owen Martin tripled home Brandon Dillon, who walked after two outs. The Gauchos, who ended their season at 19-10, took a 2-0 lead in the first when Martin singled, stole second and third, then scored on a double by Juan Castro. He went to third on an overthrow. Marine champion Carson and runner-up San Pedro competed in the Open Division. The Colts lost in the first round to eventual champion Chatsworth 11-8 on May 19. The Pirates, last year’s City Open Division champion, fell in the quarterfinals to Lake Balboa Birmingham 5-0. The Chancellors won the title over the Patriots 2-0 last Saturday at Dodger Stadium. Torrance High’s baseball team fell to eventual champion Etiwanda 6-1 in the Division II championship game on May 21 at Cal State Fullerton. The Tartars entered the Southern California Regional Division II playoffs as the No. 3 seed and hosted CIF-San Diego Section Division II runnerup Rancho Bernardo last Tuesday at El Camino College. The semifinals are today at 4 p.m. and the finals on Saturday. The Tartars’ softball team entered the Southern California Regional Division II playoffs as the top seed and they hosted San Diego Cathedral Catholic last Tuesday at ECC. The semi-finals are today at 4 p.m. and the finals on Saturday. Torrance’s softball team made the Division II semifinals losing to Mission Viejo.
