Baseball: Viewpoint beats Upland Christian for Division VII title

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Michael Cameron hit a three-run home run in the third inning and pitchers Ben Salzman and Gil Brozki combined on a five-hitter as Viewpoint (19-8) avenged a loss in last year’s Division VII final with a 7-2 victory over Upland Christian in this year’s Southern Section-Toyota division final on Saturday at UC Riverside.

Viewpoint won its first section title by taking advantage of eight hits and three errors by Upland Christian (19-11). The Patriots took a 2-0 lead in the first inning when Jordan Kaplan’s single drove in Harrison Bernsen and Kaplan later scored on a passed ball.

The Eagles scored twice in the fourth inning to pull within 6-2. Travis Minardi’s single drove in Matt Proulx and Randy Alilionuu’s ground out scored Ethan Chapman.

Salzman (9-3), a senior right-hander, allowed five hits with two strikeouts in four innings and Brozki, a sophomore left-hander, pitched three hitless innings for his first save.

Junior right-hander Matt Johnston (8-3) allowed six hits in six innings with seven strikeouts, including five in a row, for Upland Christian.

-- Dale Ruhe