Baseball: West Valley has four teams alive in City playoffs
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The West Valley League flexed its muscles in the opening round of the City Section Division I baseball playoffs on Wednesday, going four for four, leaving the possibility of an all-West Valley semifinal.
The biggest upset was No. 12-seeded Granada Hills (14-16), the fourth-place finisher in the West Valley, defeating Valley Mission League champion Sylmar, 8-0. Bryce Kelly threw a four-hitter, striking out five. Boyd Bell had three hits, including two doubles.
Granada Hills will face No. 4 Narbonne (22-9) in Friday’s quarterfinals. Narbonne defeated Sun Valley Poly, 4-0, with sophomore left-hander Hector Avila throwing a one-hitter, striking out 10 and walking one.
In another upset, No. 11 Wilmington Banning defeated Western League champion Palisades, 1-0. Banning will play at No. 3 El Camino Real, which defeated Roosevelt, 7-1, on a complete game from Michael Booth.
Top-seeded Reseda Cleveland defeated Granada Hills Kennedy, 11-7. Juan Perez had five steals and three hits. No. 2 Chatsworth defeated San Fernando, 10-3. Ryan Cooperstone hit a two-run home run and Andrew Klausmeier struck out seven in five innings.
No. 10 Bell defeated No. 7 Verdugo Hills, 14-4, in six innings. Oscar Acosta hit a three-run home run and Chris Solis had three RBIs. Bell will play at Chatsworth on Friday. Garfield defeated San Pedro, 7-3, and will play at Cleveland.
-- Eric Sondheimer