Baseball: A big day for the Mission League

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Demonstrating that it comes from one of the strongest leagues in the Southern Section, three Mission League teams won their Southern Section Division 2 wild-card playoff games Tuesday, clearing the way for five teams to play on Friday in the opening round.

North Hollywood Harvard-Westlake, which played in a 20-inning playoff game two years ago, pulled out a 6-3, 13-inning win over host Arroyo Grande. Freshman Arden Pabst hit a two-run home run in the 13th. Sam Epstein threw 6 2/3 innings of scoreless relief for the Wolverines, who will play at Santa Ana Foothill on Friday.

Los Angeles Loyola knocked off Dos Pueblos, 6-3. Greg Astor threw a complete game with eight strikeouts. Loyola will play at Lake Forest El Toro. And West Hills Chaminade defeated Diamond Bar, 3-2. Chaminade will play at Paso Robles. They will join Encino Crespi and Mission Hills Alemany in a tournament now loaded with Mission League teams.

-- Eric Sondheimer