Southern Section 4-A Baseball : Kelly Homers Twice as Mater Dei Wins Opener, 10-2

Mike Kelly had two home runs and John Hulshof allowed only six hits while striking out four to lead No. 1-seeded Mater Dei to a 10-2 trouncing of Los Alamitos in the first round of the Southern Section 4-A playoffs Friday at Mater Dei.

The Monarchs (23-1), ranked No. 1 in the country by USA Today, had 13 hits and scored five runs in the fifth inning. Robbie Katzaroff was a lone bright spot for Los Alamitos. Katzaroff, with two infield singles, raised his total to 51 hits for the season, breaking the Orange County record of 50 set in 1980 by Lenny Dykstra of Garden Grove.

Also in 4-A, junior left-hander Scott Radinsky struck out 7 of 10 batters in relief, including the last three, to preserve a 5-2 win for Simi Valley at Katella. Simi Valley (25-4), leading the Southern Section in games won, will face No. 4 Long Beach Poly, a 7-3 winner over St. Paul.

Senior Derek Dehdashtian struck out five while allowing only three hits as No. 1-seeded Gahr of Cerritos beat Tustin, 3-1, in the 3-A division. An error by Tustin second baseman Mike O’Connell on a grounder by Vern Hildebrandt allowed Keith Harrison and Ron Hauczinder to score for Gahr (25-3). Gahr now meets Valencia, a 3-1 winner over Workman.

In 2-A, Kraig Washington went 5 for 6 with a home run and eight RBIs as top-seeded Diamond Bar routed Rosemead, 28-1, at Diamond Bar. Bill Beeman went 4 for 5 with three RBIs, while Rich Gonzales struck out 13 and allowed four hits over six innings to pick up the win for Diamond Bar (23-2).

No. 2-seeded Aquinas was upset by Bloomington at Aquinas in the 1-A division, while No. 1 Whittier Christian just got by Bell-Jeff of Burbank, 3-2. No. 3 Templeton was a 12-7 winner at home over Windward and No. 4 Linfield Chrisitan beat Walden, 9-8.

The Small Schools proved to be one of the more exciting divisons Friday. Buckley of Sherman Oaks had 18 hits and scored four runs in the sixth inning to upset No. 2-seeded Rosamond, 7-3, at Rosamond in Mojave. All nine starters had hits for Buckley (13-10-2).