Bell-Jeff Gets Run-Around by Whittier Christian, 3-2

Bellarmine-Jefferson High, a school that survived on the steal all season, was eliminated without one Friday afternoon.

Kraig Johnson’s inside-the-park home run with a man aboard in the bottom of the sixth inning enabled top-seeded Whittier Christian (17-2) to come from behind for a 3-2 win over the visiting Guards in the opening round of the Southern Section 1-A baseball playoffs.

Johnson’s shot rolled to the fence about 500 feet from the plate on Whittier’s La Habra campus field. Tim Wharton, aboard on an error, scored on the play. The blast was only the fourth hit for the Heralds, who came into the game with a .295 team batting average. It was Johnson’s second homer of the season.

Bell-Jeff (11-10) averaged almost six steals during the regular season, but on Friday the Guards attempted just one. Heralds catcher Dan Sampson threw out Kevin Day at second base in the third inning.

But Bell-Jeff had many of the 300 partisan Whittier fans on the edge of their seats until the sixth inning.

Even Whittier Coach Doug Domene admitted that he was nervous about the final outcome after the first inning when, with two out and Petar Vucurevic on first, Heralds right fielder Daryl Lancaster misplayed a lazy fly ball off the bat of George Thompson for a triple that scored Vucurevic. Then first baseman Aaron Arredondo lost Nick Pavicic’s pop-fly single that scored another.

Actually Domene had reason to be nervous even before the game began. Earlier in the day he had been informed that starting pitcher Doug Irwin (8-1) and starting right fielder Phil Stirling had been suspended from school for an off-campus altercation, which meant that Lancaster--a sophomore pitcher--was playing his first game in the outfield. In addition, Domene had to use No. 2 pitcher Kevin Chavez (8-1).

A triple by Arredondo and a sacrifice fly to left field by Mike Goodcase cut Bell-Jeff’s lead to 2-1 in the second inning.

Bell-Jeff had men on base in every inning until the sixth but could not score--or steal--a run after the first inning.