SPRING SPORTS HIGHLIGHTS : Simi Valley Survives Shaky Seventh to Win

Simi Valley High survived a wild seventh inning Tuesday afternoon to defeat West Orange of Florida, 4-3, in the opening round of the Colonial High baseball tournament in Orlando, Fla.

With Simi Valley leading 4-0 in the top of the seventh, starting pitcher Todd Sullivan faltered, walking the first two West Orange batters. Reliever Shaun Murphy replaced Sullivan, struck out the first batter he faced but walked the next hitter to load the bases.

West Orange’s Rich Reper singled home one run and after a strikeout, Kevin Butler lashed a single to right-center field. Two runs scored, but Simi Valley catcher Tim Laker tagged out the tying run after a rundown.

Murphy salvaged his fourth save and Sullivan pushed his record to 3-2.

Simi Valley’s Corey Aurand was 2 for 3, stole two bases and scored two runs.

Simi Valley, 10-3 and ranked No. 1 in the Southern Section 4-A Division, plays Colonial (14-4) today at 7 p.m. EST. Senior Scott Radinsky (4-1) will pitch for the Pioneers.

Alhambra 3, Hart 1--Alhambra scored twice in the fifth to break a 1-1 tie and remain unbeaten in the Foothill League.

Jimmy Griego gave up three hits, struck out nine and went the distance to pick up the win.

Alhambra improved to 4-0 in league, while Hart fell to 2-2 in league and 10-4 overall.

San Gabriel 7, Burroughs 2--Burroughs committed five errors, allowing San Gabriel to score seven unearned runs in the Foothill League game at Burroughs.

JoJo Carmona led Burroughs with two hits and two RBIs, and Bobby Niers had two stolen bases and a single.

Burroughs fell to 1-3 in league and 5-6 overall. San Gabriel is 2-2 and 7-5.

Grant 2, Poly 0--Rodney Beck was 2 for 3 at the plate, but it was his pitching that led the Lancers to the East Valley League victory. Beck gave up five hits, struck out six and walked two.

The win pulled Grant (3-1 in league) to within a half game of first-place Poly (4-1).

Sylmar 3, Verdugo Hills 0--Carlos Arnendarez and Alonzo Woodfin combined on a two-hit shutout at Sylmar.

Biff McGahan was 2 for 3 for Sylmar, which is 3-2 in the East Valley League and 4-4 overall. Verdugo Hills is 1-4 in league.

Saugus 15, Antelope Valley 14--Saugus was down, 9-0, in the first inning but came back to win the Golden League contest. It was the second straight game Saugus had rallied back from an early 9-0 deficit.

Chris Joy was 3 for 4 and has 14 hits in his last 24 at bats.

Saugus is 3-1 in league, 7-5 overall. Antelope Valley fell to 1-3.

Calabasas 2, Nordhoff 1--Scott Cadenhead struck out seven and walked two to earn the Frontier League victory. Calabasas (1-2 in league, 3-6-1 overall) left 12 men in scoring position.

Webb 11, L.A. Lutheran 7--Ted Webb went 3 for 4 and scored three runs to lead Webb to the Alpha League win. Teammate Roger Yiu was 3 for 3.

L.A. Lutheran (1-3 in league) was led by Dave Willweber, who was 3 for 4.

St. Bonaventure 4, L.A. Baptist 2--St. Bonaventure scored three unearned runs in the first and continued on to a nonleague victory.

San Marcos 6, Crespi 5--Crespi led 5-4 in the seventh inning, but San Marcos came from behind on two hits, an error and a walk in the nonleague game at San Marcos.

Faith Baptist 11, Coast Christian 0--Sophomore Richard Leon struck out six and fired a two-hit shutout in his first varsity appearance.

High School Softball

L.A. Lutheran 13, Webb 1--Mickey Lehmkuhl (4-5) pitched a two-hitter and hit a three-run home run for L.A. Lutheran.

Lutheran is 2-0 in the Alpha League play and 4-5 overall.

Santa Ynez 10, Moorpark 0--Moorpark’s Jacquie Flasck walked five consecutive batters in the first inning as the Pirates scored four times and cruised to a Tri-Valley League win. Moorpark dropped to 1-2 in league and 3-5 overall.

Newbury Park 12, Channel Islands 0--Delores Decker was 3 for 5, scored four runs and had four RBIs to pace the Panthers in the Marmonte league game at Channel Islands.

Hoover 4, Burbank 2--Sandy Pandhumas’ two-out, bases-loaded single in the second evened Hoover’s record at 4-4 in the nonleague game at Hoover. Burbank is 8-2.

San Fernando 6, Taft 3--Sandy Gonzales was 4 for 4, including a double and a triple, to guide the Tigers past Taft in a nonleague game at San Fernando.

L.A. Baptist 7, Faith Baptist 0--Michelle Raffner earned her fourth win of the season for the Knights at Faith Baptist. Connie Broussard hit a two-run homer in the fifth for L.A. Baptist (4-4).

College Baseball

The Master’s 7, Biola 7--The Master’s pounded out 12 hits in the NAIA District 3 game halted by darkness after eight innings at The Master’s.

Terry Sloan led The Master’s offense, going 4 for 4 with a triple. Teammates Kurt Thielen and Matt MacArthur also had productive days at the plate. Thielen was 2 for 4 with a three-run home run in the fifth and an RBI single in the first. MacArthur was 2 for 4.

Relief pitcher Mike Wilson hit a home run in the bottom of the eighth to tie the game at seven.

Canyons 6, Allan Hancock 3--Joe Pieper hit a three-run homer with two out in the bottom of the eighth to give the Cougars (18-2) the nonconference victory. Teammates Chris Cota and Pete Kuld also homered for Canyons, ranked No. 1 in the Southland Poll.

High School Volleyball

Harvard d. Torrance 15-4, 15-7, 15-4--John Phelps and Peter Anderson led the Saracens to an easy victory in the Ocean League match at Torrance.

Harvard is 6-1 in league and 7-1 overall.