SPRING SPORTS HIGHLIGHTS : SYLMAR COACH PUZZLED AGAIN IN 3-2 LOSS

Sylmar High baseball Coach John Klitsner is probably wondering if there’s anything else that can go wrong.

On Tuesday, he watched back-to-back runners get picked off first base and his team make five errors. Klitsner called the loss “the weakest performance ever by a Sylmar team against Poly.”

Thursday was even rougher for Klitsner.

In Sylmar’s 3-2 loss in nine innings at North Hollywood, he observed:

-- A blown squeeze play with runners on second and third in the fifth inning.

-- A batter strike out after stepping away from the plate with his hand in the air asking for time in the eighth with a runner on second.

-- Two runners thrown out at home in the top of the ninth.

-- A routine grounder to third booted with runners on first and third and two outs in the bottom of the ninth to give North Hollywood the victory.

“After playing sloppy Tuesday, the kids came out and went for it,” Klitsner said. “We showed a lot of guts out there. It hurts to lose a game like this.”

Sylmar’s Biff McGahan opened the game with a homer off Mark Eubanks for a 1-0 lead. In the second, North Hollywood scored a pair of runs off right-hander Carlos Armendarez.

Eubanks held the 2-1 lead into the seventh inning. He then gave up a one-out, run-scoring single to Taisacan to force the game into extra innings.

In the bottom of the ninth, with runners on first and second, Mike Wells hit a sure double play grounder to shortstop Isidro Rodriguez. But second baseman Art Monreal couldn’t make the pivot and Wells beat the throw to first. Peter Straus then hit the misplayed grounder to third that ended the game.

The victory improved North Hollywood’s record to 13-4 overall, 9-4 in league. Sylmar is 8-8 and 7-6.

Birmingham 8, Van Nuys 2--Jordan Cook was 3 for 4 with a home run to lead Birmingham at Van Nuys. Ryan Cunha, James Purse and Martin Mercado each had two hits for Van Nuys.

Chatsworth 10, Cleveland 1--Mark Schauer allowed four hits in six shutout innings as Chatsworth maintained its lead in the West Valley League.

David Maine and Marcelino Mendoza each had two hits for Chatsworth.

Canoga Park 5, Reseda 0--Canoga Park pitcher Mike Kerber went the distance, striking out four and allowing no walks.

Taft 13, El Camino Real 9--Todd Grayson (2 for 3) hit a three-run home run in the first inning to put Taft on top. In the fourth inning, Rob Bumgarner (2 for 3, four RBIs) hit a three-run homer to give El Camino a 6-4 lead.

But Taft scored nine runs in the three remaining innings--including a two-run homer by Dana Green in the seventh--to lead Taft to its second win of the season over El Camino.

California Christian 13, Viewpoint 5--Steve Anderson, Mitch Cizek and Michael Curl each drove in three runs to lead California Christian.