Granada Hills, Adams Are Too Much for Banning in First-Round Playoff

Jeff Adams allowed three hits and pitched six shutout innings as Granada Hills defeated Banning, 8-1, Wednesday in the first round of the City Section 4-A playoffs at Banning.

Adams (6-4), a junior right-hander, did not strike out a batter but recorded 17 ground-ball outs. Eric Harris relieved Adams in the seventh inning and did not allow an unearned run.

Jeremy Leach had two hits, three stolen bases and scored three runs to lead Granada Hills on offense. Granada Hills’ Jeff Royston had two hits and three runs batted in--two coming on his third home run in the third inning.

“This was one of the best games we’ve played all season,” Granada Hills Coach Darryl Stroh said. “It’s a good feeling to know we are playing well at the end of the season.”

Granada Hills (12-8), which tied for second place in the Mid-Valley League, will play West Valley League-champion Canoga Park in the quarterfinals on Friday.

Granada Hills got all the runs it needed in the third inning when it used Royston’s homer and two Banning errors to score three times. Granada Hills scored three more in the sixth to put the game out of reach.

Adrian Lopez (5-4) allowed six runs, three earned, and suffered the loss for Banning (16-9).