Southern Section Small Schools Finals : Crossroads’ LeBuffe Blanks Tehachapi

Santa Monica Crossroads High School was making its third appearance in the final in four years, and it showed.

The Roadrunners ran wild on the basepaths, and Mike LeBuffe threw a four-hit shutout to lead Crossroads to a 4-0 win over Tehachapi in the Southern Section Small Schools (Large Division) championship game Friday night at Blair Field in Long Beach.

Crossroads (22-6) stole eight bases, and although the thefts figured in only one run, it served to frazzle Tehachapi and take the Warriors out of their game. All of the game’s runs were unearned.

The Roadrunners took a 1-0 lead in the second inning on a walk, a passed ball and a run-scoring single by catcher Eddie Lample. But Tehachapi’s undoing proved to be the fifth.

After working out of jams in every inning, Tehachapi’s luck ran out in the fifth. With two outs and the bases loaded, Danny Cosgrove bunted down the third base line. Third baseman Rick Sotille waited for the ball and Cosgrove beat the throw to first. Lample followed with a two-run single.

Lample went 3 for 3 with 3 stolen bases, and he also had a big night behind the plate, as he called all the pitches in the shutout.

LeBuffe kept the Warriors off-balance with an assortment of off-speed pitches and an occasional fastball. He allowed only one runner past second as Tehachapi (21-4) suffered its shutout of the year. LeBuffe had perfect control, walking none, with seven strikeouts.

In the Small Schools (Small Division) final, Phillip James fired a four-hitter to lead Templeton to a 6-3 win over Palos Verdes Chadwick.

Templeton, with the aid of two Chadwick errors, scored four runs in the third inning to take a 5-2 lead. Clint Cole and Bob Crowne had run-scoring singles to give James (10-2) a lead he would not relinquish.