PREP BASEBALL ROUNDUP : N. Torrance Rallies, Hangs On and Edges W. Torrance, 10-7

Perseverance may have been the best quality North Torrance High displayed in its 10-7 Bay League baseball win over West Torrance on Thursday.

The Saxons fought an uphill battle for most of the 3-hour-plus game. The pitchers had trouble finding the plate, the hitters were quiet through five innings and the team faced deficits of 4-0, 5-2 and 7-5.

Yet, North hung in long enough to move into sole possession of first place by rallying for five runs in the seventh inning at West.

“The keys to this team are the kids,” said North Coach Mike Neily. “They don’t quit.”

The Saxons (6-3 overall, 3-0 in league) scored eight runs in the last two innings, capped by their four-hit, five-run outburst in the seventh.

Brian Wixom, who had been pinch-hit for in the sixth, delivered the game-winning hit when his bases-loaded grounder took a bad hop over West shortstop David Thorpe for a two-run double, giving North an 8-7 lead.

Right-hander Rory Natividad, North’s third pitcher, set down West in order in the bottom of the seventh to preserve the victory.

West (6-3, 2-1) was a dejected team as it left the field. The Warriors led virtually the entire game despite collecting only three hits.

“You hate to see one get away that you think you should have won,” said West Coach Chris Wibberley. “But things balance out. We’ve won a few games that we could have lost.”

Both teams suffered from erratic pitching. North’s pitchers combined for 10 walks, while West’s three pitchers issued nine base on balls, six coming in the last two innings.

Left-hander Tony Stewart relieved West starter Ted Holloway with two outs in the sixth and walked three batters, including two to open the seventh, in a third of an innings.

In 17 previous innings, he had given up only one walk.

“You don’t plan on that type of thing, but it happens,” said Wibberley. “Our starter (Holloway) usually has excellent control, but he started to wobble a little in the fifth and sixth.”

North tied the game in the sixth, 5-5, on a two-run single by Brian Dessert and an RBI single by sophomore Tony Pruett.

West regained the lead in the bottom of the inning with the help of generous pitching from North. Left-hander Leo Cheatham and Natividad combined for four walks as the Warriors scored two runs without a hit.

After pulling ahead 7-5, West still had the bases loaded with two outs when Wibberley admitted to a tactical error. Denny Hocking popped up a squeeze-bunt attempt that first baseman Greg Davis made a diving catch on and doubled up Phil Bendik at third. The next batter popped out to end the inning.

“It took us out of a big inning,” Wibberley said. “It was a case of the coach trying to be too cute instead of letting the bats do the work. If I had a chance to do it over, I definitely would not squeeze.”

North then forged into the lead. Davis and David Bewley opened the seventh with walks and Richard Matsi followed with a one-run double. After Wixom’s double put the Saxons in the lead, they got two more runs from a single by Brian Marzorini and a sacrifice fly by Jeff Henderson.

“We got the hits when we had men on base,” Neily said. “If our pitchers threw a few more strikes, it would have been a lot easier ballgame.”

West could say the same.

Palos Verdes 9, South Torrance 1--Spuds Powell, Todd Clark and Regan Scott each drove in two runs and left-hander Ian McDonald pitched a five-hitter to lead the Sea Kings (5-6, 2-1) to a Bay League win at Palos Verdes. South dropped to 3-5-1 and 1-2.

Rolling Hills 13, Torrance 2--Mike Lumkin went 3 for 4 with two RBI to spark an 11-hit attack for the Titans (2-6, 1-2) in a Bay League game at Torrance Park. The Tartars dropped to 2-7 and 0-3.