PREP BASEBALL ROUNDUP : St. Bernard Wakes Up, Bombards Mary Star

Bob Yarnall is looking at the St. Bernard baseball team from a coach’s point of view.

So, despite his team’s 13-3 Camino Real League victory over Mary Star on Wednesday afternoon at Fromhold Field, Yarnall was not all smiles.

“I think we started the game expecting to do what we had done in the last two games,” said Yarnall, referring to the blowouts his team had recorded in its first two league contests.

In three league games, St. Bernard (8-2 overall, 3-0 in the league) has outscored the opposition, 47-5. In their last four games, the Vikings have scored 66 runs.

However, it was the pitching of Tom Fulkerson that gave St. Bernard its lift Wednesday. Fulkerson held Mary Star (7-6, 1-2) to five hits and struck out 16 batters, while walking two. He also survived a vicious line drive that struck the top of his left foot in Mary Star’s fifth inning.

The Stars, hitless until the fifth, had two men on when Joe Scognamillo homered over the left-field fence. Bobby Brubeck, the next batter, then lined a shot off Fulkerson’s foot that bounded all the way into center field.

“It was just numb that inning,” said Fulkerson, who improved his record to 2-1 and has now struck out 35 batters in 20 innings. “I don’t have to worry about the back-up because our infield and outfield is so solid. I just throw them and they back me up.”

St. Bernard, which banged out 11 hits, was led by Royce Clayton, who had three hits and three RBI; Chris Douglas, three hits, two RBI, and Dan Melendez, who belted an opposite-field two-run homer.

The Vikings scored the last run of the game when Daric Pernell alertly scored from third when the Stars, thinking the inning was over, ran off the field when Bernard Balthazar popped up to the catcher for the second out.

The Mary Star bench protested vociferously, especially Coach Frank Ponce De Leon, who was kicked out of the game.

“It was my fault. We should never have even been in that situation,” Ponce De Leon said. “We just didn’t come to play today. Thirteen to three is not a good indicator of where we’re at as a team.”

In other action:

El Segundo 7, Oak Park 6--Chad Stevens’ two-out RBI triple in the top of the seventh inning broke a 6-6 tie and lifted the Eagles (7-4) to victory in the first round of the San Luis Obispo Tournament.

El Segundo, which trailed 6-5 going into the last inning, will meet Hueneme of Oxnard in the semifinals at 4 p.m. today.

Jose Sanchez led off the seventh with a double and scored one out later when Steve Sutherland’s grounder got past the Oak Park shortstop for an error. After a groundout moved Sutherland to second, Stevens lined his game-winning hit into left-center field.

Right-hander Dave Lubs went the distance, giving up four hits and striking out nine, to improve to 3-1. He allowed four earned runs.

Sanchez raised his area-leading home-run total to six with a two-run shot in the third and Heath Jones had three hits.

Bishop Montgomery 24, Pius X 11--The Knights collected 20 hits and were 14 for 14 in stolen-base attempts en route to an easy Angelus League victory at Torrance Park.

Sammy Huh drove in five runs for Bishop Montgomery, Dudley Callahan (4 for 4) and Frank Pena each had four RBI, and Bill Harvey (3 for 3) had a home run and three RBI. Erin Norton scored five runs and went 2 for 3 to raise his league batting average to .700.

The Knights evened their record at 2-2 in league play and 4-4 overall. Pius X, which was beaten 36-0 by Servite last week, fell to 0-4 in the league.

Serra 9, Verbum Dei 6--Pitcher Eric Gray drove in two runs on a second-inning triple and Torrie Sweet and Paul Beaman each had two hits and one RBI to lead the Cavaliers to a Camino Real League win at Serra.

Serra improved to 2-1 in league play and 5-8 overall.