High School Spring Sports : Oak Park Upset Bid Fails as El Segundo Rallies, 7-6

Oak Park Coach Ron Veres joked about losing by 10 or more runs, but he was still in a good mood after his team lost to El Segundo, 7-6, Wednesday in the first round of the San Luis Obispo tournament.

“We came within one of inning of pulling off the biggest upset in school history and I was worried the game might be a blowout,” Veres said. “I asked (El Segundo) Coach John Stevenson if there was a 10-run rule before the game and he said, ‘Don’t ask me that because we always do poorly when we’re overconfident.’ ”

Scott Ziegler’s two-run double in the fourth inning gave Oak Park a boost of confidence and a 4-3 lead. He hit a two-run home run, his first of the season, to give the Eagles a 6-5 lead in the sixth.

But Ziegler threw away his chance to be a hero when he replaced reliever Steve Dailey in the seventh. Jose Sanchez doubled off Ziegler and scored the tying run on a error by shortstop Todd Creason. Chad Stevens then tripled to drive in the go-ahead run.

Chaminade 13, St. Bonaventure 8--Chaminade exploded for eight runs in the fourth inning to erase a 5-1 deficit and roll to a nonleague victory at Chaminade.

Chaminade had five hits in the fourth, the big blow a two-run double by Chris DeCristo. Justin Stark, Tim Lavin and Steve Roberts also had RBIs in the inning. DeCristo was 2 for 3 on the day, Roberts had three RBIs and Pete Miller was 3 for 4 for Chaminade.

BOYS’ TRACK

Cathedral 76, Chaminade 63--John Adomian won two individual events and was a member of Chaminade’s winning 400-meter relay team, but the Eagles lost the Santa Fe League meet at Chaminade. Adomian won the 100-meter race with a time of 11.1 seconds and the 200 in 23.3 seconds.

GIRLS’ TRACK

Chaminade 71, Notre Dame 48--Cris Casazza won three events and Joeline Morgan won two to lead the Eagles in a San Fernando Valley League meet at Notre Dame.

Casazza won the 100- and 200-meter races in 12.6 seconds and 27.9 seconds, respectively, and she also helped the Eagles win the 400 relay in 55.0.