PREP BASEBALL ROUNDUP : W. Torrance Controls P.V., 8-3

There is really only one way to stifle an opponent’s offense: throw in an effective pitcher.

West Torrance High starter Marty Kehoe was just that Wednesday as he pitched his team to an 8-3 Bay League victory over visiting Palos Verdes.

Kehoe (1-1) allowed five hits, struck out five, walked three and suffered just one bad inning when the Sea Kings scored three runs.

“I was kind of surprised because usually they hit pretty good,” Kehoe said. “But I felt pretty good out there. I had a lot more confidence. I tried not to let that one inning bother me. I didn’t want to get rattled.”

West (3-1 in league, 7-3 overall) roughed up Palos Verdes starter Ian McDonald (3-2) for 13 hits and took an 8-0 lead before the Sea Kings could get their offense going.

“He (McDonald) was relying on his fastball the whole game because he couldn’t get anything else over the plate,” said Palos Verdes Coach Gil Eberhard, whose team fell to 2-2 and 5-7. “They got 13 hits and I’ll bet they hit 13 fastballs.”

Eberhard also pinpointed the Sea Kings’ offensive troubles: “We waited too long to get something started. That guy (Kehoe) did a pretty good job on us.”

West scored in the first when Denny Hocking walked and went to third on Teddy Holloway’s single. Mike Berry’s sacrifice fly scored Hocking.

The Warriors scored twice in the third. Hocking led off with a homer and Berry singled, stole second, went to third on an infield out and scored on a fielder’s choice.

West put two more runs on the board in the fifth. Phil Bendik led off with a walk, stole second and scored on Jeremy Cowing’s triple. Cowing scored when Scott Dobler bounced out.

In the fifth the Warriors sent nine batters to the plate and came away with three runs. Holloway led off with his third hit and was balked to second. Berry drove him home with a single, went to second on an error and reached third on a wild pitch. Two outs later Bendik walked and scored on Dobler’s single.

Mike Paolucci led off the Palos Verdes sixth with a single and one out later went to third on Mike Vasey’s hit. Grant Withers reached first on an error, loading the bases.

Kehoe walked Paolucci home and Jim Miller doubled home two runs.

Gardena 2, San Pedro 0--Yong Kim pitched a four-hitter and shortstop Eddie Matamoros spearheaded an errorless defense to help the host Mohicans move into sole possession of first place in the Marine League.

Gardena (4-0 in league, 5-3 overall) scored twice in the first inning on RBI singles by Darin Woolwine and Pat Avina, and that was all Kim needed to pick up his third win without a loss.

The senior right-hander struck out seven but walked eight. Gardena Coach Mike Sakurai said the defense was pivotal in preventing San Pedro (2-2, 9-4) from scoring.

“We made all the plays,” Sakurai said. “Yong was able to get the ground balls and fly balls when he had to.”

Carson 8, Banning 7--Pitcher George Malauulu, Carson’s All-City quarterback in football, took it upon himself to make sure the Colts knocked visiting Banning out of first place in the Marine League.

Malauulu went 2 for 3 with two runs scored and an RBI to help Carson bring an 8-2 lead into the seventh, then shut down a five-run rally in the last inning to earn a save.

Carson improved to 2-2 in league play and 5-5-1 overall, while Banning slipped to 3-1 and 7-6.

Redondo 12-15, Alemany 2-2--Sophomore Brian Davison collected seven hits and four RBI in the two games and his older brother Scott homered in the nightcap as the Sea Hawks (14-1) swept a non-league double-header at Redondo.

Right-hander Henry Schelb gave up four hits before giving way to Scott Davison in the seventh inning of the second game. Schelb, who homered in the first game, improved to 5-0.

The first game was called after Redondo, the No. 1-ranked team in the Southern Section 3-A Division, sent 14 batters to the plate and scored nine runs in the fifth. The Sea Hawks blew open the nightcap by scoring seven runs in the sixth.

Scott Taylor (2-1) earned the pitching victory in the opener.

Loyola 5, St. Bernard 2--The Vikings, who had scored 66 runs in their previous four games, were limited to six hits by Loyola right-hander Tommy Martin in a non-league game at Loyola.

St. Bernard (8-3), ranked No. 1 in the CIF Southern Section 2-A Division, committed five errors, including two in the first inning when the Cubs scored three runs. All of Loyola’s runs were unearned.

“We needed that,” said St. Bernard Coach Bob Yarnall, whose team had put together a string of lopsided wins. “It was good for us.”

St. Bernard right-hander Pat Ahearne suffered his first loss to fall to 3-1 despite giving up just four hits. Daric Pernell and Dan Melendez each had two hits for the Vikings.

North Torrance 8, Torrance 3--Brian Dessert, Greg Davis and Richard Matsi each went 2 for 3 to help the Saxons improve to 4-0 in the Bay League and 9-3 overall with a win at North.

Leo Cheatham gave up five hits in 4 innings to earn the victory, and Rory Natividad finished up to pick up a save.

North, which has won eight of its last nine games and leads the league by one game over West Torrance, built a 6-1 lead after four innings. Dessert had an RBI and scored two runs, Davis scored two runs and Matsi had two RBI.

Torrance dropped to 0-4 and 2-8.

South Torrance 6, Rolling Hills 3--Zak Krislock pitched a two-hitter and sparked a five-run sixth inning with an RBI single to lead the Spartans (2-2, 4-6-1) to a Bay League win at South.

With two outs, Krislock delivered a one-run single to break a 1-1 tie in the sixth. Donald Nelson followed with another RBI single and then Carlos Rodriguez opened things up with a two-run single.

Krislock struck out six but the right-hander hurt his effort by walking 10. Rolling Hills dropped to 1-3 and 3-9.

SOFTBALL

Torrance 7, North Torrance 2--Sophomore Jamie Sibley pitched a two-hitter and struck out 12 batters Wednesday to lead visiting Torrance over North Torrance, 7-2, and set up a showdown with West Torrance for undisputed first place in the Bay League softball race.

The Tartars (4-0 in league play and 7-1 overall) meet West at 3 p.m. Friday at Wilson Park in Torrance.

Tami Ybarra and Shelley Kovich each had two hits and one RBI for Torrance.

South Torrance 4, Rolling Hills 3--Dora Robley drove in two runs and sophomore pitcher Julie DeJaifre gave up seven hits in her first varsity start to help the host Spartans even their Bay League record at 2-2.