High School Baseball : Salkeld Falters in 5th as Saugus Falls, 7-3

With Roger Salkeld working on a shutout and Saugus carrying a three-run lead into the fifth inning, another Golden League victory seemed assured for the Centurions.

But disaster struck in the form of a five-run inning as Antelope Valley upset Saugus, 7-3, Friday at Antelope Valley. The defeat, the Centurions’ first in five league games, dropped Saugus (10-5 overall) into a first-place tie with Antelope Valley (6-8, 4-1 in league play).

Salkeld (5-2) carried a one-hitter into the fifth before Antelope Valley used three hits, four walks and an error to score five times. Antelope Valley added two more runs in the sixth to secure the win.

Salkeld, a junior right-hander who had faced only two batters over the minimum through four innings, finished with seven strikeouts and nine walks.

“That was the problem,” Saugus Coach Doug Worley said. “He really wasn’t on.”

George Lopata, who had two hits, doubled to highlight a three-run fourth for the Centurions. All three Saugus runs were unearned.

Agoura 4, Calabasas 4--The Frontier League game was called after 11 innings as the Chargers and Coyotes finished in a deadlock for the second consecutive outing. The teams tied, 2-2, three weeks ago in eight innings.

Agoura (3-6-2, 0-3-2) took a 3-2 lead in the top of the seventh, but Calabasas rallied for a run in the bottom half to send the game into extra innings.

Brian Smith hit a shot to center field in the top of the eighth that could have won it for Agoura, but Ceo Wimmer reached over the fence to rob Smith of a two-run home run.

Both teams scored a run in the 10th. Agoura scored four times in the 12th, but the umpire called the game because of darkness and the runs were nullified. Ironically, Calabasas scored two runs in the eighth inning of the teams’ first meeting but those runs were nullified when darkness ended that game.

“We just don’t want to beat each other,” Agoura Coach John Crow said. “Today we had plenty of daylight so we decided to go 12.”

Mark Costes and Smith had three hits for Agoura. Wimmer had three hits for the Coyotes.

Thousand Oaks 9, Royal 5--Thousand Oaks exploded for five runs in the sixth inning for the Marmonte League win at Royal. Steve Sisco’s one-out home run in the sixth tied the score, 5-5, and three batters later Mark Skeels hammered a three-run homer to put Thousand Oaks ahead. Blake Evans added a solo homer one out later, his third home run.

Junior left-hander John Bushart (4-1) pitched a complete game and did not allow a hit in the final two innings. He finished with a five-hitter, striking out five and walking one.

Sisco had two hits and scored two runs. Tom Brozowski added two hits for Thousand Oaks (8-4-1, 3-1).

Channel Islands 9, Newbury Park 7--Channel Islands scored solo runs in the sixth and seventh innings to win a Marmonte League game at Newbury Park.

Chris Fick was 3 for 3 with three runs batted in for Newbury Park (9-8, 2-3), which had tied the score, 7-7, with three fifth-inning runs. Dan Smith and David Angulo opened the Panthers’ fifth with back-to-back doubles. Angulo scored on a Raider error and Fick knocked in a run with a single.

Westlake 9, Camarillo 5-- Mike Lieberthal had three hits and Chuck Foster added two to lead the Warriors to a Marmonte League win at Camarillo.

Westlake (8-7, 2-2) rallied from a 3-2 deficit in the third, scoring four runs on an error, a wild pitch, three stolen bases and two hits, including a three-run homer by Carlton Lance.

Camarillo (7-10-1, 1-4) scored a run in the fifth on a sacrifice fly to right to cut Westlake’s lead to 6-4, but the Warriors came back in the sixth with three more runs on two hits, two walks and a sacrifice.

Alhambra 3, Burbank 1--Alhambra scored three runs in the first inning and made them stand up en route to the Foothill League victory at Burbank. Sophomore southpaw Brian Gordon (0-2) pitched a complete game for Burbank (4-5, 0-5), allowing five hits and two earned runs with four strikeouts. Burbank’s David Fabienke was 2 for 3, and Joe Hiortdahl had two hits and knocked in Burbank’s run.

Schurr 12, Burroughs 11--E.J. Pape hit a two-run home run in the bottom of the seventh, but it wasn’t enough to prevent Burroughs from dropping a Foothill League game.

John Butler had two hits and two RBIs for Burroughs (6-7, 3-4), and Scott Clark added a three-run double. Chris Westbury (2-4) pitched five innings and allowed eight runs (four earned) and five hits. He struck out two and walked two.

Quartz Hill 7, Canyon 3--Gary Morgan and Brad Anderson each had two hits for Canyon (2-8, 1-4), which lost the Golden League game at Quartz Hill. Canyon’s Don Moody (0-1) allowed four hits and five runs (four earned) in four innings. He struck out one and walked two.

Fillmore 10, Oak Park 0--Fillmore left-hander Willie Leighton limited Oak Park (3-4-2, 1-2) to four singles and did not allow a runner past second base in a Tri-Valley League game at Fillmore. Mark Carr had two of Oak Park’s hits.

Montclair Prep 8, L.A. Baptist 0--Junior right-hander Chris Anderson pitched a two-hitter and struck out 11 to lead Montclair Prep to an Alpha League win.

Freshman Brent Polacheck had two hits and two RBIs, including a two-run double in Montclair Prep’s five-run fifth inning. Tom James (3 for 4) and Chad Calabria (2 for 2) also had multiple-hit games for Montclair Prep (4-7-1, 1-0).

Maranatha 4, Village Christian 2--The Crusaders’ Greg Spahr singled home two runs with two out in the seventh inning, but the rally fell short in an Alpha League game at Village Christian. Scott Danielson had three hits for Village Christian (7-4, 1-1).

Rio Hondo Prep 7, L.A. Lutheran 2--Starting pitcher Brian Hiortdahl (2-1) was rocked for eight hits and seven runs (five earned) in five innings as L. A. Lutheran dropped the nonleague game at Rio Hondo Prep. Steve Dempsey was 2 for 3 with one RBI for L. A. Lutheran (4-3).

Grace Community 9, Pacific Christian 6--Abe Bernall had two hits and four RBIs to lead Grace Community (6-5) to the nonleague victory. Chad Hankinson (2-3) pitched five innings and also tripled and drove in two runs.