High School Baseball : Hart Finishes Regular Season 25-0

Foothill League champion Hart finished the regular season with a 25-0 record by trouncing second-place Schurr, 8-3, Friday at Schurr.

Junior Jason Edwards pitched 6 innings and was supported by a 14-hit attack as the Indians completed league play with a 15-0 mark.

“I never would have believed it before the season,” Edwards said.

Hart carried an 8-0 lead into the seventh inning. Casey Burrill was 3 for 4 with 4 runs batted in and Ray Gardocki was 2 for 4 with 2 RBIs. The Indians struck for five runs in the sixth.

Edwards, however, was replaced by Chris Matkin after surrendering a three-run home run with one out in the seventh. Matkin struck out the final two batters.

Schurr (10-11, 8-7) managed only four hits off Edwards (10-0), who skipped his last two starts to prepare for the playoffs.

“I wasn’t in the groove today,” Edwards said. “When the playoffs come, I’ll be pitching a lot.”

In other games:

Rio Mesa 10, Santa Barbara 0--Deron Spiller held Santa Barbara to one hit over five innings to lead Rio Mesa to the Channel League title-clinching victory. Spiller (2-3) struck out six in five innings.

Freshman Dmitri Young was 4 for 4 with a double, homer and three RBIs, and Steve Soliz was 2 for 3 with a three-run homer and four RBIs.

Rio Mesa, 18-6-1 overall, finished 11-2-1 in league play, one game ahead of Hueneme and Ventura.

Saugus 7, Antelope Valley 3--Junior right-hander Roger Salkeld tossed a three-hitter and struck out 14 to lead Saugus (18-7, 11-4) to the victory in a Golden League finale.

Salkeld (8-2), who has 110 strikeouts, walked 10 but did not allow an earned run or extra-base hit.

Jared Snyder was 3 for 4, including his fifth home run, to key the Centurions’ 11-hit attack. Snyder’s solo blast in the sixth gave Saugus its final run.

Tom Dodson and George Lopata also homered for Saugus as every batter in the lineup had a hit.

Darrel Davis stole two bases--his 27th and 28th--to set a Saugus single-season record.

Saugus finished second in the league to Antelope Valley (15-8, 12-3).

Quartz Hill 9, Canyon 5--Canyon finished a disappointing Golden League season in fifth place with a loss at home.

Senior Gary Morgan had a home run, a double and four RBIs. Kevin Backes, Cory Byars and Erik Martinez also doubled for Canyon (5-15, 4-11). Byars also tripled.

Junior Sean Nichols (3-4), who pitched five innings, was charged with the loss.

Quartz Hill (12-8, 10-5) finished third in the league.

Highland Hall 10, Grace Community 9--Takeshi Suesada scored from second in the eighth inning on an error by right fielder Mario Soliz to give Highland Hall (17-5-1, 10-0) the Westside League title.

Highland Hall, which has won 18 consecutive Westside League games, trailed, 8-3, after four innings.

The Hawks, however, scored six runs in the fifth to take the lead. The big blow was a three-run triple by J. J. Pope.

Grace Community (16-7, 8-2) tied the score, 9-9, in the seventh on an RBI-single by Chad Hankinson.

Suesada was hit by a pitch to lead off the eighth, stole second, and scored when Soliz misplayed Yakob Jensen’s fly ball.

Rudelson (13-3) struck out nine in 7 innings and was also 3 for 3 with three steals. His 13 victories is a school single-season record.

Chris Sorensen was also 3 for 3 for Highland Hall, while Pope, Suesada and Craig Ernst each had two hits.

Tony Saccaro was 2 for 4 for Grace Community.

Salesian 10, Bell-Jeff 9--Salesian (3-14, 3-11) scored an unearned run in the eighth inning in a Santa Fe League finale.

Bell-Jeff (8-14-1, 5-9) scored all of its runs in the first two innings. Danny Martel (3 for 4), Kurt Patino (2 for 4) and Mike Cesta (2 for 4, a triple and two RBIs) had multiple-hit games for Bell-Jeff.

Patino, a sophomore, allowed eight runs in the first inning on five walks and four hits, then pitched hitless ball over the next three innings, striking out five.

Freshman left-hander Brett Lindsey (2-2) took the loss, allowing two hits in four innings, while striking out six.

Oak Park 10, St. Bonaventure 7--Oak Park scored four runs in the seventh inning to break a 6-6 tie in a Tri-Valley League finale at St. Bonaventure.

Oak Park (11-7, 8-4) enters the playoffs as the league’s third-place team behind the second-place Seraphs (12-7, 8-3).

The Eagles began the seventh with consecutive singles by T. J. Humphreys, John Daley, Todd Creason and Chris Frame to score a run.

St. Bonaventure reliever Kevin Zoll almost snuffed the rally with consecutive strikeouts of Joe Gerty and Mark Karr.

But Scott Veres cleared the bases with a triple and was thrown out at the plate.

St. Bonaventure scored one run off John Daley (3-4), who pitched 1 relief innings with three strikeouts to earn the win.

With two out and runners on first and second, Daley struck out Wayne McPhail to end the game.

Brentwood 5, Faith Baptist 3--Eric Sterz pitched a complete-game seven-hitter in the Delphic League finale to lead Brentwood past Faith Baptist and into sole possession of second place.

Faith Baptist plays Bel-Air Prep today to determine the league’s final playoff qualifier.