Southern Section Baseball Playoffs : Crespi Extends a Victory Message

Scott Muckey has been so excited about the resurgence of his Crespi High team that he wanted as many people as possible to know about it.

When callers reach Muckey’s answering machine they are greeted with an account of his team’s latest accomplishments. The Celts, who started the Del Rey League season with three losses in four games, rallied to claim a share of the title by winning their last seven games.

Make that eight.

Dan Carroll pitched a three-hit complete game for Crespi as the Celts breezed to a 7-2 victory against Westlake in the first round of the 5-A Division playoffs Friday at Valley College.

“That was about as good as we’ve played,” Muckey said. “We made some baserunning mistakes, but we hit the ball better than I expected.”

Carroll (12-2) struck out six and was in trouble only twice. Westlake (15-12) scored one run in the second inning on a groundout by Mike Campbell and another run in the seventh on an infield hit by Bob Grandpre.

Crespi (17-10) scored three runs in the first on three hits and an error and three more in the fifth on four hits.

The loss was the last game for the Warriors under the guidance of Coach Dennis Judd, who had announced his plans to retire after the season.