San Pedro Nips Visitors on Walk in 9th Inning

In a game of comebacks, San Pedro High had the last laugh on El Camino Real in the first round of the L.A. City 4-A baseball playoffs Wednesday.

The Pirates, who squandered a 7-3 lead before tying the score with a two-out, two-run rally in the seventh, pulled out a 10-9 victory when pinch hitter Gerardo Castaneda walked with the bases loaded in the bottom of the ninth at San Pedro.

The seesaw contest, which included a bench-clearing confrontation in the seventh after a collision at home, left both teams emotionally drained.

“We’re disappointed,” said El Camino Real Coach Mike Maio. “We were one out away from winning it and we let it get away from us. (San Pedro) came back and won. They deserve a lot of credit for that.”

San Pedro (20-5) will take a 10-game winning streak into its second-round at 3 p.m. Friday against visiting San Fernando (12-6), a 6-5 playoff winner over Carson.

The Pirates should consider themselves fortunate to be playing any more games. They appeared headed for elimination after El Camino Real (9-12) rallied for four runs in the seventh to take a 9-7 lead and reliever Lance Gibson retired the first two San Pedro batters in the bottom of the inning.

Joey Miller, who had given up El Camino Real’s go-ahead runs, kept the Pirates alive with a single up the middle. Vidal Valle followed with a walk and sophomore Dale Johnson ripped a double into the gap in left-center to score both runners and tie the game.

Jamey Stellino then hit a chopper that bounced off the glove of third baseman Denny Vigo and stayed in the infield. Johnson, however, rounded third and headed for home, where he was thrown out by shortstop Bryce Welsh. Johnson crashed into El Camino Real catcher Mike Stephenson on the play, setting off a brief scuffle between the teams.

Johnson was ejected for not sliding and Stephenson never returned after apparently suffering a concussion.

“Our guys were stopping (Johnson) at third but he completely blacked out on that play,” San Pedro Coach Jerry Lovarov said.

Given new life, Miller (5-0), who had relieved San Pedro starter Joey Camello in the seventh, struck out the side in the eighth and fanned two batters in the ninth, setting the stage for the Pirates’ winning rally in the bottom of the inning.

With one out, Valle reached base on an error by the second baseman. Mike Bodlovich, who had replaced Johnson at catcher, walked and Jamey Stellino singled sharply to left field to load the bases.

Lovarov then brought in Castaneda to bat in the No. 9 spot. After working the count to 3-2, Castaneda looked at an outside pitch from Gibson (5-6) to draw a walk and end the 3 1/2-hour game.

“The kids played a great game,” Lovarov said. “I thought we could come back. We’ve been doing it most of the year.”

The Marine League champions led in the early innings thanks to timely hitting. Rodney Garcia’s RBI single highlighted a two-run first, Johnson hit his first homer of the season--a solo shot to left--in the fourth to give San Pedro a 4-2 lead, and Miller blasted a three-run homer into the gap in right-center field in the fifth to make it 7-3.

Camello, who entered the game with a 6-0 record and an 0.00 ERA, could not stop El Camino Real. A triple by Steve Smith led to a two-run sixth for the Conquistadors. Then, after El Camino Real led off the seventh with a home run from Carl McFadden and a sharp single from Ryan McGuire, Miller replaced Camello.

Miller initially struggled with his control as the Conquistadors scored three more runs on two singles, two walks and a fielder’s choice.

Considering all the scoring, neither team collected many hits. San Pedro finished with 11 and El Camino Real had seven, four coming in its seventh-inning rally.

San Fernando 6, Carson 5--Two wild throws led to the winning run in a first-round 4-A playoff game at San Fernando.

After Carson (14-9-1) rallied for two runs in the sixth to tie the score at 5-5, San Fernando’s Rudy Sanchez reached base on an error in the bottom of the inning. Pinch runner Brent Huff replaced Sanchez and got to second on an out.

Huff went to third on a wild pick-off throw by reliever Tim Vasquez and scored when the relay from center field sailed over third base.

Chatsworth 28, Gardena 4--The top-ranked team in the City section opened the 4-A playoffs with a 26-hit barrage at Chatsworth.

Third baseman Joel Wolfe, who signed with UCLA, led Chatsworth (24-1) by going 3 for 6 with eight RBIs. Wolfe had a three-run homer, a two-run triple and a two-run double.

Gardena, which used three pitchers, finished the year at 8-14.