Davison’s Clutch Hits Put Redondo in Tourney Final

Redondo High infielder Brian Davison was a two-time hero Thursday, delivering key hits to propel the Sea Hawks to a 5-4 victory over Burbank Bell-Jeff in a semifinal game of the Crossroads/Westside baseball tournament.

Davison delivered a one-out, bases-loaded triple in the top of the seventh to bring the Sea Hawks back from a 4-1 deficit to tie the game.

He was not through. Two innings later, Davison again singled, scoring Ron Brooks from second base with the winning run.

Redondo, 3-1, advances to the final of the 32-team tournament Saturday against the winner of the Channel Islands-Venice game.

“When you put a winner in there like Davison, (and) when you have a chance to win a game, this is what happens,” Redondo Coach Tim Ammentorp said. Davison was 4 for 5 at the plate with 4 RBIs.

The Sea Hawks got a stellar pitching performance from sophomore right-hander Mike Houck, who now has a 2-0 record.

In his second outing this season, Houck was at his best in the three middle innings, where he faced the minimum of nine batters and threw just 18 pitches.

Davison’s late-inning heroics would have been unnecessary but for two disastrous innings in which the Sea Hawk infield committed four errors. Houck surrendered just one earned run, but trailed 4-0 after the third inning.

“We came out like we had been riding in a bus for an hour and a half,” Ammentorp said of his team’s early play.

“We weren’t ready to play when we got here.”

Fortunately, Davison woke up.

“I was in a slump at the start of the season, but I pulled myself out of it today,” he said. “I got all the pitches I wanted today.”