High School Baseball : Sharp Strikes Out 10, Allows 5 Hits as Kennedy Wins 7th in a Row, 9-1

Junior left-hander Denny Sharp threw a five-hitter and struck out 10 to lead host Kennedy to a 9-1 Northwest Valley Conference victory over El Camino Real on Wednesday for the Golden Cougars’ seventh consecutive win.

Sharp (5-0), who leads the Kennedy staff in strikeouts with 63, loaded the bases on three walks in the second inning. He pitched out of trouble by getting the Conquistadores to strike out and pop out.

El Camino Real ended Sharp’s shutout bid with a run in the third.

“Denny puts the ball right where you want it,” Kennedy Coach Manny Alvarado said. “It’s nice to have a thrower like him who can get people to pop out with runners in scoring position.”

Travis Bourne hit a two-run home run and Pat DeBoer had two hits, including a two-run triple, and scored three runs. Mike Murray had three hits and Gino Tagliaferri added a run-scoring triple for Kennedy (11-2, 7-1 in league play).

El Camino Real dropped to 1-7.

In other Northwest Valley Conference games:

Cleveland 8, Canoga Park 2--The Cavaliers scored seven runs in the first four innings at Cleveland.

Sean Burwell had three triples and Pat Bryant was three for four with a double and a triple and two runs scored for Cleveland (3-4-1). Herman Rodriguez was two for three and Alfonso Yeverino drove in two runs for the Cavaliers.

Mario Valencia (2-1) pitched a complete game for the win. Canoga Park is 2-6.

Chatsworth 9, Granada Hills 5--Jason Evans and Rich Aude combined for half of host Chatsworth’s 14 hits.

Eric Johson was two for four and drove in three runs. Reed McMackin (5-0) scattered seven hits and struck out five.

Chatsworth improved to 11-2, 8-0. Granada Hills is 0-8.

VALLEY PAC-8 CONFERENCE

Sylmar 8, Van Nuys 1--Eric Hinojosa had three hits and two runs batted in and senior left-hander Tom Ball threw a three-hitter for the Spartans.

Joe Contreraz added a two-run home run and Jose Gallegos had three hits, including a run-scoring double for Sylmar (6-2).

Ball (3-0) struck out two and walked two.

Grant 5, Birmingham 4--Raul Montero singled home the winning run in the seventh and senior right-hander Javier Delahoya threw a four-hitter and struck out nine for host Grant.

Delahoya singled in the seventh, advanced to third on Manny Toledo’s double and scored the winning run on Montero’s single. Delahoya (4-0) had three hits, scored two runs and had an RBI.

Grant (6-2) had 11 hits and committed two errors.

Justin Bass had a two-run home run and had two hits for Birmingham (2-6).

Poly 5, Reseda 1--The Parrots scored four runs in the first inning and cruised at Poly.

Eddie Chavez was three for three with two runs scored and an RBI. David Giatti held Reseda to three hits, struck out two and walked one.

Reseda’s lone run was scored on a balk by Giatti in the fifth inning. Poly improved to 8-3, 6-2.

Monroe 7, North Hollywood 4--Tim Costic had a run-scoring single to key a four-run Monroe rally in the sixth inning at Monroe.

Costic had two hits and two RBIs and Adam Clark added a run-scoring triple for Monroe (6-2).

Junior left-hander Sean Henson (1-2) gave up eight hits and three runs in six innings.

MARMONTE LEAGUE

Thousand Oaks 8, Westlake 2--Left-hander John Bushart (3-1) struck out nine, shut out Westlake until the sixth and finished with a six-hitter as Thousand Oaks (5-5, 2-1) won at Westlake.

Lance Martin doubled twice, Bill Hall doubled and singled and Brent Christenson homered for Thousand Oaks, but Westlake (7-8, 1-3) hurt itself by making seven errors.

Royal 14, Channel Islands 1--Richard Naranjo hit a two-run home run, a double and single and Sean Mitchell had four hits, including a triple and double, as the visiting Highlanders collected 14 hits off seven Channel Islands’ pitchers. Left-hander Bill Egan (2-3) threw a three-hitter for the win. Shane Hendrixson had a triple and a single.

NONLEAGUE

Agoura 10, Camarillo 0--Bobby Kazmirski scattered six hits, struck out six and walked one for his first shutout in the nonleague game at Camarillo.

Kazmirski (2-1) also had a two-run double in the third inning that gave Agoura a 5-0 lead. Teammate Josh Smaler was three for three, scored two runs and had two RBIs as Agoura evened its record at 5-5.

Calabasas 6, Harvard 0--Harold Turk’s accounted for two of his five RBIs in the fourth inning of a nonleague game at Calabasas.

Sophomore Tom Hoover was three for three and Brett Resnick was two for four. Turk (1-0) limited Harvard (2-8) to two hits and struck out three. Calabasas improved to 4-4-1.

BEL-AIR PREP TOURNAMENT

L.A. Baptist 4, Paraclete 1--Dave Unter scattered four hits to lift the Knights in the championship game. Unter’s performance also earned him tournament MVP honors.

Village Christian 5, Bel-Air Prep 4--Matt Smay (3-0) scattered nine hits, struck out five, walked five and had the game-winning hit for Village Christian (9-4) in the third-place game at Bluebird Field in Sun Valley.