PREP BASEBALL ROUNDUP : St. Bernard Nine Wins 35th in Row for League Mark, Tops Serra, 6-4

A record that was four years in the making finally reached fruition Wednesday as St. Bernard High defeated visiting Serra, 6-4, for its 35th consecutive Camino Real League baseball triumph.

And, as could be expected, it wasn’t easy.

Before the Vikings could celebrate their accomplishment with hugs and high fives, they had to erase a 4-2 deficit that resulted from a sixth-inning grand slam by Serra third baseman Chris Jones.

The blast off St. Bernard ace Dan Melendez temporarily stunned St. Bernard, but the Vikings managed to pull together after Coach Bob Yarnall called an impromptu meeting before the team batted in the bottom of the sixth.

“Coach told us, ‘Let’s rise. Let’s show what we’re made of,’ ” Melendez said. “It was tough because the team was down. But we knew what we had to do, and we did it.”

St. Bernard, taking advantage of three walks and two errors, made Serra pay for its mistakes by rallying for four runs in the sixth on only one hit.

That proved enough of a cushion for Melendez (7-1), who sent Serra away quietly in the seventh to notch his third win in a week and help the Vikings (11-3 overall) stay atop the Camino Real standings with a 5-0 record.

The come-from-behind victory also moved St. Bernard past Lakewood for the most consecutive league wins in CIF-Southern Section history. Lakewood won 34 straight Moore League games from 1973 to ’76.

Melendez, a freshman when the Vikings started the streak in 1986, said setting the record will alleviate some of the pressure the team has felt in recent weeks.

“It will take a little bit of the pressure off,” he said. “But we have another tough game Saturday.”

Melendez was referring to the much-anticipated meeting between the Vikings and El Segundo at 11 a.m. Saturday at St. Bernard. El Segundo, a first-year member of the Camino Real League, is ranked second in the Southern Section 2-A Division and St. Bernard is ranked third.

“I’ve been looking forward to that game for a long time,” said Melendez, who played for El Segundo’s American Legion team last summer.

The lanky left-hander was cruising with a 2-0 lead, courtesy of run-scoring singles by Chris Richardson and John Coleman in the first and second innings, when Serra mounted a one-out rally in the sixth.

Torrie Sweet walked, Marc Davis was hit by a pitch and Anthony Williams singled to right to load the bases. That brought up the muscular Jones, who laced a 2-0 curve over the center-field fence.

“When he hit that ball,” Melendez said, “I knew I had to come back strong.”

He struck out the next two batters to end the inning, and St. Bernard set its mind on regaining the lead and extending its streak.

Richardson walked to open the sixth and freshman Grant Hohman singled him to second. That prompted Serra Coach Darren Fleming to replace starting pitcher Jeff Hazelitt with Anthony Williams (4-2), who had been playing left field.

But a nervous Williams had trouble with his control. Matt Burdick was intentionally walked to load the bases after Williams started him off 2-0. Williams then walked pinch hitter Sean Freidin to force in a run.

St. Bernard tied the game at 4-4 when Hazelitt, who moved to first base, dropped a bunt by No. 9 hitter Sean Dunbar, allowing Hohman to score. Another bunt, this one by Coleman, resulted in Burdick being thrown out at the plate. But Jeff Richardson got the go-ahead run home when his potential double-play grounder to shortstop was dropped by second baseman Tim Trahan, wiping out a chance for Serra to get out of the inning. Instead, Melendez drove in another run with a ground out to second.

“We have a good team, but we lack game experience,” lamented Fleming, whose team dropped to 6-5 overall and 2-2 in league play.

Serra collected eight hits off Melendez, who struck out eight and walked two. St. Bernard had only four hits but benefited from seven walks, two hit batters and four Serra errors.

Bishop Montgomery 3, Servite 2--Mike Hall’s two-run double in the ninth inning and stellar relief pitching by Brian Papia and Erik Russell lifted the Knights to an Angelus League win at Servite.

Bishop Montgomery (10-5-1 overall, 2-3 in league play) nearly lost in the bottom of the eighth when Servite loaded the bases with no outs. But Papia got out of the jam by throwing a runner out at home on a ground ball to the mound, striking out the next batter and forcing a ground out.

After Hall’s double put the Knights ahead 3-1 in the ninth, Russell took the mound with one out after Servite had scored a run. The senior right-hander retired the last two batters to end the game.

North Torrance 7, Centennial 6--The Saxons built a 4-0 lead through three innings and held on for an Ocean League victory at Centennial.

North (5-8-1 overall, 2-3 in league play) took a 7-4 lead into the seventh inning when Centennial pulled within one on a two-run homer with one out. Reliever Scott Diekmann came on to get the last two outs, preserving the win for sophomore right-hander Damon Stephenson, who was making his first varsity start.

Offensively, the Saxons were led by Brian Dessert (two triples, two RBIs) and Leo Cheatham (two for four, two runs scored, one RBI). North stole seven bases, giving the team 75 in 14 games.

West Torrance 12, South Torrance 4--Freshman right-hander Stefan Wilson pitched a complete game and the Warriors took advantage of 10 walks and four errors by South en route to an easy Ocean League win at West.

Wilson, who gave up seven hits, won his second game without a loss as the Warriors improved to 4-10 overall and 3-2 in league play with their third consecutive Ocean victory. Tom Dallen hit a two-run triple and Paul Myro went two for four with two runs scored and an RBI for West.

South dropped to 4-10 and 0-5.

Mira Costa 30, Morningside 9--The Mustangs used 17 hits and 18 walks to bury the struggling Monarchs in an Ocean League game at Morningside.

Bobby Dominguez went three for five with seven RBIs, Dave Jund was four for four with six RBIs and Tim Abrams was three for four with seven runs scored as Mira Costa improved to 9-4 overall and 5-1 in league play.

Morningside, which remained winless in the league at 0-5, has been outscored 93-19 in its last four games.