Prep Wrapup : Stinging Loss for P.V. High in Baseball Playoff Opener

Over the long course of 28 seasons, Palos Verdes High baseball Coach Gil Eberhard has experienced his share of bitter defeats. But he couldn’t remember any that hurt more than Friday’s 4-3 loss to Millikan.

Worse yet, he knows the pain will linger.

“Unfortunately,” he said, pacing in front of his dejected players, “that’s the bad feature about games like this.”

It’s the way the Sea Kings lost that will haunt Eberhard.

In command most of the way, Palos Verdes let its CIF-Southern Section 5-A playoff opener slip away at Blair Field in Long Beach.

Three errors in the last two innings opened the door for four Millikan runs, wiping out a 3-0 lead and a stellar pitching effort by right-hander Steve Hoye, who baffled the Rams all day with a steady diet of curve balls.

“We haven’t seen anyone like (Hoye),” said Aaron Seja, Millikan’s lead-off hitter. “We see mostly fastballs in our league.”

Seja, hitless in his first three at-bats Friday, faced Hoye for the last time with two outs in the bottom of the seventh inning and the tying run on second base. With the count 3-2, Hoye threw a curve ball that Seja half-heartedly swung at, just trying to make contact.

The weakly hit ball easily could have been handled by a Palos Verdes infielder, as Eberhard pointed out. But instead it sailed past Hoye and skipped through the middle of the infield to tie the game, 3-3.

Seja then stole second and advanced to third on a throwing error by catcher Mike Hoye. Dante Powell grounded to shortstop Lance Haworth, whose high throw pulled first baseman Jon Jacobson off the bag, allowing Seja to score the winning run as Powell safely dove into first.

The play set off a wild celebration by Millikan, which has never lost a first-round playoff game in eight seasons under Coach Dan Peters. Meanwhile, stunned Palos Verdes quietly gathered in its dugout.

Peters realized his team was fortunate, considering the way Steve Hoye pitched. The junior allowed only five hits and one walk. Unfortunately for Hoye, the walk led to Millikan’s tying run in the seventh.

“We knew we were in trouble when he could throw his breaking pitch for a strike any time he wanted,” Peters said. “We never got a chance to run.”

Millikan (18-8), the Moore League runner-up, will face Ocean League champion Culver City (21-6) in the second round Tuesday. Palos Verdes finished with a 17-11 record.

Five South Bay teams will play second-round games in the CIF-Southern Section baseball playoffs Tuesday.

In the 5-A Division, Bay League quad-champion Hawthorne (17-12) will play at home against top-seeded Lakewood (23-3), the Moore League champ. Francisco Cordova pitched a four-hitter Friday to lead visiting Hawthorne past Alemany, 4-1.

In the 2-A Division, Santa Fe League champion Mary Star (19-6) faces Morro Bay (17-5) at Fromhold Field in San Pedro, while El Segundo and St. Bernard play away games. Second-seeded El Segundo (22-5) plays at Orange Lutheran (14-10-1) and St. Bernard (19-5) travels to meet Agoura (14-7).

Orange Lutheran rallied to defeat Miraleste, 7-5, on Friday and spoil what would have been an all-South Bay match-up between the Marauders and El Segundo. St. Bernard advanced with an 8-4 victory over Pomona.

In the Small Schools Division, third-seeded Chadwick (15-5) will play at home against Villanova Prep (12-7). Senior right-hander Greg O’Riordan (7-0) pitched a three-hitter and struck out nine to lead the Dolphins past visiting Boron, 6-0.

El Segundo and Mary Star each received first-round byes in the 2-A baseball playoffs, and having a week off was a welcomed relief for Mary Star Coach Frank Ponce de Leon.

“It gives us time to recooperate and get some sore arms healthy,” he said. “We need a little break. This is a good time to prepare for the next step. Put it this way, I’m glad to be in the second round. Usually Mary Star teams have a tough time getting past the first round.”

Ponce de Leon said the Stars have reached the second round only twice since 1979.

Mary Star will send senior right-hander Rick Ibarra (9-2, 1.97 ERA) to the mound Tuesday against Morro Bay, a team Ponce de Leon recently scouted.

Redondo’s baseball season came to a disappointing end Friday with a 17-2 loss at the hands of second-seeded Riverside Poly in the 5-A playoffs.

However, the Sea Hawks should be in better spirits Thursday night at the baseball awards banquet at the Los Verdes Country Club in Palos Verdes.

The program will include a dedication of the Redondo scoreboard to the late Denny Johnson, a former Sea Hawk assistant coach, and a testimonial for former head coach Harry Jenkins, who stepped down last season after guiding Redondo to 10 league titles in 19 years.

Tickets are $17 and can be obtained at the school or by contacting Athletic Director Steve Shaw at 379-5421, Ext. 206.

It’s unusual in baseball for freshmen and sophomores to make an impact on the varsity level, but the South Bay boasts several young stars.

Here’s a soph-frosh team any coach would love to have:

1B--Danny Manjarrez, El Segundo sophomore (.309, 5 home runs, 29 RBIs); 2B--Paul Lemire, Miraleste sophomore (.387); SS--Grant Hohman, St. Bernard freshman (.400); 3B--Antone Williamson, Torrance sophomore (.463, 4 home runs, 37 RBIs); OF--Armando Fernandez, Hawthorne sophomore (.452, 5 home runs, 24 RBIs, 18 stolen bases); DH--Cody Beason, Mira Costa freshman (.368); RHP--Armando Cervantes, Bishop Montgomery sophomore (6-1, 1.80 ERA); LHP--Pat O’Hara, Palos Verdes sophomore (5-3, 2.60 ERA); UTIL--Brett Newell, El Segundo sophomore (7-1, 3.90 ERA, .390).