4-A Baseball : Cerritos’ Mattingly Shuts Down Hart Hitters in 4-1 Win

Newhall Hart High School, a team that had been averaging 11 hits a game in the playoffs, found pitcher Mark Mattingly too tough to handle as Cerritos won the Southern Section 4-A Division championship, 4-1, at Dodger Stadium.

Mattingly raised his record to 11-2 as he held the Indians to just five hits.

“Mattingly handled us,” Hart Coach Bud Murray said.

Mattingly, a right-handed senior, shrugged off the accolades and gave credit to his defense and a slider he has perfected this season.

Hart also got good pitching as left-hander Andrew Lorraine gave up only two earned runs while striking out eight.

Casey Burill and Ray Gardocki, who will be teammates at USC, had been the key to Hart’s offense--a team that had a .374 team batting average entering the game. However, neither could come through with any big hits, although Burrill did single in the second inning.

Cerritos scored in the fourth inning after a pair of errors by third baseman David Toledo. With two outs, Toledo overthrew first base on a ground ball by Tony Cuoto, which allowed Steve Hayes to score from second base.

Brian Porter came in as a pinch-runner for Couto and Toledo repeated the mistake on a ground ball by Doug Nelson. The error allowed Porter to score.

The Dons scored again in the fifth inning. Robert Hinds singled, advanced on a balk, and went to third on a Curt Knabe single. Hinds then scored on a sacrifice fly by Cobi Cradle.

Cerritos scored again when Mattingly drew a throw to second base, allowing Knabe to score from third on a double-steal attempt.

Hart (25-7) staged a brief comeback in the bottom of the fifth inning when Chris Vasquez scored on a Jason Edwards single.

The Indians could have scored again but Doug Nelson made a diving catch on Chad Miyata’s liner to left field to end the inning.

Cerritos lifted its record to 26-6 and in the process won its first Southern Section championship.