American Legion : Newhall-Saugus Wins Behind Versatile Warr

Scott Warr hit seven home runs last season for Saugus High and was 8-2 as a pitcher. Switching uniforms didn’t seem to make much difference Wednesday.

Warr, a senior left-hander, pitched a five-hitter and hit a game-ending two-run home run in the sixth inning to lead Newhall-Saugus (Santa Clarita) to a 14-3 win over Lancaster in an American Legion District 20 Northern Division game at Saugus High.

Warr (1-0) allowed two earned runs, struck out two and walked two. His home run in the sixth gave Saugus an 11-run lead, ending the game by virtue of the mercy rule.

Every player in the starting lineup hit safely for Newhall-Saugus (2-0). Darrell Davis had two doubles, Ben Ealy had two hits and two runs batted in, and Brad Anderson and George Lopata each had two hits for the three-time defending Northern Division champion.

Trailing, 3-0, Newhall-Saugus scored 10 runs in the fourth inning and two runs in each of the fifth and sixth to blow the game open.

In other District 20 games:

North Hollywood 11, Van Nuys-Notre Dame 1--Right-hander Mark Williams, a freshman from Tufts University in Medford, Mass., threw a three-hitter, struck out eight and walked four in an Eastern Division game at North Hollywood High.

Erik Martinez had two doubles and a triple and Rene Gomez had four RBIs for North Hollywood (2-1). Teammate Sammy Ciaramilaro was two for four.

Short-handed Van Nuys-Notre Dame, the two-time defending District 20 champion, fell to 1-3.

Sun Valley 4, Panorama City 3--Trailing, 3-2, in the bottom of the seventh, Sun Valley scored twice to win an Eastern Division game at Poly High.

With one out, third baseman Marlin McKinney--who was three for three--singled. One out later, Shad Martinez bunted for a base hit to put runners on first and second. Robert Flores followed with an RBI single to left, scoring McKinney. Martinez scored the winning run when the throw to the plate skipped past Panorama City catcher Adam Clark.

Right-hander Eddie Castellanos (2-1) pitched two scoreless innings of relief for Sun Valley (3-1). Left-hander Sean Henson took the loss for Panorama City (2-2).

Woodland Hills (West) 17, West Hills 1--Lance Gibson threw a five-hitter, walked none and struck out five in a Western Division game at El Camino Real High that was called after five innings because of the 10-run rule.

Ricky Banuelos, Paul Geller, Bobby Kim, Ryan McGuire and Lance Gibson each had two hits for Woodland Hills (3-0), which scored six runs in the second and eight runs in the fourth.

Burbank 3, Reseda 2--With a chance to take himself off the hook for the loss, Reseda right-hander Mario Valencia flied out to center with a runner on third in the bottom of the seventh in an inter-division game at Reseda High.

Valencia, who walked four batters in the first inning to force in a run and who committed an error in the fourth that led to another score, fell to 0-2.

Burbank is 3-1, Reseda is 2-2.