PREP BASEBALL ROUNDUP : Redondo Survives Big South Torrance Rally, Hangs Onto 8-7 Win

Redondo High School’s Frank Bignami used up six of his nine lives Wednesday afternoon.

Then his teammates nearly used up the rest of theirs.

Bignami pitched his way into and out of jams for the first six innings of Redondo’s Ocean League opener against visiting South Torrance, but the right-hander finally ran out of luck in the seventh. South stormed Bignami and reliever Akash Sehgal for six runs in the inning, but Redondo held on for an 8-7 victory.

“South got their share of hits off Frank, but he made the great pitches when he had to,” Redondo Coach Tim Ammentorp said. “He got some key strikeouts, and we played solid defense behind him.”

Redondo’s 8-1 lead looked safe going into the seventh, but Bignami gave up a single and two walks to start the inning.

Bignami came out for the soft-throwing Sehgal, who had an 0.66 earned-run average after four games. But South’s Tay Sneddon and Stu Manthey greeted Sehgal with soft RBI singles. Then South third baseman Brian Swearingen cleared the bases with a triple up the right-field alley.

Swearingen scored on Chris Castillon’s sacrifice fly to left, but Sehgal got Kevin Fitzpatrick to fly to center to end the game and get the save.

South had runners on base in every inning. But Bignami (2-1) escaped trouble in the first with a double play, and then retired three hitters in a row in the second after Sneddon doubled and went to third on a wild pitch.

Bignami ended a threat in the third by striking out South’s Greg Paluszek with runners on first and third.

He gave up a walk and a double to start the fourth, but Redondo shortstop Brian Davison nailed Sneddon trying to score from third on a ground ball. Jason Bobb then flied to center, and Redondo center fielder Brett Tyrrell gunned Manthey down at the plate for a double play.

In the fifth, Bignami allowed two runners but got a pair of strikeouts to get out of the jam. South (2-6 overall, 0-1 in league) finally scratched out a run in the sixth on Bobb’s bad-hop single.

As it turned out, Redondo (6-3, 1-0) needed each of its eight runs. The Seahawks broke a scoreless tie with a pair of runs in the fourth, then got six more in the fifth with the help of three South errors and Artie Scarpino’s pinch two-run double.

Redondo second baseman Chris Townsend and designated hitter Brian Fitzgerald led the Seahawks with two singles and a run apiece.

St. Bernard 6, Bosco Tech 3--Junior right-hander Andy Diver improved his record to 4-0 by pitching a four-hitter, and Jeff Richardson and John Coleman each batted two for three to lead the Vikings to a Camino Real League victory at St. Bernard.

After falling behind, 3-2, in the second inning, Diver finished the game by retiring 17 batters in a row. Bosco Tech scored all its runs in the second on three bloop hits, a walk and a run-scoring ground out.

St. Bernard (6-1 overall, 2-0 in league play) went ahead with two runs in the bottom of the second. Bob Waller led off with a double, went to third on a single by Brian Shackleford and scored on Coleman’s squeeze bunt.

After Shackleford was picked off second, Coleman stole second and went to third on an errant throw. Sean Dunbar walked, and Coleman came home on a double steal.

Richardson, who is batting .474 (nine for 19), homered and drove in two runs as St. Bernard kept pace with El Segundo for first place. Coleman stole three bases to give him 14 for the season.

Bosco Tech slipped to 1-1 in league play.

El Segundo 18, St. Monica 0--Brett Newell batted four for four with a home run, a triple and four RBIs, Jason Wayt drove in three runs and right-hander Rob Croxall pitched a two-hitter to power the Eagles to another easy victory in a Camino Real League game at Marine Park in Santa Monica.

El Segundo (7-1 overall, 2-0 in league play) has outscored its last three opponents, 77-7.

Croxall (3-1) took a no-hitter into the sixth inning, when he surrendered two hits. The Eagles supported him with an errorless defensive effort.

Newell, a junior third baseman, hit a two-run homer in the sixth.

West Torrance 5, Mira Costa 4--The Warriors rallied from a 4-0 deficit and scored the winning run on Stefan Wilson’s squeeze bunt in the sixth inning in an Ocean League opener at West.

Wilson, a sophomore right-hander who pitched a four-hitter, drove in John Walsh with his bunt, which capped a three-run sixth for West (2-5 overall).

Mira Costa (1-8) scored all four runs in the second, highlighted by D. J. Allen’s two-run single.