HIGH SCHOOL ROUNDUP : Van Nuys Squeezes to First Victory on Surprise Bunt in Eighth Inning

Desperation and darkness can drive a man to do strange things, and Van Nuys High baseball Coach Bill Gordon admittedly is a case in point.

With two out and a runner on third base in the bottom of the eighth inning of a tie game with North Hollywood on Monday, Gordon flashed a sign to batter Carlos Gutierrez, who no doubt wondered if his coach was serious.

Gutierrez, however, executed Gordon’s order for a suicide squeeze bunt and drove in Patrick Alvarado with the winning run to hand the Wolves their first victory, a 6-5 Valley Pac-8 Conference win over visiting North Hollywood.

Alvarado reached base on a bunt and took second on a balk by losing pitcher Erik Martinez (1-2). Alvarado took third on a fielder’s choice before scoring on Gutierrez’s squeeze.

“It wasn’t a great call,” Gordon said, “but we were desperate.”

Alvarado and Hector Alvarenga each scored two runs, and Gutierrez and Jesus Enciso had two hits for Van Nuys (1-5, 1-5 in league play).

Duane Braxton and Harry Marks had two hits for North Hollywood (3-3, 3-3).

In other baseball games:

Poly 8, Birmingham 5--Taking advantage of three Birmingham errors and a timely two-run double by Marlon McKinney, Poly raced to a 5-0 first-inning advantage and held on in a Valley Pac-8 Conference game at Birmingham. The win kept Poly (8-2) unbeaten in conference play at 6-0.

Birmingham (5-4-1, 3-3) struck back in the second inning when first baseman Noah Kirshbaum drilled a three-run home run off the scoreboard in left field to close the gap to 5-3.

But Poly answered with the clutch bat of McKinney, who raised his RBI total to four on the day with a two-run single in the third inning to give Poly a 7-3 lead. From there, Poly starting pitcher Rodrigo Dorame (3-0) and reliever David Giatti, who earned his first save, closed out the win.

Reseda 6, Grant 1--Robert Reynoso, in his first start of the year, threw a three-hitter to pace Reseda in a Valley Pac-8 Conference game at Grant.

Reynoso (1-0), a senior, struck out five and walked two for Reseda (3-3), which scored four runs in the second on a two-run double by Mike Johnston and a two-run single by Jesse Yeoman.

Mike McCarthy had two doubles for the winners, while Tony Kuper (2-3) absorbed the loss for Grant (3-7, 2-4).

Belmont 10, Verdugo Hills 6--Belmont scored seven runs in the fifth on 10 walks in a Northern League game at Belmont.

Jon Bishop went two for two and scored two runs for Verdugo Hills (1-5 in league play). Enrique Garcia went the distance for Belmont (2-4), while Chad Runnels took the loss.

VOLLEYBALL

Granada Hills d. Cleveland, 15-3, 15-3, 8-15, 15-5--Outside hitter Brian Herbst had 15 kills to lead Granada Hills in a Northwest Valley Conference match at home.

Dane Rood added 12 kills and Danny Asaoka had 11 for the Highlanders (6-0, 2-0), who play at Chatsworth in a conference showdown Wednesday at 2:30 p.m.

Setter Josh Henderson had 38 assists for Granada Hills.

Kennedy d. El Camino Real, 11-15, 15-8, 15- 11, 15-13--Middle blocker Eric Germansky had 16 kills, Lee Carter added six and David Richardson had 36 assists to pace Kennedy (5-1, 2-0) in a Northwest Valley Conference match at home.

Taft d. Canoga Park, 15-7, 15-4, 15-11--Liam Ziadel had seven kills and Matt Davis added six for Taft (4-1, 1-1) in a Northwest Valley Conference match at home.

Monroe d. North Hollywood, 15-1, 15-4, 15-8--Brad Packer had nine kills and Matt Johnson added seven for Monroe in a Valley Pac-8 Conference match at Monroe.

Leo Maquindang had 10 saves and Dave Fitzer had nine for Monroe (6-0, 2-0).

Reseda d. Sherman Oaks CES, 15-3, 15-4, 15-12--Shad Dockery had 13 kills and five service aces for Reseda (2-4, 1-1) in a Valley Pac-8 Conference match at Reseda.

Brothers Scott and Jeff Kent each had 11 kills for Reseda.

Van Nuys d. Grant, 10-15, 15-6, 15-8, 15-7--Brad Schultz had 14 kills and nine blocks for Van Nuys (4-2, 1-1) in a Valley Pac-8 Conference match at Grant.

Brian Chung had six kills for Van Nuys.

Birmingham d. Sylmar, 15-4, 15-10, 15-3--Stanley Yu and James Gould had eight kills apiece and Hye Kwon had 14 assists for Birmingham (4-2, 2-0) in a Valley Pac-8 conference match at Birmingham. Sylmar fell to 0-2.

Chaminade d. Notre Dame, 16-14, 15-12, 15-8--Rody Alvar had 15 kills and Ron Adritico added seven for Chaminade in a San Fernando Valley League opener at home.

Marc Miles had 41 assists for Chaminade (5-4, 1-0).

Westlake d. Thousand Oaks, 16-14, 12-15, 15-8, 15-12--Rob Bollinger had 11 kills for Westlake (4-3) in a nonleague match at Thousand Oaks. Greg Bahl and Brian Rudin added 10 kills each for Westlake.

SOFTBALL

Louisville 8, Maranatha 7--Shelle Gautreau had three hits and drove in two runs to support the complete-game pitching of Erin Cantwell (1-0) for Louisville (4-3) in a nonleague game at Maranatha.

La Reina 2, Fillmore 1 (13 innings)--Valerie Serpico scored on a wild pitch to make a winner of freshman reliever Michelle St. Pierre (4-2) in a Tri-Valley League game at La Reina.