St. Bernard Takes 1st by Blasting Serra, 28-4

St. Bernard’s 28-4 victory over host Serra High School Wednesday afternoon clearly showed the difference between one of the top teams in the Camino Real League and the also-rans.

Serra is playing .500 ball against the rest of the league, but the players got another black eye from a league-leading team.

Curtis Miller’s hard-hit ground ball, bounced off the cheekbone of Serra first baseman Joseph McDorman’s face, drove in the final two St. Bernard runs in the victory over Serra.

Two weeks ago, Serra had suffered a 42-0 defeat at the hands of El Segundo, the South Bay’s top-ranked team.

So if the Serra scale of slaughter is any indicator, then the matchup between the Camino Real League’s two best teams Friday night at 7:30 at Recreation Park in El Segundo should be worth the wait.

For now, however, St. Bernard (10-1 overall, 6-0 in league) moves a half-game ahead of El Segundo (12-1, 5-0) in the standings. El Segundo’s game Wednesday against St. Anthony was postponed because of rain and will be played today at Clark Field in Long Beach at 3:45 p.m.

St. Bernard Coach Bob Yarnall was happy to get a victory when the rest of the South Bay’s teams were idle because of Wednesday’s showers. But although St. Bernard scored a school record 28 runs, Yarnall wasn’t thrilled with the way the game ended up.

“When these games get out of hand, it takes all the fun out of it for both teams,” Yarnall said. “Everyone loses concentration and starts playing sloppy ball.”

The game started out in promising fashion for Serra. Serra left-hander Keith Metoyer (0-4) got three quick outs; then Cavalier shortstop Dwon Knighten led off the bottom of the first inning with a double.

But after that, everything was downhill for the Cavaliers (3-9, 2-4). St. Bernard scored multiple runs in each inning after the first, as Serra’s pitchers gave up 16 hits and 17 walks. The Cavaliers didn’t do much in the field either, committing eight errors.

Second baseman Sean Dunbar went four for six, scored four runs, and drove in four more to lead St. Bernard. Miller, a reserve first baseman, had three hits and four RBIs, and right-hander Kevin Wensley pitched four innings for his second victory.

Jermaine Ferguson led Serra with a pair of RBI singles.