Harbor Masters Mission, 10-2, Clinches Conference Title

John Klitsner knows he will have turned around Mission College’s baseball program when he can beat Southern California Athletic Conference power Los Angeles Harbor College.

The effort continues for Klitsner, who watched his team lose, 10-2, to host Harbor on Thursday. It was the Free Spirit’s third loss to Harbor this season; Mission also failed to defeat the Seahawks last season, Klitsner’s first at Mission.

“I’m very happy with the progress we’ve made over the past two seasons,” said Klitsner, a former Sylmar High coach. “This is a good team we played today, and when you have any kind of breakdown against them you’re going to pay for it.”

Klitsner was referring to the fourth-inning catastrophe in which his starting pitcher, freshman Nino Romo (5-2), surrendered four doubles and a home run to give Harbor a commanding 4-0 lead. Romo, who did not give up a hit in the first three innings, left the game in the sixth with Mission trailing, 7-0.

Despite the loss, Mission remains in second place with a 12-5 record. It is 22-10-1 overall. The top two teams in the conference receive automatic berths in next month’s Southern California regional playoffs. Mission has never qualified for the playoffs.

Harbor (37-5, 16-0) combined strong pitching with potent hitting in clinching its fifth consecutive conference title. Starting pitcher Patrick Ahearne allowed just two runs and three hits in seven innings to improve to 9-1. The sophomore right-hander tied the school record of 20 wins in a career set by Rod Van Lue in 1976-77. John Rodriguez and John Matich combined for two innings of perfect relief.

The Seahawks cracked 14 hits, including eight doubles and two home runs by first baseman Ryan Karp. Shortstop Tony Liebsack had two doubles and left fielder George Baker had a double and a triple.

Karp, a sophomore, hit a two-run blast to left field in the fourth and a solo home run to right in the sixth. He has four homers this season.

Mission first baseman Eddie Chavez put his team on the scoreboard in the seventh with a two-run homer to left field.

“Mission is a lot better team than most people give them credit for,” Harbor Coach Jim O’Brien said. “But we were just very determined today.”