PREP BASEBALL ROUNDUP : West Torrance Can’t Shake Off Jinx in Losing, 13-1, to Redondo

The gods of baseball haven’t been smiling on West Torrance High School lately, but that didn’t stop West Coach Dick McGrath from mustering a grin after his team’s latest mismatch with misfortune.

Even after watching everything go wrong in West’s 13-1 Ocean League loss to visiting Redondo on Wednesday, McGrath was looking hard for a silver lining.

“We’re snake-bitten right now,” McGrath said. “But we’re still in the running for the playoffs. There’s no dominant team in this league. I don’t know what it will take for us to get into third place, but if someone loses three in a row or wins three in a row, it could still happen.”

For now, though, Redondo (13-11 overall, 7-4 in league) is in sole possession of third place. The fifth-place Warriors (8-13, 5-6) are two games out of a playoff spot, with games remaining against South Torrance, North Torrance and first-place Culver City.

West’s run of bad luck began a week ago, when McGrath’s best player--shortstop Dana Cowing--shattered his jaw in a collision with a teammate while chasing a pop fly.

And Cowing hasn’t been the only Warrior casualty. West’s starting third baseman, second baseman and catcher have also been injured, and the team’s best pitcher is academically ineligible.

To make matters worse, West right fielder Rich Herrada sprained his ankle before Wednesday’s game and couldn’t play. Then Matt Mishler, the Warrior’s starting left fielder, pulled his hamstring in the first inning and had to leave the game.

“We’ve had too many injuries,” McGrath said. “That’s just too much to overcome.”

Still, McGrath had his best remaining pitcher, Jason Vroman, on the mound to start the Redondo game. Vroman took a 2.10 earned-run average into the game with him, but he wasn’t immune to West’s jinx either, and walked four of the first five batters he faced.

The Warriors made a pair of errors behind Vroman (2-3) in the first inning, and by the time left-hander Gary Stewart replaced Vroman with two out in the second, West was down, 7-0.

West didn’t help itself on the base paths, either, getting a runner gunned down at the plate in the second inning and another caught in a rundown between second and third bases in the third.

“A lack of basic baseball hurt us today,” McGrath said.

On the other side of the field, Redondo played near-flawless ball in a game crucial to its playoff hopes. The Sea Hawks still must play league-leading Mira Costa and Culver City in their last three games.

“We’ve got three big games left,” Redondo Coach Tim Ammentorp said. “This was the game that really scared me because we basically had to win it.”

Right-hander Artie Scarpino (5-4) threw a six-hitter and struck out seven, but lost his shutout bid on Randy Block’s sacrifice fly in the fifth.

Leadoff man Brett Tyrrell led Redondo with two hits and three runs batted in, and second baseman Chris Townsend singled twice and scored twice.

Mira Costa 5, North Torrance 3--Andy Owens collected two hits in three at-bats and drove in three runs to help the host Mustangs keep pace with Culver City for first place in the Ocean League.

Mira Costa (12-11 overall, 9-2 in league) opened a 4-0 lead in the first inning and withstood a strong offensive performance by North (11-12, 4-6), which outhit the Mustangs, 12-9. But the Saxons could score only three runs off junior right-hander Jason Garner, who went the distance for his fourth league victory in six decisions.

Owens put Mira Costa ahead with a two-run double in the first and added an RBI single in the fourth. D. J. Allen singled home a run in the first. Jason Boseant was two for four with two runs scored.

Tony Torino paced North, going two for three with two RBIs and a solo home run.

South Torrance 6, Centennial 4--Stu Manthey’s three-run homer in the third inning gave the Spartans a 5-0 lead, and right-hander Chris Castillon held off Centennial en route to an Ocean League win at South.

Centennial cut its deficit to 5-3 in the fourth on a three-run homer, but South got a run back in the fifth on Aemon Fowler’s pinch-hit RBI single.

South improved to 7-12 overall and 4-7 in league play. Centennial had its league mark evened at 5-5.

El Segundo 7, Verbum Dei 0--The Eagles, who pounded Verbum Dei, 31-1, in their first meeting March 28, were deadlocked in a scoreless tie before rallying for five runs in the fifth inning at Victoria Park in Carson.

“I was very nervous,” El Segundo Coach John Stevenson said. “Our game was just off. Everything seemed to go against us.”

The Eagles (21-3 overall, 10-1 in the Camino Real League) finally broke through in the fifth on RBI singles by Mark Lewis and Tate Seefried, an RBI double by Garret Quaintance, who scored on a passed ball, and a solo home run by Kenny Talanoa. Quaintance finished with three hits.

Right-hander Rob Croxall (8-1) gave up two hits in five innings and extended his scoreless-inning streak to 23. Junior left-hander Brian Wise finished up, allowing one hit.

St. Bernard 7, Pius X 0--Senior right-hander Andy Diver, whose only loss this season was to top-ranked El Segundo, improved to 9-1 with a three-hitter in a Camino Real League game at Pius X in Downey.

Diver struck out three and walked none as St. Bernard (15-5 overall) kept pace with El Segundo for first place at 10-1.

Jeff Richardson was three for four with two RBIs, Sean Dunbar had three stolen bases and varsity newcomer Brian Benbow was two for three with two steals, including a steal of home in the second inning.

The Vikings collected 10 hits, all singles.